Armando Marsans (October 3, 1887 – September 3, 1960) was a Cuban baseball player who played American baseball during the Dead-ball era. Marsans was born in and lived all but a year of his early life in Cuba. In 1905, he was signed by the Almendares Baseball Club, who were impressed by his talent in the game. Marsans, a left-fielder, led the team to the pennant that season, and a championship title in 1907 matchup against the Cuban X-Giants. The following year, Marsans joined the New Britain Mountaineers minor league baseball team in the Connecticut State League.
Early life
editMarsans was born into a well-to-do family in Matanzas, Cuba, located on the northern shore of Cuba, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of Havana. His father was a first generation Cuban while his mother was a Cuban of Spanish descent.[1] The Marsans family fled to New York City during the civil unrest prior to the start of the Spanish-American War. One unverified report, mentioned on a number of occasions by American news sources, claimed that the family was forced out of Cuba because the young Armando was caught trading cigarettes for ammunition, that he later gave to Cuban insurgents.[1] The family stayed in New York for at least a year before heading back to Cuba in 1896. Afterwards, Marsans worked as a newsboy for the Havana Post, and later wrote for the paper.
Start in baseball
editAs an eighteen year old, Marsans signed with the Almendares Baseball Club, a team in the Cuban League, known for its rivalry with the Habana Baseball Club. He played his first game with the team in a matchup against Habana on April 3, 1905. Playing left field and batting eighth in the lineup, Marsans collected two hits in three at bats during the game.[1] On May 16, Almendares manager Abel Linares and his team boarded the S.S. Monterrey, en route to the United States, where they would challenge American and National League teams to baseball games.[2] The team drew large crowds of baseball fans who wanted to see the Cubans in action. The team had great success before departing back for Cuba on September 19, finishing with 78 wins out of the 100 games they played.[3]
In November 1906, a team from New Britain, Connecticut called the "All-Americans" came to Cuba to play Havana's best baseball teams. The All-Americans failed to win against Almendares, and Marsans played well, impressing the All-Americans' manager, H. D. Ramsey.[4] Ramsey invited Marsans to play for the All-Americans in the team's final Cuban game. After the game, Ramsey persuaded Marsans and teammate Alfredo Cabrera, an infielder, to play for the team in the United States for the 1907 season. Ramsey was so confident in the two Cuban ballplayers that he said "there is little doubt that they will make good in fast company in the States."[5] Marsans and Cabrera signed Ramsey's $125 per month contract on December 26. Shortly after the All-Americans left Cuba on January 1, 1907, the two ballplayers heard that Ramsey was going to manage a team in the newly formed Atlantic League. This new league was not covered in the National Agreement, which established a system of control and dominance for the major leagues over the independents, and the two men feared that they would be later prevented from playing in any of the recognized major leagues mentioned in the agreement.[6] As a result, the two signed contracts with the Holyoke Paperweights of the Connecticut League, for the 1907 season. In early February, Ramsey notified Marsans and Cabrera that he was managing the Scranton Miners of the New York State League, which was covered by the National Agreement, and told them to come to the team for the season.[6]
Marsans and Cabrera said that their contracts were invalidated because Ramsey was not the manager of the Scranton Miners at the time the contracts were signed. Afterwards, Holyoke brought the case to the National Association of Baseball Clubs, which ruled that the Cubans had to play with Scranton.[6] Holyoke then brought the case to the National Board of Arbitration, but they also ruled in favor of Scranton. Shortly thereafter, Holyoke took the case to the National Commission, the arbitration board which resolved disputes over the National Agreement. On June 5, 1907, the National Commission ruled in favor of Scranton. However, the two players chose to return to Cuba instead of reporting to Ramsey in Scranton,[7] mostly because of the poor reception they received from their fellow teammates who thought they were of African descent.[8]
In the spring of 1908, New Britain Mountaineers manager Charles Humphrey received a tip from a Havana Post reporter about Marsans' and Cabrera's baseball talents. In April, the two ballplayers signed contracts to play for Humphrey in New Britain.[9] However, they ran into problems before they could even start playing. The Connecticut League had a strict policy preventing any players of African descent from playing in the league, and they believed the two Cubans were in this category.[10] New Britain newspapers soon resolved the issue by assuring the league that "these men are strictly white", and they should not be "confounded by the colored players known as the Cuban Giants."[11] Marsans and Luis Padron, another Cuban ballplayer signed by Humphrey, arrived in New Britain on April 22, four days before the Opening Day game for the 1908 season. Marsans impressed Humphrey at both hitting and fielding, so he was awarded the starting outfield position for the opening game.[12]
