Kirjahaku

Baseball is increasingly popular throughout the world, as evidenced by the many talented players (such as Ichiro Suzuki, Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, and Hideki Matsui) coming to the Major Leagues from around the globe. The influx of such players is testament to the many high-quality professional and amateur leagues that thrive throughout the world. In this reference book—the first of its kind— narrative chapters trace the history of baseball in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and throughout the rest of the world. Bjarkman profiles the teams and leading players from each country. He also covers the history of tournament play throughout the world, including Olympic baseball. This volume provides an invaluable and unprecedented source on the growth of America's national pastime into a global phenomenon that one day might feature a true World Series. Backmatter includes a chronology of important events, an annotated bibliography, and contact information for official baseball federations throughout the world.

When Cuba met Japan in the finals of Major League Baseball's 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC), many among the international audience were shocked that a purported "amateur" team could challenge for the sport's first true world championship. But those who had paid attention to international tournaments were hardly surprised by Cuba's strong showing against all-star teams of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Venezuelan, and U.S. major leaguers. The undisputed champions of global baseball, Cuba had reigned supreme for better than a half-century at the avowed American national game. In this groundbreaking volume, Peter Bjarkman traces the full arc of island baseball history, from the pioneering era of integrated play in the winter leagues, across the many triumphs of the post-revolution decades, and up through Cuba's initial WBC triumphs.

The stellar play and fascinating backstories of exiled Cuban sluggers and hurlers in Major League Baseball (MLB) has become one of the biggest headlines in America's national pastime. On-field exploits by colorful Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, American League rookie-of-the-year José Abreu, home run derby champion Yoenis Céspedes, radar-gun busting Cincinnati fast-baller Aroldis Chapman, and a handful of others have been further enhanced by feel-good tales of desperate Cuban superstars risking their lives to escape Fidel Castro’s communist realm and chase a celebrated American Dream of financial and athletic success. But a truly ugly underbelly to this story has also slowly emerged, one that involves human smuggling operations financed by Miami crime syndicates, operated by Mexican drug cartels, and conveniently ignored by big league ball clubs endlessly searching for fresh waves of international talent. In Cuba’s Baseball Defectors: The Inside Story, Cuban baseball expert Peter C. Bjarkman reveals the complete truth behind the wave of Cuban big league talent coming to MLB. Given rare access to Cuba and its ballplayers, Bjarkman has spent over twenty years traveling to all corners of the island getting to know the top Cuban stars and witnessing their baseball struggles and triumphs. In this book, Bjarkman places recent events—including the apparent thaw in US-Cuba relations—in the context of Cuban baseball history and tradition before delving into the stories of the major Cuban stars who have left the island. He reveals the personal histories of these players, explains the events that led them to eventually choose defection from their homeland, and details their harrowing journeys to reach US shores and achieve baseball stardom. Players whose big league dreams failed are also discussed, as are Cuba’s recent efforts to stem the defection tide through working agreements with the Japanese and Mexican leagues. Unique in its balanced perspective of Cuban baseball and its star players, Cuba’s Baseball Defectors not only shares the author’s first-hand account of many previously misreported events, it also provides a view of the illegal smuggling of ballplayers from the perspective of Cuban baseball officials whose voices have often not been heard. With a conclusion outlining a likely scenario for future relations between Major League Baseball and the Cuban League, this book will fascinate baseball fans, those interested in the history of US-Cuba relations, and those wanting to learn more about the unsavory story of human trafficking in the name of baseball glory.

Since Cuba's Esteban Bellan made his debut for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association in 1871, Latin Americans have played a large role in the major leagues. Nearly 15 percent of big league rosters are made up of Latinos, while the region's colorful and competitive winter leagues have been a proving ground for up-and-coming major league players and managers. Early Latin American stars were barred purely because of the color of their skin from playing in the major leagues. Players such as Jose Mendez and Martin Dihigo (the only player elected to the U.S., Cuban and Mexican halls of fame) made their marks on the Negro Leagues, turning the leagues' barnstorming tours into major attractions in many Caribbean countries. This history of the players and events that make up the rich tradition of Latin American baseball gives a unique insight to this long-neglected area of baseball.

