1935 New York Cubans

1935 New York Cubans / Franchise: New York Cubans / BR Team Page

Record: 31-25-5, Finished 2nd in Negro National League (1935 NNL)

Managed by Martín Dihigo

Ballpark: Dyckman Oval

History, Comments, Contributions

The 1935 New York Cubans marked the team's Negro National League debut and they certainly showed they belonged, finishing second to the Crawfords and taking Pittsburgh a full seven games in the finals before falling.

During the regular season, the story was all about pitching, as their 134 ERA+ led the NNL. Luis Tiant Sr. (5-3, 2 Sv, 4.02, 124 ERA+) led the league in strikeouts, saves and shutouts but their top ERAs came from Neck Stanley (2-4, 2.47, 202 ERA+), player-manager Martín Dihigo (3-1, 2.70, 185 ERA+), Johnny Taylor (5-3, 2.78, 179 ERA+) and Frank Blake (3-1, 3.47, 144 ERA+). Less effective were Cocaína García (1-6, 6.13, 81 ERA+) and Rodolfo Fernández (10.80, 46 ERA+).

The offense was not nearly as effective, their 82 OPS+ being 7th in the NNL. CF/RF Alejandro Oms (.377/.428/.572) joined CF/3B/P Dihigo (.326/.409/.569, 146 OPS+, 34 RBI in 42 G) and 1B/LF Lázaro Salazar (.338/.417/.541, 142 OPS+) in leading the attack. 2B Dick Lundy (.318/.376/.446, 109 OPS+) was solid and LF Rap Dixon hit .260/.422/.540 for a 143 OPS+ but was not with them the whole season (starting the year with Brooklyn). Others to be used regularly were C Frank Duncan (.202/.287/.248, 37 OPS+), UT Anastasio Santaella (.276/.333/.357, 89 OPS+), SS/2B Francisco Correa (.219/.265/.292, 42 OPS+), 1B Dave Thomas (.286/.329/.429, 91 OPS+), SS Rabbit Martínez (.209/.254/.224, 23 OPS+), 3B Pedro Arango (.233/.263/.247, 30 OPS+) and OF Cando López (.239/.282/.269, 41 OPS+).

In Game One of the finals, Blake allowed just four hits in beating Homestead, 9-3. Game Two also went to New York as Stanley threw a four-hit shutout. Pittsburgh came back to take Game Three behind a gem from Leroy Matlock to beat Taylor, 3-0. In Game Four, New York came within a game of victory as Dihigo turned in a gem as well, a 6-1 win over a tired Matlock. Dihigo went to Blake in Game Five to try to close it out but he lost a 3-2 duel with Roosevelt Davis. In Game Six, New York was leading 6-3 going into the bottom of the 9th and their business manager Frank Forbes was counting out the winner's share of the receipts. Dihigo had put himself in to take over for Taylor and promptly blew the game, giving up a 3-run homer to Oscar Charleston; Pittsburgh loaded the bases and scored on a Judy Johnson single. That brought up a decisive Game Seven. Tiant took the loss to Davis in a 8-7 contest despite a 3-run shot by Dixon.

All stats listed are per the Seamheads database 5/5/2021. Postseason information from The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway, pg. 320-321

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Martín Dihigo, Alejandro Oms and Luis Tiant Sr.