On June 10, the two Cubans were joined by another fellow countryman, 20-year old Rafael Almeida, who had previously played with Marsans and the All Cubans. Marsans played well during the first half of the season, both offensively and defensively. By mid-season, he was in the top 10 in the league in batting average.[13] He received attention in a number of periodicals, most of which applauded Marsans' fine playing. In early July, Alfredo Cabrera finally arrived at New Britain, and quickly impacted the team's play with his expert fielding at shortstop.[14] The four Cuban ballplayers had gone much of the season without any major issues regarding their ethnicity from spectators. On July 17, the manager of the Hartford Senators filed an official complaint to the league's secretary, stating that the Cuban players were ineligible to play in the league because they were of African heritage.[15] The other team owners in the league agreed to drop the issue if New Britain stopped playing Luis Padron, one of the team's stars who faced heavy scrutiny throughout the season due to his dark-skinned appearance, on road games.[16] Humphrey's replacement as manager of the Mountaineers, William Hanna, ignited the tensions by putting Padron as the pitcher in the second game of a doubleheader against the Springfield Ponies. The manager of the Ponies, Dan O'Neil, outraged by Hanna's actions, asked New Britain players to take a stand against their alleged African teammate. None of Padron's teammates consented, and O'Neil took the matter directly to the league's club owners later that night.[17] Many of the owners and league officials at the meeting were not convinced, and ruled against O'Neil's plea to ban the players from the league. As a result, O'Neil resorted to ordering his first and third base coaches to taunt Padron with racial epithets.[16]
Although the league did not treat the Cubans fairly, they did receive strong support from New Britain newspapers and the team's fans. Marsans was playing so well, that a sportswriter remarked that Marsans and some of his other teammates were "looked upon as probable candidates for some of the major league clubs."[18] Meanwhile, Padron continued to excelled as well, and finished the season with a .312 batting average, just one point of the league leader. However, Padron was not offered a contract for the 1909 season, reportedly due to his unpopularity with other players in the league, but more likely due to the whole situation regarding his ethnicity.[19] Just before the start of the 1909 season, the league tried to ban Marsans and Cabrera "on the ground that they are really negroes."[20] William Hanna was quick to defend his Cuban ballplayers, and he remarked the accusations are an "injustice", and "it might be the means of causing them to stay away" from playing in New Britain that season.[21] Marsans, Almeida and Cabrera could not come to New Britain by the season's opening because they were playing in the Liga General de Base Ball de La Republica de Cuba until April 24. After winning the Cuban league's championship, the three men sailed from Havana to New Britain, and showed up in New Britain on April 28, a day later than expected.[22] In the first two weeks of the season, Marsans was batting .276 with eight hits and one home run.[23] Soon afterward, Marsans became sick with bronchitis. He quickly recovered, but was sent back to the hospital after his sickness reemerged. He was situated in the hospital next to a dying patient. Marsans felt uneasy about his own situation, and began to feel as if his health was in serious danger. He asked William Hanna for permission to go back to Cuba.[24] Despite the attempts to convince him out of his plan, Marsans headed back home to Cuba on May 18.[25]
Marsans wrote to Almeida in late May, informing him that he intended on returning to New Britain after a full recovery. Marsans' decision to return was made public in late July, and team and its fans were eagerly anticipating his return. However, Marsans decided not to report back to New Britain.[26] Marsans did not return to New Britain until late April 1910, when the team was under the ownership of Dan O'Neil.
Notes
edit- ^ a b c Toot, p8.
- ^ Toot, p9.
- ^ Havana La Lucha, September 21, 1905.
- ^ Toot, p11.
- ^ La Lucha, December 2, 1906.
- ^ a b c Toot, p12.
- ^ Springfield Union, June 16, 1911.
- ^ Toot, p13.
- ^ New Britain Herald, April 4, 1908.
- ^ Sporting Life, March 6, 1908.
- ^ New Britain Record, April 9, 1908.
- ^ Toot, p15.
- ^ Toot, p18.
- ^ Toot, p19.
- ^ New Britain Record, July 17, 1908.
- ^ a b Toot, p20.
- ^ New Britain Herald, July 20, 1908.
- ^ New Britain Herald, August 11, 1908.
- ^ Toot, p22.
- ^ Sporting Life, March 6, 1909.
- ^ New Britain Herald, March 13, 1909.
- ^ Toot, p23.
- ^ Springfield Union, May 17, 1909.
- ^ New Britain Record, May 14, 1909.
- ^ Toot, p24.
- ^ Springfield Union, August 1, 1909.
References
edit- Toot, Peter (2004). Armando Marsans: A Cuban Pioneer in the Major Leagues. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-1584-3.
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference