VENERUNT VIDERUNT VICERUNT
by Rich Necker, 1952 bat boy (then all of 12 years of age) of the Florida Cubans.
After a series of exhibition tilts in the United States while in transit to Saskatchewan from their training base in Lakeland Florida, Los Cubanos won their opening two contests of the season (both shutouts) on Canadian soil. After that, exhibition game coverage was scanty although tournament games were generally well reported.
One of the first things that caught my eye were the very stylish caps worn by team members - exact replicas of those worn by the 1948 world champion Cleveland Indians.
(June 4) Brick Swegle’s comments in early June, 1952 regarding the winning attitude of coach Beiden’s varsity Bulldog diamond protégés at Fresno State made an indelible impression upon a scrawny kid from the prairies which ultimately influenced his decision to one day head for the learning institution in the San Joaquin Valley.
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(July 16-17) Three diamonds were used in the early round of the 1952 single-knockout Indian Head event.
During the tourney, my room in the town’s only hotel was on the second floor, directly above the beer parlor (a noisy, smoke-filled, men-only premises serving ten cent glasses of draft beer which had, of all things, brass spittoons throughout) which meant that I didn’t get much sleep until the watering hole closed and the rowdies all headed for the evening dance.
While I was shagging bats each half inning and keeping possible relievers loose in the other segment of the frame, I was unaware that the tourney final was being broadcast live by Johnny Esaw (later a star on National TV out of Toronto) on CKRM radio. It got cool during the final game, which was played well past sunset utilizing artificial illumination from a temporary floodlight system.
(July 30) Now on that crazy Rosetown Tournament riot, I note some hazy memories by Emile "The Cat" Francis in his recollection of the incident particularly that it was a low-scoring game and his team, the Beavers won. Not so. This was a game with 32 hits, a 13-12 ball game and it was the Cubans who pulled out the 11-inning victory. The wild game was covered in newspapers across Canada and the United States.
(August 7) The team’s capturing of the 1952 National Baseball Congress title for Saskatchewan is also something forever etched in my memory.
(August 13)
The fans loved the speedy, aggressive approach used by this youthful team but the opposition semi-pro clubs, for the most part, absolutely despised them as a group, referring to their style of play as being “hotdog” or “showboat.” Probably the most vocal of the critics, to my surprise, were the black American imports, veterans of summer play in western Canada, many of whom had been the darlings of the fans in previous seasons - perhaps exposing a shade of jealousy for the transferred fan adoration? Los Cubanos, several of whom were still in their late teens and having little or no grasp of the English language, played with relentless passion, the only way they knew how to approach the game and that intensity often rubbed the opposing squads the wrong way. Their penchant for winning most of the time also added fuel to the fire. The resentment and isolation they often encountered from a few Saskatchewan-based semi-pro teams tended to strengthen their resolve and brought them closer together as a unit.
The team never returned to the prairies as a unit for a second season although some of the 1952 squad wound up as members of the independent 1953 Indian Head Rockets as well as with the semi-pro Saskatoon Gems of the 1953 Saskatchewan Baseball League. Outfielder Mario Penalver of Havana corresponded with me occasionally over the off-season.
Back row (left to right) : Pedro Seoane 1b, Roberto Ledo C, Roberto (Chico) Barbon LF, Julio Bonilla 2b, Orlando Arango P, Ezequiel Diaz SS, Mario Herrera CF, Gilberto Yzquierdo Mgr-C, Mario Penalver RF, Business Manager (name unknown). Front row (left to right) : Jose (Hippy) Hernandez P, Juan Dominguez P, Carlos Forten P, Ignacio Cisnero P, Dick Necker Batboy, Marcelino Arozarena Utility, Leopoldo Reyes 3b, Juan Prats P