Havana Cuba. — Cuba was the first Latin American country to debut in the Major Leagues, contributing important figures to professional baseball in the United States.
For more than a century, Cuban baseball players have won awards as the best pitchers, for their performance in the batting box, their offensive quality or simply as the most complete players in the tournament.
Following in the wake of Esteban Enrique Bellán, the first Cuban to play in the Majors, other baseball players from the Island came to the United States to try themselves out in the most important league in the world. One of them was Salvador José “Chico” Hernández, born on January 3, 1916 in Havana.
Although there isn’t much information about “Chico” Hernández—“Chico” was once a common nickname for Latino ballplayers—it is known that he debuted as catcher for the Chicago Cubs on April 16, 1942.
His major league career lasted just over a year and spanned two seasons, during which he had 61 hits and nine doubles in 244 at-bats for a .250 batting average. As a catcher, he played in 84 games, making 272 putouts, 38 assists and a double play.
Although the Cuban was far from having a stellar major league career, he did make baseball history in 1942 when he and right-hander Hiram “Hi” Bithorn of Puerto Rico formed the first Latin American “battery,” a term used for refer to the combination of pitcher and catcher.
The publisher of Pantagraph SportsFred Young, would once describe “Chico” Hernández as a “heavy six-foot Cuban with a broken accent”.
Salvador José “Chico” Hernández died in Havana also on January 3, but in 1986.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +525545038831, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
