A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 [Hardcover]

Peter C. Bjarkman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2007

Major League Baseball's 2006 World Baseball Classic shocked an international audience when an amateur team from Cuba met Japan in San Diego for the sport's first true world championship. But those who had paid attention to international tournaments were hardly surprised by Cuba's showing against all-star teams of American, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Venezuelan professionals. Cuban national teams have now reached the finals of 38 consecutive major world tournaments, won better than 90 percent of their international contests since 1939, repeatedly beaten U.S. all-stars at the avowed American national game, and reigned for more than half a century as undisputed champions of global baseball. In this groundbreaking book, expert Peter Bjarkman follows the full arc of Cuban baseball history, including close coverage of the nearly five decades since the Sugar Kings' ejection from the International League. Dispelling the mystery and disinformation that surround Cuba, its leader, and its teams, early and late, Bjarkman gives us the first truly balanced history of baseball on the Caribbean island.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter C. Bjarkman, is a widely recognized authority on Cuban baseball history, an avid collector of Cuban game-worn uniforms, and a frequent visitor to the island of Cuba. A past winner of The Sporting News-SABR Award and Macmillan-SABR Award for baseball research, he is also the author of Baseball with a Latin Beat (1994).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (January 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786428295
• ISBN-13: 978-0786428298
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,595,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Bjarkman is widely recognized as a leading authority on Cuban baseball, both pre- and post-revolution. He has covered the Cuban League and the Cuban national team for the popular website www.BaseballdeCuba.com since 2007 and has traveled widely with the Cubnan national team to international tournaments for the past fifteen years. His volume entitled A HISTORY OF CUBAN BASEBALL, 1864-2006 (McFarland, 2007) is universally considered the seminal work on the history of the island nation's national pastime. Bjarkman has also written widely over the past 20 years on Latin American baseball, major league baseball, and NCAA and NBA basketball. He has appeared in numerous television and radio interviews and in more than a dozen documentary films on baseball and basketball history. Bjarkman can also be found at www.bjarkman.com, www.BaseballdeCuba.com, and on his popular MLB Blog (Bjarkman's Latino and Cuban Baseball History Page) which has been an MLB "Top 100 Blog Site" for the past two years (2008, 2009).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cuban baseball history, July 5, 2007

By 

Reid J. Duffy (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 (Hardcover)

The importance and quality of this book is best expressed in a recent review by noted sports journalist Pete Cava, when he writes: "Like opera afacienados, fans of international baseball are passionate, but few and far between. And for any author, writing the definitive tome about Cuban baseball from its origins to the present is like taking vows of poverty.
Therefore,!felicitaciones! to Pete Bjarkman for his latest opus, "A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006", simply the most complete work on the game as it's played just ninety miles away across the Florida Straits.
Bjarkman's book is a dizzying, four-part compilation of hard-to-find material on Cuban baseball- both pre- and post-revolution. Frequently detonating myths along the way, Bjarkman explains how the game took root in Cuba; how the island became a winter hotbed during the 20th Century's first decades for Negro League stars from the U.S. like Oscar Charlseston; and how it was Cuba's amateur ballclubs (and not the winter league teams) that enthralled local fans prior to the ascent of Fidel Castro.
Paying homage to Cuba's legends, Bjarkman devotes time to Adolfo Luque ("the Original 'Pride of Havana'), Orestes Minoso ("the Cuban Comet"), Conrado Marrero and Martin Dihigo ("Baseball's Least-Known Hall of Famer"). He also writes about Cuban players of the Castro era ("The World's Best Unknown Players"): Omar Linares, Orestes Kindelan, Antonio Pacheco, Norge Luis Vera, Victor "El Loco" Mesa- men who would have commanded fabulous big league contracts on the open market, but remain unfamiliar to most North American fans.
A number of tomes on Cuban baseball have appeared over the past decade, written by notables like S.L. Price, Milton Jamail, and Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria. Bjarkman alternately praises and scolds each of them throughout his book. Since he probably spends more time in Havana than Castro and may know more about Cuban baseball than "El Comandante" himself, Bjarkman's criticism can't be shrugged off.
Bjarkman buries once and for all the notion that Fidel was once a pitching prospect (while Castro was a schoolboy athlete in the 1940's, baseball wasn't even his best sport). Bjarkman also puts to rest any notion that Cuba's baseball tradition, like so many Cuban citizens, fled the island after Castro's rise to power.
Istead, Bjarkman argues that the sport reached its zenith during the Castro years- a theory that's bound to act as a lightning rod for criticism. But anyone who claims Bjarkman is soft on Castro's regime ultimately has to concede that this book isn't about Cuba's government; it's about Cuban baseball. And while many readers would disagree with what Bjarkman calls America's "blatant imperialistic policies", few would disagree when he acknowledges Havana's use of baseball as a propaganda tool. (Bjarkman's depiction of Castro's micro-managing of the Cuban national team would have George Steinrenner shaking his head and clucking his tongue).
"A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006" explores baseball to its roots. It provides statistics, records, standings and other nuggets previously found only in the official Cuban league guides. And if there's any disparity, it's best to go with whatever Bjarkman says.

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, June 16, 2009

By 

Nicholas R.W. Henning (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 (Hardcover)

Why does Mr Bjarkman write five star reviews on his own books?

Some people may accuse Mr Bjarkman of being vain. I've noticed this on many of his works on Amazon.com, particularly when people write unfavourable reviews. He is then quick to tack on a five star review of his own. A professional Historian or Author wouldn't respond to criticism this way.

However, Mr Bjarkman has put together a satisfactory history with this book. A reason why this history is competent is because of the extensive domination Cuba has had, particularly on amateur world baseball, and this is a form of baseball that is too often overshadowed by professional domestic baseball leagues around the world.

Nicholas R.W. Henning - Australian Baseball Author

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Objective and factual, March 9, 2007

By 

Bob W. "Bob W." (Goodyear, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 (Hardcover)

I have read Mr. Bjarkman's other books on Cuban baseball and this one is the crowning touch. It not only traces the history of Cuban baseball back to its roots but it also follows the nuances of the game through the years in the evolvement of the Cuban game, both pre and post revolution.

Bjarkman;s objectivity will probably run afoul of the Cuban bureacracy in some areas, but no one can argue his resolute following of detail in stating the facts of Cuban baseball.

It is not easy to eliminate references to the political system of Cuba when it is so closely entwined with baseball, but Bjarkman succeeds in telling history devoid of politics. Anyone's statements to the contrary merely show their lack of knowledge: both of Cuban baseball and Cuban history.

This is a must read for those interested in baseball in Latin America and its original, and continuing, hotbed - Cuba.