Roberto Marcano Cherubini (June 7, 1951 – November 13, 1990) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player who made a name for himself playing in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Bobby Marcano
Infielder
Born: Roberto Antonio Marcano Cherubini[citation needed]
(1951-06-07)June 7, 1951
El Clavo, Miranda, Venezuela
Died: November 13, 1990(1990-11-13) (aged 39)
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
NPB debut
1975, for the Hankyu Braves
Last appearance
1985, for the Yakult Swallows
NPB statistics
(through 1985 season)
Batting average.287
Home runs232
Runs batted in817
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the Venezuelan
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2018
Election methodHistorical Committee

Born in El Clavo, Marcano played minor league baseball in the United States from 1969 to 1974, first with the Cleveland Indians organization, and later with the California Angels organization. During the MLB off-seasons he also played for Tiburones de La Guaira steadily from 1969 to 1985.

In 1975, Marcano went to Japan, where he joined the Hankyu Braves as a second baseman. With Marcano putting up big numbers, the Braves went to four straight Japan Series, winning the first three (the first championships in the franchise's history). Marcano played for Hankyu for eight years, then joined the Yakult Swallows for another three. Over the course of his NPB career, Marcano was awarded four Golden Gloves, and was named to the Best Nine four times. He is noted by many sources as being one of the best foreign-born players in Japanese baseball.[citation needed]

Marcano played outfield for Tiburones de La Guaira (representing Venezuela) in the 1983 Caribbean Series.

After retiring from the game, Marcano worked for the Yomiuri Giants as a scout and translator.[citation needed]

Marcano died at age 39, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.[citation needed] His number 15 jersey was retired by Tiburones de La Guaira.[citation needed]

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