The amazing tale of the 39-year-old rookie

A model of this story was initially revealed in January 2021.

You couldn’t make Conrado “Connie” Marrero cease pitching. That was true when he was a 27-year-old pitching for the primary time within the novice Cuban Leagues, that was true when he turned a 39-year-old rookie with the Washington Senators in 1950, and that was true in 1999 when Marrero refused to depart the mound earlier than the Orioles took on the Cuban National Team for a historic preseason exhibition.

That’s not a joke, both — in 1999, when the Orioles flew to Havana, Marrero was introduced out to throw the ceremonial first pitch. Except, he didn’t throw one pitch, bow earlier than the group and stroll off. He threw one other. And one other. He didn’t hand over till Brady Anderson lastly gave a half-hearted swing.

Oddly sufficient, for somebody so dedicated to pitching, Marrero didn’t begin out that manner. No, the ballplayer from Sagua La Grande, a small city on the north coast of Cuba, really started his baseball life as a 3rd baseman. He stopped after he mentioned he “caught a bouncer within the face and misplaced some enamel.”

So, Marrero — and the stogie that appeared virtually hooked up to his mouth — took to the mound for the primary time in 1938. He turned a right away success … on the age of 27. More gamers would possibly retire relatively than take up a complete totally different place that might span for many years, however Marrero wasn’t most gamers.

“And then in ’38, he joins the amateur league and he becomes, overnight, the greatest pitcher,” Kit Krieger, a SABR member and proprietor of Cubaball excursions, who turned a detailed pal of Marrero’s, instructed MLB.com. “But he’s already 27 years old. To start pitching his first game at 27 … and still [be] a 350-game winner,” he exclaims as he trails off, pointing to Marrero’s profession win whole throughout a number of groups, leagues and nations.

That first yr, Marrero gained 10 video games with a 2.54 ERA. He solely received higher from there, culminating in 1942 when he went 22-5 with a 1.22 ERA for Cienfuegos, and acquired probably the most fan votes on the Cuban National Team. Fans flocked to the stadium when he pitched, and he led the Cuban National Team to a few Amateur World Series titles.

Still, he would not flip professional till he was 35 years outdated after being caught taking part in for 2 groups in Cuba. It would take 4 extra years till he made it to the Major Leagues. Like many growing old gamers on the time, he did his finest to obscure his age, lest it preserve him from discovering work. It’s rumored that Senators proprietor Clark Griffith believed he was eight years youthful than listed. The Saturday Evening Post as soon as wrote that Marrero was, “positively 35, completely 37, indisputably 43, and undoubtedly 42.”

“He’s got more birthdays than Satchel Paige would ever dream of,” Krieger joked. “I’ve seen 1911, 1915, 1917, and May 1, April 23, and August-something.” (His birthdate is presently listed as April 25, 1911 — the date discovered on an outdated passport in Krieger’s assortment.)

Scouts as we speak won’t even take a look at him given his dimension. He was listed at simply 5-foot-5 and 158 lbs, making him the third-shortest pitcher within the fashionable period. Quite frankly, every little thing about him says he should not have made it to the Major Leagues — and but he did.

He earned a number of colourful sobriquets for his loping wind-up and looping curveball. In Cuba, he was referred to as El Premier (“Number One”), El Curveador (“The Curveballer”) and El Guajiro (“The Hillbilly”) for his farmland roots, the place he realized to pitch by throwing oranges at tree trunks. Sadly, these spectacular nicknames didn’t cross over to the large leagues, the place he was referred to as Connie, or, “a muscle-bound little gnome.”

Felipe Alou referred to as his supply “a cross between a windmill gone berserk and a mallard duck trying to fly backwards.”

His profession was seemingly made for colourful descriptions — one thing that Marrero actually did not appear to thoughts. Sure, he was identified for his curveball, however he had each pitch underneath the solar in his arsenal. He as soon as reportedly claimed by an interpreter that he threw, “Everything but my cigar.”

Blessed with some excellent pitches and a pitch-perfect reminiscence for nearly each batter he ever confronted, he recalled how he managed to strike out Ted Williams. After getting The Splendid Splinter to foul off two sliders, Marrero uncorked a floating knuckleball to get the Hall of Famer to strike out.

“Theodore hates the knuckleball . . . and the slider,” Marrero mentioned. “But he learned to hit them, anyway.”

Of course, this is among the best hitters of all-time, so Williams received his revenge. As Marrero instructed Thomas Boswell within the Washington Post in 1978:

“In Boston, he hit two residence runs off me in a single recreation. One slider. One knuckleball. After the sport, he put his arm round me underneath the stands and mentioned, ‘This was my day.’

“I told Williams,” mentioned Marrero, “every day is your day.” (This was true most of the time of their conferences: Williams pasted Marrero to the tune of a profession batting line of .333/.450/.697 in 40 PA.)

Eddie Robinson, who was the oldest dwelling Major Leaguer on the time of his demise final October, was each a teammate and opponent of Marrero’s and remembered him nicely when he spoke to MLB.com in late 2020. “He liked the big cigar. He had the big leg kick. And he was a pretty good pitcher,” Robinson mentioned, evaluating him to a different celebrated junkballer, Eddie Lopat.

After getting traded from the Senators to the White Sox, the 2 confronted off recurrently, with Marrero holding the slugging Robinson to only a .175 common.

“After I got traded to Chicago,” Robinson mentioned, “then I had to hit him, and he was pretty damn tough on me. He got me out pretty easy.”

Marrero apparently had some perception into that. The pitcher had recounted a story when he was 102 a couple of batter he was about to face with the final title Robinson. Senators supervisor Bucky Harris got here out to recommend they pitch him up and in, however Marrero cautioned that if he did that the outfielders needs to be prepared for a “big hit.” Instead, he advised they pitch Robinson low and away with breaking stuff.

The two argued, with Marrero ultimately providing a wager:

“I bet a cigar that, like this, I can get him out!” Marrero mentioned.

Sure sufficient, Marrero received the batter to come out, incomes the victory stogie. Could this Robinson — one in all solely two whom Marrero confronted in his profession — be Eddie? Robinson confirmed with a chuckle that yeah, it most likely was.

Marrero’s huge league profession was brief — due to course it was when he began across the time individuals have their mid-life disaster. Playing for the cellar-dwelling Senators actually did not assist a lot.

He put up stable numbers, although, going 39-40 with a 3.67 profession ERA. Those numbers have been adequate to earn him a visit to the All-Star Game in 1951, when he set a then-record because the oldest first-time All-Star that was later damaged by Satchel Paige. He’s nonetheless one in all simply 5 gamers, together with Nelson Cruz, Jamie Moyer and Tim Wakefield, to make their first journey to the mid-summer jewel of their ’40s.

But who is aware of how significantly better he may have been on a greater group, or how a lot fame the quotable, cigar-chomping pitcher may have come his manner if he ever received to pitch within the postseason?

Of course, perhaps he may have been higher — for Marrero by no means stopped pitching. He spent his winters pitching in Cuba, so he reportedly would lose his effectiveness later within the season as fatigue caught up with him as a result of he stored throwing whereas “different hurlers are resting their aching bones.”

One instance comes from 1947 when, between pitching in Mexico and Washington’s C-League group, Marrero mixed to go 37-8 and pitch 451 innings.

Krieger requested him how such a factor was even doable. “But he just didn’t understand the question,” Krieger mentioned. “His mechanics must have been perfect.”

Still, age catches as much as even these with easy mechanics and ligaments blessed by the gods, and after struggling in 1954 and being moved to the bullpen, the Senators launched Marrero.

Marrero subsequent pitched for the Reds’ farm membership in Havana till 1957. He then pitched in Nicaragua, piling up extra innings and positively extra victories, although the stats are misplaced, earlier than changing into a Red Sox scout. All instructed, he went 353-173, with 88 shutouts. Not dangerous numbers for a late bloomer.

Following the Cuban revolution, Marrero stayed within the nation and have become a legend at residence. He helped develop pitchers and impart knowledge from his decades-long baseball profession. Still, not every little thing went to plan.

Years later, when Krieger first met Marrero, he discovered the outdated man dwelling in a small condominium together with his grandson and dwelling off only a $7 pension per 30 days. With the assistance of his fellow Cuban baseball fanatics, Krieger helped ship Marrero cash to reside on, however it wasn’t sufficient. Krieger shortly set to work — first gathering letters from Marrero’s outdated teammates and opponents who fondly remembered him, letting “El Premier” know they did not neglect him.

Krieger then contacted MLB, the Association of Professional Baseball Players of America, and BAT (Baseball Assistance Team) for assist. He received in contact with Robinson, who referred to as up former New York Daily News author Bill Madden to search out any aid that might be despatched to Marrero, who wasn’t initially eligible for a pension as a result of he had opted out throughout his taking part in profession.

But it wasn’t only a battle to get the funds, in addition they needed to discover a solution to get the cash to Marrero. Because of the strained relations between the U.S. and Cuba, they could not simply wire some money to Marrero.

So, like some type of spy film, they found a loophole: With former huge leaguer Stan Javier dwelling within the Dominican Republic, he may enter Cuba and ship checks to Marrero. So, for the final 4 years of his life, Marrero earned $10,000 a yr from baseball — “that was a big difference, a tremendous difference,” Krieger mentioned.

When requested how he turned so near Marrero and why the outdated ballplayer turned such an vital particular person to him, Krieger answered merely. “What’s better for me than to sit in the living room of a guy and talk about DiMaggio and Mantle and Bucky Harris — who he called Bucky Harry,” Krieger mentioned, earlier than launching right into a story about how Marrero by no means may get Larry Doby out.

Marrero handed away in 2014, only a few days shy of his 103rd birthday and a deliberate nationwide celebration of his life in baseball. For the person who seemingly could not neglect a second from his baseball journey, ultimately, he wasn’t forgotten by the game, both.