In a recent article for Sporting News, University of Illinois history professor Adrian Burgos, Jr. suggested that the voting members of the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee didn’t appreciate the achievements of the three Cuban candidates—Tony Oliva, Luis Tiant and Minnie Miñoso—in the context of what they overcame to become major league stars.
“Miñoso and Oliva, along with Luis Tiant,” wrote Burgos, “dealt with the sharp break in U.S.-Cuban relations that occurred after the Castro-led revolution of 1959, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, and the U.S. trade embargo. They became, in a certain sense, men without a country.”
That’s a fair assessment. After the 1960 baseball season, when the Cuban major leaguers returned to the island to see family and play in the Cuban Winter League, Fidel Castro forced them to make a critical life decision. If they wanted to resume careers in the United States, they were free to go. If they chose to stay, they would be staying for good.
In April 1961, when the Bay of Pigs invasion escalated tensions between Cuba and the U.S., those who had traveled to Florida or Arizona for spring training soon discovered that borders were closing. In time, they were able to return to Cuba to visit, but many never saw their parents again and missed out on those milestones that families share—marriages, the birth of children and family funerals.
Nearly all of them, however, had settled into professional careers in the U.S. Many were married and had their own children.
That wasn’t the case for Oliva, who had arrived in Florida for a Twins tryout in the days leading up to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. He was single and had never been away from the family farm where he lived with his parents and nine siblings. On top of that, Oliva’s baseball skills were so raw that the Twins decided not to sign him.
Oliva had arrived in the U.S. full of hope, looking to start a professional baseball career, but pursuing that dream required that he stay despite lacking a contract and a working knowledge of English in a culture that was alien to him. Needless to say, Oliva made the most of his second chance, and 53 years later, in December, he fell one vote short of Hall of Fame induction.
It's hard enough to be the best 500 in the world in any profession, and learning to become a major leaguer while also learning a new language and culture is a remarkable challenge.
Many of the challenges that Oliva faced were shared among the roughly 40-50 Cubans who were playing in the major and minor leagues at the time. That includes Tiant and Miñoso as well, though the issues of their cultural isolation and the racial bigotry encountered by black Cubans were given virtually no press coverage when they were playing.
The plight of the new generation of Cubans to arrive in recent years is drawing more attention to the cultural isolation issue, and Burgos hopes that will cause Veterans Committee voters to reassess how they look at the likes of Oliva, Tiant and Miñoso:
“It takes more than playing talent to achieve success. That was particularly true in the era when Miñoso, Oliva and Tiant broke through as integration pioneers, breaking barriers in the minor leagues and majors and achieving success that placed them among the very best of their generation. I still await the day that they receive their rightful due and are elected into the Hall of Fame.”
“Miñoso and Oliva, along with Luis Tiant,” wrote Burgos, “dealt with the sharp break in U.S.-Cuban relations that occurred after the Castro-led revolution of 1959, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, and the U.S. trade embargo. They became, in a certain sense, men without a country.”
That’s a fair assessment. After the 1960 baseball season, when the Cuban major leaguers returned to the island to see family and play in the Cuban Winter League, Fidel Castro forced them to make a critical life decision. If they wanted to resume careers in the United States, they were free to go. If they chose to stay, they would be staying for good.
In April 1961, when the Bay of Pigs invasion escalated tensions between Cuba and the U.S., those who had traveled to Florida or Arizona for spring training soon discovered that borders were closing. In time, they were able to return to Cuba to visit, but many never saw their parents again and missed out on those milestones that families share—marriages, the birth of children and family funerals.
Nearly all of them, however, had settled into professional careers in the U.S. Many were married and had their own children.
That wasn’t the case for Oliva, who had arrived in Florida for a Twins tryout in the days leading up to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. He was single and had never been away from the family farm where he lived with his parents and nine siblings. On top of that, Oliva’s baseball skills were so raw that the Twins decided not to sign him.
Oliva had arrived in the U.S. full of hope, looking to start a professional baseball career, but pursuing that dream required that he stay despite lacking a contract and a working knowledge of English in a culture that was alien to him. Needless to say, Oliva made the most of his second chance, and 53 years later, in December, he fell one vote short of Hall of Fame induction.
It's hard enough to be the best 500 in the world in any profession, and learning to become a major leaguer while also learning a new language and culture is a remarkable challenge.
Many of the challenges that Oliva faced were shared among the roughly 40-50 Cubans who were playing in the major and minor leagues at the time. That includes Tiant and Miñoso as well, though the issues of their cultural isolation and the racial bigotry encountered by black Cubans were given virtually no press coverage when they were playing.
The plight of the new generation of Cubans to arrive in recent years is drawing more attention to the cultural isolation issue, and Burgos hopes that will cause Veterans Committee voters to reassess how they look at the likes of Oliva, Tiant and Miñoso:
“It takes more than playing talent to achieve success. That was particularly true in the era when Miñoso, Oliva and Tiant broke through as integration pioneers, breaking barriers in the minor leagues and majors and achieving success that placed them among the very best of their generation. I still await the day that they receive their rightful due and are elected into the Hall of Fame.”