Conrado Marrero oldest former major leaguer turns 101 in Cuba

Wall Street Journal/

HAVANA — Conrado Marrero can still remember the crisp feeling of slipping on his Washington Senators uniform, and the surge of adrenaline he got staring down Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and other major league batters. But the diminutive right-hander's glory days are a world — and a revolution — away.

The Cuban pitcher who last year became the oldest living former big leaguer turned 101 on Wednesday, surrounded by family and a couple of old friends in his modest Havana apartment, the faded walls in need of paint, the spartan furniture tattered and frayed.

Marrero is hardly in better shape.

He has been confined to a wheelchair since fracturing his hip last year, is hard of hearing and can no longer see. But the man once known as "The Peasant of Laberinto," after the central Cuban farm where he grew up, still indulges in cigars, and listens avidly to Cuban baseball on the radio.

Not bad for a man who is a year older than Boston's iconic Fenway Park, which celebrated its centenary earlier this month.

Marrero, who was known in his major league days as Connie, speaks with pride about the five years he spent with the Senators, and he raises his voice in excitement when he recalls going against pitchers like Allie Reynolds of the Yankees or Early Wynn, who in those days played for mighty Cleveland.

Beating the Yankees, he says, was the sweetest feeling in the world.

"They were strong," he said. "They were the best. Each batter was a struggle."

Marrero had less good things to say about his own team, the lowly Senators, who he called "lazy" and error prone. Still, he said it was a thrill to suit up every day.

"Putting on that uniform always made me feel bigger, more powerful," said Marrero, who in his playing days was listed as 5 feet 5 inches tall and 158 pounds. His memory often fails him, and his voice sometimes trails off in mid-thought, but Marrero grows animated when the subject turns to his sport, and he wraps his long wrinkled fingers around a baseball to demonstrate his grip.

He recalls meeting the retired Babe Ruth once in Miami, befriending Connie Mack, and sharing an elevator with Dwight Eisenhower in Washington.

As for the great hitters of his day, Marrero insists he was afraid of no one, although he admits that Williams usually got the better of him.

"One day Williams got two home runs off me, and afterward he came up to me and said 'Sorry, it was my day today," Marrero recalled. "I responded, 'Ted, every day is your day.'"

Marrero doesn't complain about money, but his circumstances are exceedingly modest compared with today's multimillion-dollar players. The stairwell up to his second floor apartment has no lighting, and his living room is empty save for two sagging sofas and a rocking chair.

Marrero is eligible to receive a $20,000 payout granted him under a 2011 agreement between Major League Baseball and the players' association to extend financial help to big leaguers who played between 1947 and 1979, and did not otherwise qualify for a pension. But the money has been held up for months due to the 50-year U.S. economic embargo, which makes financial transactions between the United States and Cuba extremely complicated.

Steve Rogers, a former Expos pitcher who is now an official at the Major League Baseball Players Association, told The Associated Press the payment to Marrero has been approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, which regulates trade to sanctioned countries like Cuba, but logistical problems have slowed up actually turning it over.

"They are working diligently to try to get the money to him ... but it is just a question of logistics, of physically getting the money there," he said. "We have all taken this project very personally because he is the oldest living ballplayer, and because of that he is very special. With his 101st birthday, that puts an exclamation mark on the urgency."

Rogers said he did not have details of what was holding up the payment, but added that he was confident a solution is near. "It's imminent," he said.

Marrero's grandson, Rogelio Marrero, says the problem is that direct bank transfers to Cuba are impossible, and the players' association does not allow the money to go through an intermediary. But he, too, expresses hope the issue will be resolved soon.

Marrero, who was born in the small town of Sagua la Grande in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, was already old when he made it to the big leagues as a 39-year-old rookie in 1950 following a standout career in Cuba. And he wasn't your typical big leaguer either. Because of his size, he relied on control, guile and a bag full of junk pitches — curves, sliders, knuckleballs and other off-speed stuff.

He compiled a 39-40 record and a 3.67 ERA before being cut ahead of the 1955 season. Marrero was named to the 1951 All-Star team but didn't see action. As a Senator, he played alongside Mickey Vernon and Eddie Yost, yet his teams only once finished with a winning record.

After his big league days were over, Marrero returned to the Cuban minor leagues, ending his career with the Havana Sugar Kings in 1957. Two years later, Fidel Castro's rebels swept into power. Unlike many former big leaguers in Cuba, Marrero chose to stay, becoming a coach and roving instructor, working to develop and coach Cuban players well into his 80s.

