#537 Rodolfo Arias

If you're going to play only one season of major league baseball you might as well make it a season that ends up with a World Series, right? And so it was with lefty pitcher Rodolfo 'Rudy' Arias. A Cuban native he had pitched in his home country for several years before signing with the Chicago White Sox in 1953 as a 22 year old.

Interestingly he had been approached by Joe Cambria, the Senators' 'super scout' who had reeled in so many Cuban stars for the Nats in the 50s. But Arias, on the advice of a Cuban baseball executive, put off signing with Cambria. He had hopes of drawing interest on a baseball trip his Cuban team was about to take to the States. And he was right. Based on his play the White Sox made a much larger offer than Cambria routinely did.

Beginning with his first season in the minors in '53 Arias pitched nearly year-round as he traveled back to Cuba to play in the winter leagues there. His first minor league season was his best but he continued to climb the Sox' ladder despite less than gaudy stats until he made the club in the spring of 1959.

That year he appeared in 34 games with the White Sox, all in relief. He totaled 44 innings and posted a 4.09 ERA to go with a 2-0 record. He made his last appearance of the season late in August but was on the Sox' post-season roster when they played the Dodgers in the World Series. Arias did not get into a Series game.

He was back in the minors in 1960 and moved through several organizations, never resurfacing in the big leagues. He last pitched in Mexico in 1966 after he had 'retired' for several seasons due to an arm ailment. After retiring for good Arias worked in the Miami area in construction and security. His interesting life and career are told best on his SABR bio page.

His oldest son, also named Rudy, was a catcher in the Mariners organization and remains in baseball today serving as the Orioles bullpen catcher.

Free bonus... image of a Cuban baseball card of Rudy Arias. This is the place that sells them.

Just a few cards to go,

to be exact.

#473 Mike Fornieles

Mike Fornieles (full name: Jose Miguel Fornieles Torres) is another in a long line of native Cubans that were signed by Senators scout Joe Cambria over the course of several decades as he worked for owner Clark Griffith. Fornieles came to the U.S. after signing in 1950 and began his career as a righthanded starter in Big Spring, Texas.

Having been through Big Spring it's hard to imagine being a 19-year-old from Cuba and finding yourself in the middle of west central Texas at the beginning of the 1950s. But a look at the 1951 Big Springs Broncs' roster would lead you to believe that Fornieles had plenty of countrymen around to keep him from getting lonely. And his 17-6 season would tend to back up that theory.

After another standout campaign in 1952 (with the Nats' Havana affiliate) Forneiles got a late season call-up and he debuted in Washington on September 2. In that first game he pitched and won a one hit shutout of the Philadelphia A's. He fanned four and worked around six walks for the victory. A week later he got another start and took a loss but pitched decently enough to get a couple more looks as a reliever. In his final appearance he went eight innings in relief of Julio Moreno and allowed only three hits as the Nats rallied to get him the win.

That winter he was traded to the White Sox for Chuck Stobbs as Washington tried to pick up some left handed pitching help. He spent the next four seasons as a spot starter and reliever for the Sox and Orioles who traded him to the Red Sox in 1957. He had six seasons in Boston and in 1960, by now a full time reliever, Fornieles won 10 games and led the AL in appearances and saves.

In '61 he made his only All Star squad and was called on in the first of two ASGs that year. He allowed a homer to George Altman, the first man he faced. After getting Willie Mays to fly out he was touched for a hit by Frank Robinson and was taken out of the game in favor of Hoyt Wilhelm.

He stayed with Boston until they dealt him to the Twins in 1963 after which he retired to become a car salesman in Florida. SABR has a detailed look at his career. He passed away at 66 in 1998.

That is, of course, the iconic Yankee Stadium serving as background in the pic. I appreciate those cards on which the frieze (a.k.a. 'facade') is shown.

