| Puerto
Rico Béisbol
 Baseball
began in Puerto Rico in the late 19th Century, after being
brought to the country from Cuba and the United States. On
April 15, 1942, Hiram Bithorn became the first Puerto Rican
native to play in the Major Leagues when he pitched for the
Chicago Cubs. In 1943, Bithorn went 18-12 and led the National
League with seven shutouts. After fighting with the U.S. Military
in World War II, Bithorn’s career fizzled and he was
out of the Major Leagues after the 1947 season. A stadium
in San Juan named in his honor hosted the 2001 Season Opener
between the Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, 22 games in each
of the 2003 and 2004 seasons for the Montreal Expos, and a
series of first and second round games in the World Baseball
Classic in 2006.
 Hall
of Famers Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda head an impressive
list of 219 Puerto Ricans who have played in the Major Leagues
by the end of the 2006 season. After an 18 year career as
the Pittsburgh Pirates’ right-fielder, Clemente finished
with a .317 lifetime batting average and an even 3,000 hits.
On New Years’ Eve 1972, he died in an
airplane crash while attempting to take supplies to aid victims
of an earthquake in Nicaragua. Three months later, Clemente
became the first Latin American born player to be enshrined
in the Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame, after baseball
waived its mandatory five-year waiting period. Other major
league stars include brothers Roberto and Sandy Alomar, Carlos
Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Juan Gonzalez, Roberto Hernandez,
Ivan Rodriguez, Benito Santiago, Edgar Martinez, Ruben Sierra,
and Bernie Williams.
In the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico,
founded in 1938, six teams play a 40 game winter season, followed
by a semi-final round and a best of nine Championship series.
The winner advances to the Caribbean Series against winning
teams of other Latin winter leagues. Puerto Rico has won the
Series 14 times with its last championship in 2000. Despite
a disheartening 12-0 loss to the Dominican Republic in their
first meeting in the 2007 Series, the host Puerto Rican team
finished with a second-place 4-2 record, beating out Valenzuela
and Mexico in the four team round-robin tournament. In the
inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, Puerto Rico finished
with a 4-2 record, bowing out in the second round after losing
to Cuba 4-3.
Links
Official
Site Of P.R. Winter League
Available for Purchase
The
Passion And Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, David Maraniss
The
Orlando Cepeda Story, Bruce Markusen
Players Born in Puerto Rico
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