Marrero says he doesn't follow the majors much anymore, although he did know that 49-year-old Jamie Moyer recently became the oldest pitcher to win a game. His grandson occasionally shares with him the exploits of A's slugger Yoenis Cespedes, who defected from Cuba last year, joining a long list of Cuban standouts that include Kendrys Morales of the Angels and Aroldis Chapman of the Reds.

Marrero listens to nearly every broadcast of Cuba's playoffs on the radio, and he excitedly talks up youngsters he thinks have potential. "Be careful with Sancti Spiritus," he said, saying they have a great team.

Rogers said it was somehow appropriate that the world's oldest ballplayer was a Cuban, given the island's contribution to America's national pastime.

"If ever you could pinpoint a common denominator, it's baseball. You could take all of the other issues out there that separate Cuba and the United States, but baseball is the common denominator, and having the oldest ballplayer being a Cuban and someone living in Cuba is fitting,"

Marrero, who lost his wife about 20 years ago, has four children and many more grandchildren and great grandchildren split between Cuba and the United States. He says he's not sure how he lived so long, but he did offer one secret.

"I never had hatred for anyone," he says. "I treated everyone equally."

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Cespedes, other Cuban baseball players face tough adjustment

By Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY/

OAKLAND – The first time Oakland Athletics rookie Yoenis Cespedes homered on U.S. soil, he stood and admired his 462-foot blast. The next day, Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez drilled him with a pitch. 

As if absorbing a new language weren't hard enough, the Cuban defector also has to learn baseball's unwritten rules at the major league level.

"In Cuba, when I hit a home run, one that I really hit well, I would stand and watch it and it was no big deal," Cespedes says in Spanish. "Here, it's different. You stay there watching it, and the next time up, they hit you." Cespedes: An MLB production in the making

Another could come Tuesday night as Cespedes and his fellow Cuban major leaguers might garner unwanted attention as Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen returns from a team-imposed five-game suspension for comments praising Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Cespedes fled Castro's regime for this opportunity, but he and others know the path to stardom isn't altogether smooth once they've left Cuba behind. It's a process rife with pitfalls, and his success in adjusting off the field figures to have a significant impact on his performance on it.

Cespedes, who signed a four-year, $36 million contract as a free agent in February, was much-hyped — a promotional video that ends with him roasting a pig went viral this winter — but the track record of Cuban stars has been mixed.

While half-brothers Livan and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez helped pitch their teams to World Series championships, Ariel Prieto and Rolando Arrojo had brief, injury-filled careers.

Jose Contreras, whose $32 million deal with the New York Yankees in 2003 set the Cuban record before Cespedes topped it, was the staff ace of the World Series-winning Chicago White Sox in 2005 but has gone 77-67 with a 4.54 ERA in his career.

Kendrys Morales emerged as an MVP candidate in 2009 before missing more than a season and a half with an ankle injury, and shortstops Alexei Ramirez, Yunel Escobar and Yuniesky Betancourt established themselves as productive everyday players.

Pitcher Alay Soler and first baseman Juan Miranda, on the other hand, have failed to stick in the majors.

The jury is still out on recent arrivals such as Aroldis Chapman, Dayan Viciedo and Jose Iglesias.

Peter Bjarkman, who has written extensively about Cuban baseball, points out that only a handful of the players who left the island to seek fortune in the majors were top stars. Several defectors, he said, were oversold to general managers, the news media and fans.

"When you only have a couple dozen players to look at," Bjarkman said via e-mail, "and when some of the more recent ones have come to the majors surrounded by some much hype and such unrealistic expectations, then it is not surprising that there have been disappointments, inconsistencies and some failures."

Facing superior pitching

Cespedes, 26, is batting .212 with three homers and seven RBI. He has reached base safely in nine out of 10 games but has also struck out in all but one game, for an alarming 15 times in 33 at-bats.  More >>

Livan Hernandez: "I do not talk about politics" & 'F... Cuban big leaguers

By Evan Drellich* / MLB.com

It's understandable that some Cuban-born players, or those of Cuban descent, were reluctant Tuesday to discuss Ozzie Guillen's apology for the comments he made about Fidel Castro.

Consider the position of Yoenis Cespedes, the A's outfielder who defected from Cuba last summer and has family in Cuba. Having relatives living under the rule of Castro could easily lend one to silence.