#129 Frank Herrera The Sporting News Rookie Stars

Cuban born Francisco "Pancho" or "Frank" Herrera played in 300 games with the Phillies over three years between 1958 and 1961. Don't let that short career fool you. Herrera is one very interesting guy. When he debuted for the Phils at the age of 23 he had already been in organized ball for about 8 years. He began at 15 or so around Havana as a member of a group of youngsters called gitanillos, or little gypsies. These players worked with Cuban pro teams during practices but sat in the stands with the other fans during games. Occasionally they were called on to actually fill-in for a regular.

He was also boxing (until him mother saw him KO'd and made him quit) and an agricultural student around that time. But baseball called and he signed to play pro ball in Cuba in 1950. He was obtained by the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League in 1952. His contract was purchased by the Phillies and he began in their organization in 1955.

He played some in Philly in 1958 and hit .270 in 63 at bats but spent the '59 season in the International League with Buffalo and just tore the league up to earn MVP honors. He stepped into a regular role as the Phils' first baseman in 1960 and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting. He put together a .281 average with 17 dingers and 71 RBI but he fell off in '61, went back to the minors and was dealt to the Pirates. He never again played in the majors although he hung on in the minors with several organization through 1969 and then played in Mexico and with an independent Florida State league club as late as 1974. At times he served as player/manager.

Along the way Herrera had played winter ball in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in addition to Cuba. He made his home in the US in Miami and was part of the Cuban culture there for many years. He worked for United Airlines and for a health service provider in South Florida as well as having several baseball-related interests such as batting instructor in Mexico and running a baseball camp with fellow Cuban Paul Casanova. 

The father of three daughters Frank Herrera died in 2005 in Miami. He is a member of the International League Hall of Fame. You can (and should!) check out his SABR bio here. More info on Herrera and his part in the integration of baseball (he was the Phils first black Latino player) can be found in this book on Google.

This card is one of three 'rookie' cards issued by Topps for Frank Herrera. One version of his 1958 card is prized because of the 'error' which is described as a misspelled name on the front. It seems to be a printing error. 

Here is the more common 'correct' version:

The 1959 Rookie Stars card is featured up top and he also had a 'rookie star' card in the 1960 set. That one is my favorite because I am a fan of that '60 Rookie subset.

Interestingly he had a 1961 All Star card but no regular card by Topps.

#328 Lou Skizas

As soon as you get to Lou Skizas' Baseball Reference page and you see that he was known as "The Nervous Greek" you know that there is an interesting story here. And when you check out the first paragraph of his SABR bio, you know that there most certainly is:

“I was a character in baseball. I saw it as an interim type of career,” Lou Skizas told Bill Gleason. Skizas, known as “The Nervous Greek” during his four-season major-league playing career, was perhaps best known for an unusual ritual that he followed before coming to bat. Before reaching the plate, the right-handed-batting Skizas dropped his bat, covering it with dirt. Then, wiping the bat off by rubbing it between his pants legs, he kissed the end of the bat before reaching into his back pocket at least three times to touch an object that was said to be a good-luck piece. Placing all of his weight on his right leg, Skizas kept his left foot off of the ground until just before the pitch reached the plate. This was the unorthodox style that belonged to the man Casey Stengel once called “the greatest natural-looking hitter I've ever seen.”

Skizas was born in Chicago and raised in a home where only Greek was spoken. He claims to have been labeled as 'retarded' (his words) when he first entered school because he didn't know what his teacher was saying. As a ballplayer in high school he caught the eye of Yankee scouts and was signed in 1949 and while playing in their farm system he developed a close friendship with Mickey Mantle that remained in place all their lives. Skizas spent two seasons in the military along with his five years in the minors before he got a token shot with the Yankees in 1956. He was dealt (as all marginal Yankee players were then) to the Kansas City Athletics in May of '56.

He hit .316 in about 300 at bats that year and held down a regular outfield spot for the club in '57. That winter he was part of a huge 12 player deal that sent him to the Tigers with whom he split the '1958 season between the majors and minors. The White Sox drafted him prior to 1959 but traded him to the Reds early in the season. He was therefore technically a part of the Sox' AL champion club but he was long gone by the fall. He played for three season in the Reds' chain and one more in Detroit's, never again making a major league appearance. He also played in Cuba during the winter of 1959.

