Tom Brennan - A Few Brief Thoughts on Early Baseball (1900-1930j and Latinos

(Mack: I took this pic)

Jose Reyes was one of the Mets' finest Latino ball players ever!

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO! 

I got into a general discussion with a bunch of folks has to how well Babe Ruth might have played in this current day and age. Of course, he’d be 129 years old, but…

Anyway, Babe Ruth is not the discussion for today, but have at it in the comments section about the Bambino if you wish to.

A few folks in that exchange of ideas, though, said that baseball these days was diluted compared to 1930. After all, back then, they reasoned, there were just 16 teams, and now there are 30. 

That logic is totally flawed, for at least these four reasons: 

1) The current US population is about 350 million people. Back in 1930, it was 123 million people. So there’s been nearly a tripling of the number of people living in the US since 1930. 

2) They were no black players in the major leagues in 1930, and there are many now. But every baseball fan who has not been sequestered in a cave knows that narrative quite well. 

3) The average player today is significantly taller and heavier than guys from the early 1900s.

4) Perhaps not as well known, there were virtually no Latin players in the majors in 1930, a point that very few people seem to bring up.

Last year on opening day, it was very different - I read that there were 235 Latin players on major league rosters, the equivalent of 9 full teams. 

9 divided by 30 is 30%. And that does not take into account Japanese and Korean major leaguers.

So, no, baseball today isn’t diluted. 

It is instead extremely upgraded.

Feel free to research the topic more if you care to, but here are a few snippets about early Latin ballplayer major league history:

I saw this when I googled the topic, but found no stats for him.  “Luis Miguel Castro (November 25, 1876 – September 24, 1941), nicknamed "Jud" and "Count", was a professional baseball infielder who was born in Medellín, Colombia. He is considered the first Latin American to play in recognized Major League Baseball.”

Also, a University of Michigan website posted the following:

"The first two Latinos to play in what is now Major League Baseball were Rafael Almeida and Armando Marsans, who both joined the Cincinnati Reds of the National League in 1911.

The first "star" Latino baseball player was Adolfo Luque, who won 27 games (27-8, 1.93) for the Cincinnati Reds in 1923 and played for 20 years from the late 1910s through the 1930s. Though Luque achieved success, most Latino players of this time were not so lucky, having brief and undistinguishable careers in the late 1910s and 1920s."

Interestingly, as the Florida Complex League games got underway yesterday, nearly the entire FCL Mets roster is comprised of Latin ball players.

So, amigos, on this Cinco de Mayo, may you and your wife Marguerita enjoy a little information on this topic, both in the early 1900s and today.  Have a tortilla and guacamole at your leisure.  

Happy Sunday, all you Mayo Readeros.   

I read recently that the average male life expectancy in the U.S. in 1900 was just 46 years!  So, in everything, give thanks, especially if you’re older than 46.