Even though Braves pitcher Livan Hernandez defected 17 years ago, when he was 20, his situation is similar to that of Cespedes.

"I do not talk about politics," Hernandez said. "I still have family down there."

Guillen, the Marlins manager, apologized during a news conference with media and Miami community members at Marlins Park, hoping to smooth things over after his remarks to Time magazine upset many in South Florida's Cuban community.

Guillen's comments to Time included, "I love Castro," and, "I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still here." He was suspended for five games by the Marlins.

The Padres' Yonder Alonso also did not care to talk. Some players may simply want to stay away from a conversation they see no benefit in joining, even if their families do not remain in Cuba.

"I get paid to play baseball for the Yankees and to help the Yankees win games," said outfielder Raul Ibanez, who is of Cuban descent. "That's the only thing I focus on and the only thing I care about right now. ... I just don't see anything that gets outside of that realm; it's just not productive for me or for the team."

Still, there were those with connections to Cuba who did speak about Guillen, and those players and managers appeared willing to forgive, even if none offered immediate absolution.

Royals catcher Brayan Pena defected from Cuba and lives in Miami. He woke up early Tuesday morning on the West Coast, where the Royals are playing the A's, to watch Guillen's news conference.

"I really saw somebody that was very regretful, somebody that was in a lot of pain, somebody who knew he'd caused him and his family and a lot of people a lot of pain," Pena said. "And somebody who really believed that he can change, that he learned from his mistake. He was like a piñata.

"This is America, everybody deserves a second chance. That's why I'm proud to be an American, that's why I became an American citizen. This is what a real democracy is, because I lived on the other side where you can't explain yourself, where you have to be very careful what you say."

The Royals have others from Cuba: third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez, bench coach Chino Cadahia and infielder Yuniesky Betancourt were also born there.

"1999 was the last time that I was able to go back to my country," Pena said. "So imagine people 50, 60 years ago like Eddie or Chino Cadahia and those guys. For me, it's been like forever."

Rodriguez has known Guillen for years.

"It's tough." he said. "I don't think Ozzie meant any harm. I feel that way [but] it's a thorn in the Cuban community's side. I hope it passes and it passes in the right way and that balance and understanding comes across from everybody."

The father of Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who lives in Miami, called his son on Tuesday morning and asked him to remain quiet. Gonzalez, who left Cuba with his parents at the age of three and spent most of his life in Miami, nonetheless felt he wanted to add some perspective.

"I saw a guy who knew he had made a mistake," Gonzalez said. "By reading his face, he's wearing it pretty good. I'm surprised for him [having lived in Miami] for so long that he took that lightly. I have an uncle and grandmother still down there [in Cuba]. I was born there and came [to Miami] when I was real young with my mom and dad. You take that pretty seriously, those kinds of comments when you're dealing with those kinds of dictatorships or leaderships.

"It's going to take a while to earn the trust of the people down there or for them to forget and forgive. You could tell that press conference was hard on him, harder than any kind of suspension or fine."

The White Sox's Alexei Ramirez, who played for Guillen, commented on the situation before Guillen's apology was issued, and said Tuesday he had nothing new to say.

"Apologizing is definitely a big first step," Ramirez said previously. "Again, I feel that everyone has their opinion, but I also feel that people should be forgiven. So, if he's going to apologize, then I feel that hopefully it will be accepted. I would just say whatever his thoughts, whatever his comments, those are Ozzie's comments. That's more on him."

Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez is from Miami and his father is from Cuba. Sanchez was pleased with the character his new manager displayed.

"He was sincere in his apology," Sanchez said. "It was good to see him out there apologizing, trying to set everything straight. He looked very sincere to me. We just have to move forward and keep going." 

-------------------------------

*Evan Drellich is a reporter for MLB.com.

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Cubs sign Cuban pitcher Gerardo Concepcion to 5-year, $6M deal

By Matt Snyder | Baseball Blogger/

The Chicago Cubs have officially signed Cuban pitcher Gerardo Concepcion to a five-year, $6 million major-league contract, the club announced Sunday. Reports of his signing broke in early February, but the deal just now has come to fruition.

Concepcion, a 20-year-old left-hander, won Rookie of the Year in the Cuban National League last season, when he went 10-3 with a 3.36 ERA. He then defected from Cuba and became a free agent for this offseason.

“He's a 20-year-old left-hander, a really good feel for pitching, a three pitch mix,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said (Chicago Tribune). “He's had success at a young age in Cuba and a guy we're excited to bring over here and work with.”

Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein tweeted that he'd rank Concepcion as the Cubs' 8th best prospect at this point.

The Cubs will add Concepcion to the 40-man roster but send him to minor-league camp. He's more a long-term project than a short-term solution, which is the same direction the new Cubs administration has taken the entire offseason. The Cubs have also reportedly been closing in on Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, but nothing is done yet.

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Yasmani Grandal and Yonder Alonso: From Havana to the Majors

By Jorge Arangure Jr. | ESPN The Magazine

 

Getty Images/ Grandal, left, and Alonso are on the verge of completing a journey from Havana to the majors.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- On certain days, when the stars align, two sets of families will meet by chance at a local grocery store in Miami or perhaps at a college baseball game.

And when they meet, they speak about a certain bond that very few families can share.

Years ago these encounters between the two families may have taken place in Cuba at a corner store and they may have involved topics that were quite different: the struggle of everyday life and the difficulty of finding food for their families. Or perhaps they would have spoken about baseball, because certainly that's a fact of life in Cuba as well.

But in Miami, those concerns have vanished. The conversations have been transformed, and tend to focus on the up-and-coming careers of the sons in each family, Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal of the San Diego Padres.

Thousands of miles away, the two sons, whose fates seem intertwined, are in Arizona with dreams of spending the next decade on a major league field together. It's the embodiment of the Cuban-American dream, and their success was only possible because of the sacrifices made by two sets of families that occasionally, and coincidentally, meet.

---

During the offseason, Grandal spent a lot of time looking up trade rumors involving Alonso, his then-teammate with the Cincinnati Reds. Call it a hunch, Grandal believed their fates were connected.

"I just knew that wherever Yonder went, I was going, too," Grandal says.

It's not hard to see why, as the connections between the two players are striking: Both were born and grew up in Havana. Both were baseball brats as children on the island. Both left Cuba at a young age under remarkable circumstances and moved to Miami. Both attended the University of Miami and were then drafted in the first round by the Reds just two years apart.

"It just seems like we're a package deal wherever we go," Grandal says.

And that was the case on Dec. 17, when he and Alonso (along with Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger) were traded to the San Diego Padres for 24-year-old ace Mat Latos. Fate had struck again. It seemed inescapable. The two were inseparable.

Alonso, barring an injury or an unforeseen development, will be the Padres' first baseman this season. While Alonso, who Keith Law ranked as the 69th-best prospect in baseball, is not your typical home run-hitting corner infielder, scouts tout his ability to hit the ball to all fields, and Padres officials believe the 24-year-old has the prototypical swing to play in the offensive graveyard that is Petco Park. More >>

Oakland A's notebook: Yoenis Cespedes continues to hit the ball hard

By Carl Steward/

PHOENIX -- For the second straight day, much-touted Cuban signee Yoenis Cespedes upstaged the A's players participating in the scheduled spring training game by tearing it up in another simulated game.

Cespedes, who might play in his first Cactus League game this weekend, took six at-bats against minor league pitchers Thursday and had three more hits, including his second home run in as many days at the club's Papago Park minor league complex.

Facing A's minor league pitchers Blake Hassebrock and Shawn Haviland, Cespedes hit the ball solidly every time up. His home run, against Haviland, was a low line shot down the left-field line and over the wall. He also singled hard to center and had a sharp grounder back of third base for an infield hit.

In two simulated games, Cespedes is 7 for 12 with two homers.

Manager Bob Melvin, who watched part of the simulated session but missed the home run, said it's likely Cespedes could play in a game Saturday or Sunday but didn't want to get locked into it.

"We want to make sure he makes progress (Friday) and feels comfortable in the outfield and feels comfortable running the bases," the manager said. "But I think there's a good chance this weekend he's in there."

A's general manager Billy Beane, who attended Oakland's game against the Dodgers in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday, has purposely avoided seeing Cespedes' hitting sessions.

"No, no, I didn't want to jinx him," Beane said.  More >>

Jorge Soler works out for BlueJays

Toronto Sun/

Jorge Soler, the next big outfield prospect from Cuba, worked out Wednesday for general manager Alex Anthopoulos and other Toronto Blue Jays executives.

Soler, 19, and three other Cubans -- pitcher Armando Rivero, outfielder Henry Urrutia and left-hander Omar Luis -- strutted their stuff at the Jays complex in Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic, an industry source told MLB.com.