The stellar play and fascinating backstories of exiled Cuban sluggers and hurlers in Major League Baseball (MLB) has become one of the biggest headlines in America's national pastime. On-field exploits by colorful Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, American League rookie-of-the-year José Abreu, home run derby champion Yoenis Céspedes, radar-gun busting Cincinnati fast-baller Aroldis Chapman, and a handful of others have been further enhanced by feel-good tales of desperate Cuban superstars risking their lives to escape Fidel Castro’s communist realm and chase a celebrated American Dream of financial and athletic success. But a truly ugly underbelly to this story has also slowly emerged, one that involves human smuggling operations financed by Miami crime syndicates, operated by Mexican drug cartels, and conveniently ignored by big league ball clubs endlessly searching for fresh waves of international talent. In Cuba’s Baseball Defectors: The Inside Story, Cuban baseball expert Peter C. Bjarkman reveals the complete truth behind the wave of Cuban big league talent coming to MLB. Given rare access to Cuba and its ballplayers, Bjarkman has spent over twenty years traveling to all corners of the island getting to know the top Cuban stars and witnessing their baseball struggles and triumphs. In this book, Bjarkman places recent events—including the apparent thaw in US-Cuba relations—in the context of Cuban baseball history and tradition before delving into the stories of the major Cuban stars who have left the island. He reveals the personal histories of these players, explains the events that led them to eventually choose defection from their homeland, and details their harrowing journeys to reach US shores and achieve baseball stardom. Players whose big league dreams failed are also discussed, as are Cuba’s recent efforts to stem the defection tide through working agreements with the Japanese and Mexican leagues. Unique in its balanced perspective of Cuban baseball and its star players, Cuba’s Baseball Defectors not only shares the author’s first-hand account of many previously misreported events, it also provides a view of the illegal smuggling of ballplayers from the perspective of Cuban baseball officials whose voices have often not been heard. With a conclusion outlining a likely scenario for future relations between Major League Baseball and the Cuban League, this book will fascinate baseball fans, those interested in the history of US-Cuba relations, and those wanting to learn more about the unsavory story of human trafficking in the name of baseball glory.

Few political figures of the modern age have been so vilified as Fidel Castro, and both the vilification and worship generated by the Cuban leader have combined to distort the true image of Castro. The baseball myths attached to Fidel have loomed every bit as large as the skewed political notions that surround him. Castro was never a major league pitching prospect, nor did he destroy the Cuban national pastime in 1962. In Fidel Castro and Baseball: The Untold Story, Peter C. Bjarkman dispels numerous myths about the Cuban leader and his association with baseball. In this groundbreaking study, Bjarkman establishes how Fidel constructed, rather than dismantled, Cuba’s true baseball Golden Age—one that followed rather than preceded the 1959 revolution. Bjarkman also demonstrates that Fidel was not at all unique in “politicizing” baseball as often maintained, since the island sport traces its roots to the 19th-century revolution. Fidel’s avowed devotion to a non-materialist society would ultimately sow the seeds of collapse for the baseball empire he built over more than a half-century, just as the same obsession would finally dismantle the larger social revolution he had painstakingly authored. A fascinating look at a controversial figure and his impact on a major sport, this volume reveals many intriguing insights about Castro and how his love of the game was tied to Cuba’s identity. Fidel Castro and Baseball will appeal to fans of the sport as well as to those interested in Cuba’s enduring association with baseball.

Minnie Minoso. Martin Dihigo. Luis Tiant Sr. and Jr. "El Duque" Orlando and Livan Hernadez. These are only a few of the leading lights profiled in this SABR BioProject book. The 47 individuals profiled here represent only a small handful of the legions of memorable and sometimes even legendary figures produced over nearly a century and a half by an island nation where the bat-and-ball sport known as baseball is more than a national pastime, it is the national passion. The book presents 47 biographies in all, plus essays on Cuban baseball. Profiled in this book: Aquino Abreu by Peter C. BjarkmanRafael Almeida by Zack MoserSantos Amaro by Rory CostelloSandy (Edmundo) Amor s by Rory CostelloSteve (Esteb n) Bell n by Brian McKennaRam n Braga a by Lou HernandezBert (Dagoberto) Campaneris by Rich SchabowskiJos Cardenal by Ray BirchPaul Casanova by Rory Costello and Jos RamirezSandy (Sandalio) Consuegra by Rory CostelloMike (Miguel) Cu llar by Adam UlreyTommie (Tom s) de la Cruz by Peter C. BjarkmanMart n Dihigo by Peter C. BjarkmanPedro Formental by Tom HawthornMike (Miguel) Fornieles by Thomas AyersB rbaro Garbey by Doug HillSilvio Garc a by Joe GerardMike (Miguel ngel) Gonz lez by Joe GerardTony Gonz lez by Rory Costello and Jos RamirezMike (Ferm n) Guerra by Bill NowlinEl Duque (Orlando) Hern ndez and Liv n Hern ndez by Peter C. BjarkmanMike (Ram n) Herrera by Bill NowlinPancho Herrera by Jos RamirezOmar Linares by Peter C. BjarkmanDolf (Adolfo) Luque by Peter C. BjarkmanBobby Maduro by Rory CostelloConnie (Conrado) Marrero by Peter C. BjarkmanArmando Marsans by Eric EndersRogelio Martinez by Rory CostelloRom n Mejias by Ron Briley, Rory Costello, and Bill NowlinJos de la Caridad M ndez by Peter C. BjarkmanMinnie (Orestes) Mi oso by Mark StewartWilly (Guillermo) Miranda by Rory CostelloJulio Moreno by Rory CostelloTony Oliva by Peter C. BjarkmanAlejandro Oms by John StruthCamilo Pascual by Peter C. BjarkmanTony (Tani) P rez by Phil ColaPedro Ramos by Peter C. BjarkmanCookie (Octavio) Rojas by Peter M. GordonChico Ruiz by Rory CostelloJos Tartabull by Joanne HulbertTony Taylor by Rory Costello and Jos RamirezLuis Tiant Jr. by Mark ArmourLuis Tiant Sr. by Rory CostelloCrist bal Torriente by Peter C. BjarkmanZoilo Versalles by Peter C. Bjarkman