Oldest Collegiate Baseball Program Recalls First Latin-Born Pro

Written by: Jerry Milani on 8th May 2009

Oldest Collegiate Baseball Program Recalls First Latin-Born Pro | read this item

While Jackie Robinson is rightly credited as a pioneer for African Americans in baseball, historians are quick to point out the less heralded Fleet Walker and his brother Welday, who played for Toledo of the then-major league American Association in 1884.

Modern stars Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki both have important places in the history of Japanese-born talent in the Majors, but Masanori Murakami of the 1964 and ’65 New York Giants predated their arrival by more than three decades.

And though Roberto Clemente is seen as a trailblazer for Latin ballplayers, he was preceded by several Hispanic standouts like Dolph Luque of Cuba, Vic Power of Puerto Rico and Bobby Avila of Mexico.

But considerably lesser known is Esteban “Steve” Bellán, a Cuban national who became the first Latin-born player to play professional baseball in the United States when he hit .252 in 60 games for the Troy Haymakers and New York Mutuals in the National Association, the precursor to the National League, from 1871-1873. Bellán graduated from Fordham University, then known as St. John’s College, in 1868. Nine years earlier, on Nov. 3, 1859, the school had competed in the first intercollegiate baseball game employing nine players per side, vs. St. Francis Xavier College.

This year, along with Amherst and Williams Colleges (whose game that same year has also been noted on its 150th anniversary, though the “Massachusetts rules” used in the contest featured 14 players per side), Fordham is celebrating the shared sesquicentennial of the oldest baseball programs in the country.

Though attempts to reunite all three schools for a series of games this year proved impossible due to scheduling conflicts, Fordham hosted Williams on April 7, with the visiting Ephs taking a 5-2 decision in the Bronx, N.Y. Amhurst has taken two of three this season from its longtime rival from Williamstown.

fordhammartinez The special twist for Fordham this year is that two of its freshmen, infielder Nick Martinez and catcher Eddy Villalta, are Cuban-Americans, with both sets of parents hailing from Cuba and now living in South Florida.

The connection is not lost on the teens, who are proud of their shared heritage.

“It is an honor to be part of the tradition of Fordham and having the first Latin-born Major Leaguer as an alum,” said Martinez, 18, who has been the Rams’ regular second baseman in his freshman season. “It is a point of pride with my parents [Nick and Anabel] that we have that connection.”

As the first Latin and Cuban to play in the U.S., Bellán’s success paved the way for such early Cuban stars as Luque and Armando Marsans and later for standouts like Sandy Amoros, José Canseco, José Cardenal, Mike Cuellar, Tito Fuentes, Livan and “El Duque” Hernandez, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Rafael Palmeiro, José Tartabull, Tony Taylor, Luis Tiant, Camilo Pasquale, Tony Perez, Zoilo Versalles, and dozens of others to make their mark as Major Leaguers.

Bellán, along with his brother Domingo, had come to the U.S.A. to study at (then) St. John’s, a Jesuit school, which was a common practice among wealthy Cuban-Catholic families. While there, Bellan played for the college’s Fordham Rose Hill Base Ball Club, which was founded in the late 1850s.

Bellán graduated in 1868 at age 18, then played one season for the Union club of Morrisania, a charter member of the National Association of Base Ball Players and the first club formed in what is now the Bronx. They played some home games near the location of the original Yankee Stadium and won the national championship in 1868.

After his pro career in the States, Bellán served as both player and manager for the Habana baseball team from 1878-1886, playing in the first organized baseball game in Cuba on December 27, 1874. Bellán piloted Habana to three Cuban League baseball championships (1878-79, 1879-80, and 1882-83).

Bellán passed away on August 8, 1932, in Havana, Cuba, at age 82. He was inducted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame in 1990.

Through Martinez and Villata at Fordham and the Cuban professional stars of today, his legacy lives on.

For more on Bellan and Cuban baseball visit:

www.CubanBall.com

PBS/Stealing Home

Incredible People/Steve Bellan

Topics: College Baseball, cuban baseball, International

Riz says:

May 8, 2009 at 7:32 pm

Fordham has such a great tradition in baseball, from Frankie Frisch to Pete Harnisch. It’s amazing how the school was such a landmark in the beginnings of collegiate sports and somewhat of a shame that now with it as big business the Rams have fallen a bit by the wayside.
Happy Mother’s Day Weekend…Two Pieces on 150 Years Of College Baseball « Sports Marketing and PR Roundup says:

May 9, 2009 at 8:10 am

[...] again college baseball on its 150th anniversary coulda been a good marketing oppt for someone…here’s the first on the Father of Hispanic Baseball…from Fordham…and Baseball Dige……and the second from NPR’s Only A Game on Saturday on the 150th anniversary of the first [...]