With reports coming from everywhere including here at Last Word On Sports, about Cuban slugger Jose Abreu defecting from Cuba, there is a strong belief that a lot of teams will be looking to sign the Cuban slugger to a lucrative deal. Abreu has been deemed “The Best Hitter You’ve Never Heard Of”, a headline from grantland.com, which is why there will be so much interest from the Major League Baseball teams. His defection has also prompted me to write about some of the best Cuban-born players to be in the majors. To be safe, I think I’ll talk about the retired players versus players who are still active in the majors.
The first player I shall start off with is Left Fielder/Third basemen Minnie Miñoso from Havana, Cuba. Miñoso started his career in the Majors in 1949, two years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. From 1949 to 1964, Minnie would play for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Senators. He would come back in 1976 and 1980 for a few games with the White Sox to end his run. In his 17-year career he would score 1136 runs, 1963 hits, 186 homeruns, 1023 RBI’s and a lifetime average of .298. Minnie was also selected to nine All-Star games, won three Golden Glove awards and had his #9 retired in Chicago. Miñoso was known as “Mr. White Sox”, and is the only ball player ever to appear in a professional league game in seven different decades!
Bert Campaneris was a shortstop from Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba and played 19 years of professional baseball in the MLB. He played for the Kansas City Athletics who moved to Oakland in 1968 and would play in Oakland until 1976. From 1977 to 1981 he would play for the Texas Rangers and the California Angels, just like Minnie Minoso. Campaneris would come back in 1983 and play one season with the New York Yankees. In 19 years, Bert scored 1181 runs, 2249 hits, 79 homeruns, 646 RBI’s, maintained a .259 life time batting average and 649 stolen bases. He didn’t hit for power, but he made that up with great speed, having at least 40 stolen bases in eight years. Campaneris was also a six-time All-Star and a three time World Series winner in 1972, 1973 and 1974 with the Oakland A’s. Fun fact: on September 8, 1965, Campaneris, became the first player to play every position in a Major League game. Funny enough, he was an ambidextrous pitcher, meaning he could pitch both ways.
Tony Oliva is from Pinar del Río, Cuba and played 15 years as an outfielder and DH for the Minnesota Twins. Before his MLB career began, the Twins actually released him after convincing him to come to the United States because of his poor fielding abilities. Later on the Twins would realize their mistake and re-sign him and it’s a good thing they did that, too. He would score 870 runs, 1917 hits, 220 homeruns, 947 RBIs and a lifetime .304 average. Oliva was also an eight-time All-star, three time batting champion, 1964 rookie of the year, had his #6 retired in Minnesota and last but not least, he won a Golden Glove. Not bad for a guy that at one point his organization questioned his fielding skills.
The next two players some people might agree with and some night not. Many of you might be annoyed that I added them in because in today’s game they would be considered disgraced. However, they still have the numbers, and despite some people’s opinions they should be on the list as the numbers don’t lie. I feel they should be mentioned, PEDs or no PEDs.
The first player is Rafael Palmeiro. Yes, he lied to congress about taking steroids by saying he didn’t take them, only to test positive for them later the same year during the season. That kind of ruins your career when you lie to everyone on camera don’t you think? If you can get past the steroids his numbers are impressive. Born in Havana, Cuba, Palmeiro played 20 years of baseball for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. He had 1663 runs, 3020 hits, 569 homeruns, 1835 RBI’s and a .288 average. He also won three Golden Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and was a four-time All-Star. Palmeiro also is one of four players to hit 3000 hits and 500 homeruns, a list that has Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray on it. Unfortunately for him, people will try to forget that he was on this list because of his link to PEDs.
The second player I mentioned is José Canseco. Yes you heard me, José Canseco, born in Havana as well. Canseco is one of the few players who admitted to taking steroids and frankly it doesn’t seem to bother him. In a 17-year career he played for the Oakland A’s, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox. His all-time stats include 1186 runs, 1877 Hits, 462 Homeruns, 1407 RBIs and a .266 lifetime average. Canseco also had a full trophy case. He was a two time American League Homerun Champ, AL RBI Champ, four time Silver Slugger, AL MVP (1988) Rookie of the Year, AL Comeback Player of the year, six time All-Star and won two World Series. He’s got the numbers and the trophies to back up a Hall of Fame ballot, but we all know it won’t happen. Although you might hate hearing it, he was a good slugger.
I want to end on a high note, and why not end it on the Hall-of-famer Tony Pérez. Born in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba Perez was a first basemen and third basemen for the Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. Pérez would score 1272 runs, 2732 hits, 379 homeruns, 1652 RBIs and a .279 average. He was a seven time All-Star, an All-Star MVP in 1967, three time World Series Champion, had his number retired in Cincinnati and as mentioned was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2000. Part of the “Big Red Machine in Cincy”, Pérez can be considered a Cuban great because of his numbers and what he meant to his teams.
These are some of the best all-time Cuban players. Winners in their own right even if some people feel certain players should not be on this list. Of course this list didn’t include pitchers as that will be for the next article. This list could one day see Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu and Yoenis Céspedes among the great Cuban players one day.
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