• Submitted by: manso
• Sports
• 12 / 31 / 2010

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By: Lemay Padron Oliveros. A cheerful news reached baseball fans in Cuba last weekend: the inauguration of the Hall of Fame of Cuban Baseball, a postponed dream for decades.

There was a project approved for its construction since year 1991, but delays of all kinds braked that realization, and it wasn’t until last Sunday that one can speak of an installation dedicated to worship the best Cuban players of all times, although it is only a facility and it has not been officially established the exaltation process.

Although theories on the celebration of the first baseball game at Palmar de Junco park in Matanzas province are diverse, nobody has been able to demonstrate that prior that there were journalistic reviews on other games, at least I keep that headquarters, until no other appears well supported. There surely were other games before, but the press of the time doesn't recollect any before this, at least up until it has been investigated.

Well the objective of these material is another: it’s that of calling to establish the entering rules to the Hall of Fame as soon as possible.

At Latinoamericano Stadium there’s a plaque where it appears those selected as members of the facility until year 1960, and those names should remain, the mayor task lies on what has come afterwards.

From statistical viewpoint is very complex to measure the players with so many structures, National, Selective, Revolution Cup, wood and aluminum bats, designated hitter, etc.

For that reason I would prefer the rules be established by epochs, because a batsman of .260 in the 60’s is equal to one of .300 in the 80’s  and 90’s. the opposites happens with pitchers, because those who faced the aluminum and finished their sport career under 4.00 in the Earned Run Average (ERA) have such merit as those who did it below 3.00 runs two decades ago.

Evidently there are names won't be missing, whatever measure they establish, like Huelga, Changa, Vinent, Rogelio Garcia, Linares, Pacheco, Kindelan, Marquetti or German, just to mention a few, but there will surely be polemic with others.

It’s also necessary to establish since when a baseball player is eligible, by how long he can be nominated without being exalted, and of course, who’s got a saying on this. All this with full approval of the public, not by decree.

It would be also useful to add narrators and commentators who dedicated their life to our national hobby, a listing that should be head by Bobby Salamanca and Eddy Martin.

In short it’s necessary to collect approaches in the entire country to have a true Hall of Fame, in which appear all those who really should be included there.

Cubasi Translation Staff