Cuba is the pioneer in Latin baseball. The Caribbean island fielded the first Latino professional player (Esteban Bellan,1871), first Latino Cy Young in MLB (Mike Cuellar,1969), first Latino MLB MVP (Zoilo Versailles,1965) and the first Latino to break the color barrier (Minnie Miñoso, 1949).
The Cuban Professional Baseball League was a precursor to today’s LIDOM in the Dominican Republic, which is the top league in the Caribbean. Cuba was the top exporter of players to MLB until Fidel Castro closed the island nation to professionalism and Major League Baseball.
The island was also one of the founders of the Serie del Caribe and won seven of the first 12 tournaments. The island even had a Triple-A team on its grounds, the Havana Sugar Kings. The Cincinnati Reds affiliate played its last game in the nation’s capital in 1960.
Below I will reveal my top 10 Cuban baseball players of all-time:
1. Martín Dihigo– “El Maestro” played every position except catcher. He played primarily in the Negro Leagues and is in the MLB Hall of Fame as well as the ones in México, Dominican Republic and Cuba. He is also considered one of the most versatile players off all-time. He was a two-time Negro League All-Star, hitting .307 for his career and won 107 games in the Cuban League.
2. Rafael Palmeiro – The best pure-hiter born in Cuba. The first baseman swatted 569 longballs, 3,020 hits and drove 1,835 runs over a storied career. One of only 6 players in history with 500 HR and 3,000 hits.
3. Luis Tiant was the greatest Cuban pitcher to take the mound in the majors. “Little Louie” as he is known by the Cuban faithful won 229 games and fanned 2,416 batters over his career. Tiant was one of the most dominant pitchers of the 1970s winning 20 games three times and an ERA title over that span.
4. Tony Pérez– The Hall of Famer hit 379 homeruns and won two world titles with “Big Red Machine.” Pérez also laced over 2,700 hits and was a seven-time All-Star over his career.
5. Minnie Miñoso– The outfielder played in the MLB and Negro Leagues. Miñoso was the first Latino to break the color batting. The nine-time All-Star was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022. The three-time gold glover, swatted over 2,000 hits and drove in 1,089 runs in his career.
6. Cristóbal Torriente– The first official five-tool player in baseball history. The Jall of Famer won a Negro League batting title in 1920. Was nicknamed the “Black Babe Ruth” and hit .352 for his career in the Cuban League.
7. José Méndez- The “Black Diamond” was the most dominant pitcher of his ERA the Negro Leagues. Once went 2-0 and tossed 25 scoreless innings in three appearances against the Cincinnati Reds in Cuba during a friendship series in 1908. Méndez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
8. Tony Oliva- The outfielder won three batting titles and was an eight-time All-Star over his career. Oliva was the Rookie of the Year in 1964 and won a Gold Glove in 1966. One of the best Cuban hitters of the modern era.
9. José Abreu- “Pito” as he is known by the Cuban fans was the MVP (2020), Rookie of the Year (2014) and two-time RBI leader (2019,2020). Abreu was also a three-time Silver Slugger (2014,2018,2020) and a three-time All-Star (2014,2018,2020)
10. Aroldis Chapman- The most dominant closer of his time. Chapman is an eight-time All-Star and has saved 352 games over his career. His 1,304 strikeouts place his third on the All-time list for relievers and thrown the fastest pitch in MLB history (105.8) in 2014. The left-hander was the fireman of the year in 2019 and has the most consecutive relief appearances with a strikeout (49).
Honorable Mention: José Canseco,Raisel Iglesias, Yordan Álvarez, Dagoberto Campaneris,Mike Cuellar,Adolfo Luque, Camilo Pascual,Orlando Hernández