Reports are false that the Chicago Cubs already have a $28-million deal with Soler, the source said.

The outfielder is expected to meet Sunday with the Baltimore Orioles, while the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies also are interested in signing him.

Soler is following a similar route to that taken by fellow Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who signed a four-year contract worth $36 million this week with the Oakland A's.

Soler needs to be approved for residency in the Dominican and cleared by the U.S. Treasury Department before he can sign a contract as a free agent.

Yoenis Cespedes: The Showcase

Oakland A's sign coveted Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes

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By Seth Livingstone, USA TODAY Cuban outfielder Yoenis Céspedes and the Oakland A's have agreed to terms on a free agent contract. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted that the deal is worth $36 million for four years. More >>

Marlins extend six-year, $40 million offer to Cuban star Yoenis Cespedes

 

By James Schmehl  

Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes hit .143 as the club's designated hitter for Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League.

Update: The Miami Herald confirms the Marlins did extend an offer, but it is less than the reported $40 million.

DETROIT -- Bidding on Cuba’s defected baseball star has officially kicked off.

Yoenis Cespedes was expected to command a $40 million-plus contract this offseason -- and it appears the 26-year-old outfielder has received an offer matching that description.

The Miami Marlins extended Cespedes a six-year offer worth roughly $40 million during his three-day visit, a source close to the subject told the U.S.-based blog Café Fuerte.

Cespedes arrived in Miami late Tuesday after being granted a travel visa and met with team officials Wednesday.

Marlins president David Samson told reporters last week that the club was aggressively negotiating a contract and hinted Wednesday the club could make an in-person offer.

According to Cafe Fuerte, Cespedes is expecting approval in the near future to visit other teams that are interested. The Tigers, Cubs, Orioles, Indians and White Sox are said to have expressed serious interest in the right-handed power hitter.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski reportedly said Thursday that Cespedes did not travel to Detroit and declined to say if team executives met with the five-tool outfielder in Miami.

Cespedes told reporters that he would like to play in Miami and reportedly has no immediate plans to meet with any other clubs, according to the report.

"There are a lot of Cubans and they would support me a lot,” Cespedes told the South Florida Sun Sentinel late Tuesday. “Hopefully I can play for the Marlins."

Cubs sign Cuban left-hander Gerardo Concepcion for $7 million

Chicago Tribune/

 The Cubs have signed left-handed pitcher Gerardo Concepcion to a reported $7 million multi-year, major league contract.

Concepcion, 19, defected from Cuba in the Netherlands after being named rookie of the year for the Cuban national team. He will be invited to spring training, but is not expected to make the rotation. The Tribune first reported the team's interest in him during December's winter meetings."I would not throw him into the major leagues yet," agent Jaime Torres said. "While I think he can make it really fast, he is only 19. But this kid has good stuff, a great makeup and he's extremely intelligent."

Concepcion's fastball, according to scouts, is about 92 mph, but he has an exceptional curveball and very good changeup.

Among the Cubs' competitors for Concepcion were the White Sox, although he was believed to have preferred the Cubs weeks ago. The Cubs and Sox remain active in bidding for Cuban outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Jorge Soler.

El Duque cree cubanos se desenfocan

HIALEAH, Florida -- Orlando Hernández, el cubano desertor más exitoso de todos los tiempos en las Grandes Ligas, está preocupado por la inconsistencia que han mostrado algunos de sus compatriotas que más recientemente firmaron para el béisbol norteamericano.

"Los muchachos que están llegando ahora deberían apreciar un poquito más la oportunidad que Dios le está dando de llegar a este país y concentrarse un poco más en el béisbol", dijo Hernández a ESPNdeportesLosAngeles.com en Hialeah, Florida.

"Creo que los cubanos que están llegando ahora tienen calidad, pero los dominicanos, venezolanos y puertorriqueños se enfocan más en el trabajo de llegar", dijo Hernández. "Sabemos que para los cubanos es un golpe es muy grande el venir de no tener nada a tenerlo todo, pero pienso que a veces se enredan un poquito y no se concentran", agregó.

"El Duque" Hernández sabe exactamente de lo que habla. En 1997, el entonces legendario lanzador de Industriales de La Habana en la liga local y miembro de la orgullosa Selección Nacional de la isla, escapó de Cuba en una balsa, se refugió en Costa Rica y posteriormente firmó un contrato de $6,6 millones de dólares con los Yankees de Nueva York. Mas en  Espn Deportes >>