Cuban Stars

The Cuban Stars were members of the Negro Leagues from 1904 through 1930. From 1916 through 1929, two teams used that name - one playing on the east coast, one in the midwest. Historians differentiate them as Cuban Stars (West) and Cuban Stars (East). The western team played in the Negro National League from 1920 through 1930. Usually a traveling team, they spent two years in Cincinnati, OH (1921-1922) and were called the Cincinnati Cubans in 1921. The eastern team was called the New York Cubans in 1916, Havana Cuban Stars in 1917 and All-Cubans in 1921. The Cuban Stars were called the All Cubans in 1904-1905. In the 1930s it became known as the Cuban House of David and in 1932 became the New York Cubans. From 1923-1928 that group of Cuban Stars played in the Eastern Colored League and in 1929 in the American Negro League.

Unlike the previous Cuban Giants and Cuban X-Giants, the teams actually were composed of Cuban players. As they had both light- and dark- skinned Cubans, several Cuban Stars played in both the Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball, including Rafael Almeida (Stars member 1907), Mike Gonzalez (1914, 1917), Pedro Dibut (1922), Mike Herrera (1928)

Prominent players included Jose Mendez (1909-1912), José Muñoz (1910), Cristobal Torriente (1913-1919), Bernardo Baro (1916-1929), Alejandro Oms (1917, 1922-1928), Martin Dihigo (1922-1927, 1930), Valentin Dreke (1923-1927), Lazaro Salazar (1924, 1930), Cocaina Garcia (1927-1928), Ramon Bragana (1928, 1930) and Agustin Bejerano (1928).

The teams never won a title, but were competitive frequently. Had they joined together to form one team, they might have won a title.

Sources:

• "The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues" by John Holway
• "The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues" by James Riley

Related Sites

• Cuba Stars East Franchise page
• Cuban Stars West Franchise page