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CONRADO MARRERO
Birthday greetings to a Cuba
baseball great
• Celebrating with family and
friends from the world of baseball
Antonio Díaz
CONRADO Marrero, the legend of Cuban and world
baseball, celebrated his 102nd birthday on April 25.
“El
Premier” or “Guajiro de Laberinto”, referring to the
name of the farm where he was born in Villa Clara,
Marrero was joined by loved ones, friends and
players of his great passion, baseball.
One
of his first birthday greetings was from his former
student from Santiago de Cuba, Braudilio Vinent, one
of Cuba’s most prized baseball players.
Marrero worked for almost ten years in Santiago and
eastern Cuba training pitchers, a job he enjoyed
enormously.
“He
was a father, mentor, and expressive trainer with
the players. He taught us all he knew and was
demanding,” according to former pitcher Juan “Coco”
Gómez.
Weighing 158 pounds, and 1.73 meters tall, Marrero
joined the United States major league at 39 years of
age.
With
the U.S. major league Washington Senators, he played
five seasons (1950-1954), during which time he
notched up 39 wins and 40 losses, a good result for
what was considered a weak team.
Beforehand, between 1939 and 1945, in Cuba’s Amateur
Athletic Union, he won international tournaments and
other competitions, with a total of 127 wins and 40
defeats.
Four
times world champion, he enjoyed 11 wins and five
defeats at this level.
His
dedication to his great passion earned him the
National Hero of Labor title in 1999.
Cuba
is proud to have people like Conrado Marrero.
(From
JIT)
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