CABO ROJO, PR — As a relocating Nuyorican and president of Latino Sports while here in Puerto Rico it’s important to learn as much as I can about sports on the island beyond just being a fan of the local teams especially since the second largest number of visitors to our site, www.latinosports.com come from Puerto Rico. As such, every time that I come to the island, I like to venture out and learn and share information related to sports that I believe that many of our Puerto Rican and non-Puerto Rican readers would also enjoy knowing.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Raymond Collazo, General Manager and Orlando Andy Castro, Manager of the AAA baseball team, Los Tiburones de Aguadilla. Aguadilla is a beautiful coastal town in the northwest part of the island and the Luis A. Canena Márquez stadium sits atop a hill with a beautiful view of the ocean that has natural air conditioning with the prevailing winds cooling the five thousand seat stadium.
Outside area of stadium named after Luis A. “Canena” Márquez located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico – Image Credit: Latino Sports
While I was meeting with both Raymond and Andy learning about their teams second year returning to play at the stadium which they had not played in decades, I also learned a lot about the Puerto Rican baseball leagues from AA, AAA and the professional leagues and about the player who the stadium was named after. I was intrigued by the huge statue outside the stadium of Luis A. “Canena” Márquez. I was fascinated learning about Márquez, a player that I had never heard of that I decided to share a little of his history on our site for all present and future readers.
*Marquez was the first black Aguadillano to play in the Negro Leagues. He played for the New York Black Yankees and in the majors. Márquez was the first player of color signed by the Yankees, where he didn’t play for them in the majors but for Newark Bears Triple A affiliate.
Statue of Luis A. Canena Márquez – Image Credit: Latino Sports
During his first professional season in Puerto Rico, Márquez batted .361 and tied with Alfonso Gerard for 1944-45 Rookie of the Year honors. The next season, he led the league with 10 triples, tying the league record, and, during the 1946-47 season, he set the single-season home run record with 14, breaking Josh Gibson record by one. During the 1953-1954 season, Márquez was the Puerto Rican Winter League’s batting champion with a .333 batting average and was voted Most Valuable Player as well. He hit two home runs in the 1957 Caribbean Championship Series.
Over the course of 20 seasons in Puerto Rico, Márquez played in 4,018 games; scored 768 runs; registered 1,206 hits which included 235 doubles, 66 triples, and 97 home runs; and batted .300. His totals of games played, hits, doubles, and runs scored are all league records. He was inducted into the Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame in October 1991.
Image Credit: Latino Sports
In 1951 Márquez finally moved up to the major leagues when he was claimed by the Boston Braves in the Rule 5 draft prior to the season. Márquez had joined the Braves one year after Sam Jethroe integrated it, but historian Adrian Burgos noted that Márquez was the first Afro-Latino player signed by the Braves, and the second one overall (after Minnie Miñoso) His major-league debut came on April 18, 1951, when he entered the game against the New York Giants as a pinch-runner for Jim Wilson. Márquez’s first hit, a triple, came on April 19 in the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Giants. His first RBI followed the next day in a 2-for-4 performance against the Philadelphia Phillies; Márquez drove in the first run and scored the second in a 2-1 Braves victory. He scored the winning run on Max Surkont’s sacrifice fly after singling, advancing to second base on a sacrifice, and stealing third. Márquez played in 68 games for the Braves in 1951, and he was frequently used as a pinch-runner. He hit only.196 and was successful on only half of his stolen base attempts, going 4-for-8 on the year.
*Special thanks to the SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) for the information for this article.
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