He finished with a .270 lifetime average and had 30 homers. After retiring Skizas finished a bachelor's degree he'd been working on for over a decade and then went further by adding a masters and doctorate in biology. He was a college professor in Illinois at Illinois State and the University of Illinois-Champaign along with coaching the schools' baseball teams.

As late as the 1990s he continued to be part of the game as a part-time scout for the Cubs in the Chicago area.

#93 Julio Becquer

"Money is secondary with me," [Julio Becquer] said. "I love the game and I believe this is true of most major league players. In fact, many would play for nothing because they love the game so much."

That comes from a 1958 interview of Julio Becquer that is quoted on his Baseball Reference Bullpen page. Hard to imagine a player saying that today. Becquer was signed by the Washington Senators out of his hometown of Havana, Cuba in 1952. He was a student who worked as both a bookkeeper and ballplayer in Havana. He is one of a number of black Cubans tagged by the legendary scout/entrepreneur Joe Cambria and signed by the Senators.
Becquer played a season of stateside baseball when he signed with the Nats and then, still their property, played two seasons at home in Havana. He got his first look at the majors in 1955 with a 10 game trial and returned to the minors in '56. For four seasons, through 1960, Becquer played as a part time first baseman and pinch-hitter for the Senators.
He was drafted by the expansion Los Angeles Angels for the '61 season but barely was fitted for a halo before he was sold to the Phillies in May who assigned him to Buffalo. He was then sold again, back to the Twins (the former Senators) in June.
Becquer spent most of the '62 through '64 seasons playing in Mexico. But he returned to the Twins for one game in 1963 to qualify for his pension. He pinch ran and scored in that game which is a nice touch for a guy who by all accounts was a very nice man.
I'd be willing to bet that Bequer, if asked, would list his July 4, 1961 pinch hit walk-off grand slam as his career moment. It beat the White Sox 6-4 and came just two weeks after he homered as a pinch hitter leading off the bottom of the ninth to beat Jack Fisher and the Orioles, 5-4. That homer marked both the first walkoff and first pinch homer in Minnesota Twins' history. It was an especially sweet dinger for the Twins because after leading 4-1 they were tied in the top of the ninth by a three run homer off the bat of Earl Robinson.
This card shows Becquer in what appears to be his home pinstriped Nats uni but the stadium behind him looks like Yankee Stadium. But I'm pretty sure is Griffith Stadium. There have been several other Senators in pinstripes in that same pose/spot on their cards. When you look at Roy Sievers' card you can see the differences. I conclude that: 1) Becquer is posing in Griffith and 2) I'm likely the only person in the free world who actually gives this any thought.

#413 Camilo Pascual

This card looks to be another Yankee Stadium shot with the righthander in a classic follow through pose in a red frame. Pretty nice copy of this one as well. Of course, it's somewhat off center. I hardly even notice after awhile.

Not to pick on Topps but, c'mon.... you spelled Cuban-born  Camilo Pascual's name wrong on both sides of his card, in two different ways! It's as if they said "OK, we stuck your face on Lumenti's card so we'll balance things out by screwing up your card." Pascual, to this point, had been a hard working, fairly average pitcher on lousy Nats clubs for about four or five seasons. He turned his game around in 1959 and won 17, more than twice as many as in any previous season. He made the first of his five A.L. All Star teams as well.

I saw him pitch live a couple of times as a Twin, the most memorable by far coming on a Sunday in 1963. It was another Yankee Stadium doubleheader. Pascual started the first game and in the bottom of the second inning a group of demonstrators jumped out on the field from near the Twins dugout and ran to the mound, wrapping him in a Cuban flag. I remember the incident and being aware of the whole Cuba/Castro vibe playing out at that time but it sure was a surprise. This was way before Morganna made running out onto the field chic. For years I searched for some documentation of the day. Finally, a few years ago, I found this page that discusses it as part of the larger issue of Cuban exiles in American baseball.  Then the other day I Googled the incident again and found gold! This was the picture I knew had to be out there somewhere but I'd never found. Corbis has the photo and even the original caption. I friggin' love the internet! Here's the shot: