May 9, 1871: Esteban Enrique Bellán becomes the first Hispanic player in Major League Baseball history. But, due to his use of a “stage name,” this is left unknown for over a century. The 21-year-old Cuban infielder played as "Steve Bellan" for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association. The Haymakers lost to the Boston Red Stockings, 9-5 at the Haymakers' Grounds in Troy. This was the only game played in the National Association, and thus the only professional sporting event in America, on that day, a Tuesday.
He was born on October 1, 1849, in Havana, the capital of Cuba. He came to America, to New York, and studied at what's now known as Fordham University, where he took on his anglicized name: Instead of "ESS-tay-bahn Bay-AHN," his name would now be pronounced "Steev Bell-ANN."
Before the Haymakers, Bellan played amateur baseball (or, perhaps, "amateur," getting paid under the table) for Union of Morrisania, in The Bronx. Afterward, he would play for the New York Mutuals. He returned to Cuba, and organized the 1st baseball game there, played on December 27, 1874. His team, Club Habana, defeated Club Matanzas, 51-9.
Thus, he is known there as the father of Cuban baseball. He lived until August 8, 1932. Club Habana would send several players to the American major leagues, until dictator Fidel Castro outlawed all professional sports teams in 1961.
That May 9, 1871 game also featured MLB's 1st Jewish player, Troy center fielder Lipman Emanuel Pike, who was also the Haymakers' manager. "Lip" Pike was born on May 25, 1845 in Manhattan, and grew up in Brooklyn. He debuted in organized, if not professional baseball, in 1865, with one of the top amateur teams, the Brooklyn Atlantics.
He also played for the original version of the Philadelphia Athletics, the Irvington club of New Jersey, the New York Mutuals, and the Atlantics again. He was with the Atlantics in 1870 when they ended the unbeaten status of the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the 1st openly professional baseball team.
In the National Association, Pike played for the Haymakers in 1871, the Baltimore Canaries in 1872 and '73, the Hartford Dark Blues in 1874, and the St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1875. When the National League was founded in 1876, the Brown Stockings joined, and Pike was still with them. In 1877 and '78, he played for the Cincinnati Reds, but this wasn't the Red Stockings of 1869 and '70, nor the team founded in 1882 that still exists today. He also managed the Dark Blues in 1874, and the Reds in 1877.
He wasn't just a man with a distinction: He led the NA in home runs in 1871, '72 and '73, in RBIs in 1872, and doubles in 1874; and the NL in home runs in 1877. He won a Pennant with the Providence Grays in 1878, then turned to his father's profession, running a clothing store, continuing to play minor-league ball until 1887, when he played 1 last game, with the New York Metropolitans of the American Association. On October 10, 1893, at the age of 45, seemingly healthy, he died of what turned out to be heart disease.
The Haymakers played in Troy, across the Hudson River from the New York State capital of Albany, from 1860 to 1872. A 2nd team with that name would play in the National League from 1879 to 1882, at which point they moved down the Hudson, and became the New York Gothams. In 1886, the name was changed to the New York Giants. So the team that has been in San Francisco since 1958 can trace their lineage to Troy, New York.
In 1902, Charles "Chick" Pedroes played 1 game for the Chicago Cubs. In 1911, Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida debuted with the Cincinnati Reds. Following them, a few Hispanic players -- mostly from Cuba and Puerto Rico -- were allowed in the American majors, but only if they were light-skinned enough to pass for "white." The line was that they were "as pure as Castilian soap."
On a few occasions, managers would try to sign light-skinned black players during Spring Training, and explain that they were Cuban or Native American, but black fans would give them away. Eventually, all-black teams would adopt "Cuban" as code, with the Cuban Giants (1885-1915) and the New York Cubans (1933-50) as the most notable examples.
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