Armando Marsans

{{Short description|Cuban baseball player and manager (1887–1960)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Armando Marsans

|position=Outfielder / First baseman / Manager

|image=Marsans.jpg

|birth_date={{birth date|1887|10|3}}

|birth_place=Matanzas, Captaincy General of Cuba

|death_date={{Death date and age|1960|9|3|1887|10|3}}

|death_place=Havana, Cuba

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=July 4

|debutyear=1911

|debutteam=Cincinnati Reds

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 13

|finalyear=1918

|finalteam=New York Yankees

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.269

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=2

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=221

|stat4label=Stolen bases

|stat4value=171

|teams=

Cincinnati Reds ({{mlby|1911}}–{{mlby|1914}})
St. Louis Terriers ({{by|1914}}–{{by|1915}})
St. Louis Browns ({{mlby|1916}}–{{mlby|1917}})
New York Yankees ({{mlby|1917}}–{{mlby|1918}})

| hofcolor= blue

| hoflink= Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame

| hoftype= Cuban

| hofdate= 1939

}}

Armando Marsans Mendiondo (October 3, 1887 – September 3, 1960) was a Cuban professional baseball outfielder, first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), minor league baseball, the Negro leagues, the Cuban League and the Mexican League. He played and occasionally was a player-manager from 1904 to 1927, and then went on to manage in the Mexican League and the Florida International League for four seasons between 1945 and 1953.

Mara and played in three different major leagues in his career: with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League (1911–1914), with the St. Louis Terriers in the Federal League (1914–1915), and with the St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees (1916–1918).

Biography

Marsans and Rafael Almeida debuted together with the Reds on July 4, 1911.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Cuba_born.shtml Players Born in Cuba] Baseball-Reference.com They are sometimes named the first major league players born in Cuba, which is untrue since Havana-born Chick Pedroes played in the National League in 1902. (Cuban-born Steve Bellán played from 1871 to 1873 in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. Its status as a major league is disputed by baseball historians).

Playing career

Six years before Cincinnati, Marsans and Almeida played "Negro baseball" in the United States as 1905 members of the integrated All Cubans. Marsans also played Negro league baseball in 1923 for the Cuban Stars (Riley, 514). He is buried at Colon Cemetery, Havana.

Marsans played winter baseball in the Cuban League from 1905 to 1928 and was one of ten players elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in its 1939 inaugural class.

Managerial career

Marsans was also a long-time manager in the Cuban League and won a championship in the winter of 1917 as manager of the Orientals team.Figueredo 2003, pp. 123–124, 487, 508. In {{baseball year|1923}}, he served as manager of the minor league Elmira Pioneers. In {{baseball year|1953}}, he managed the Havana Cubans.

Notes

References

{{cite book|last=Figueredo|first=Jorge S.|title=Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878–1961|place=Jefferson, North Carolina|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2003|isbn=0-7864-1250-X}}
Riley, James A. (2002). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. 2nd edition. New York: Carroll & Graf Publ. {{ISBN|0-7867-0959-6}}.