Many Cuban ballplayers have starred in the Land of the Rising Sun, but before there was Alfredo Despaigne, Orestes Destrade, and Dayan Viciedo, we had a Roberto Barbón. In fact the Cuban was the first Latino to see action in the Nippon League.
In 1954, Barbón was a farmhand for the Brooklyn Dodger’s Class C team, but the infielder was soon given his release. Then Minoru Murakami came calling, he was in need of a negro player for the Hankyu Braves of the Nippon League and Barbón fit the bill. With a little help from the Harlem Globetrotters owner at the time Abe Saperstein, the infielder was on his way to Japan via a three day flight, which was an odyssey in itself.
When the native of Matanzas, Cuba arrived in Tokyo to his surprise it was snowing, ”When I got to the ballpark it was snowing and everyone was practicing. The Japanese were practicing in the snow. I thought, no, it couldn’t be. I never seen snow in my life. Man, it was cold out there. I wanted to go back to Cuba already, “ said Barbón to the Japan Times in 2010.
In 1965 the second baseman retired and he worked for the Orix Buffaloes, until his death in March of this year, but his legacy in Asian baseball will never be forgotten. What was thought to be a pit stop for Barbón turned out to be a lifetime of memories and a dignified career.