BR Bullpen:Featured Article Candidates/Martín Dihigo

Martín Dihigo

• needs citations, especially of stats and commentary (i.e. Some statement.<ref>González Echevarría, Roberto, (1999), The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball, Oxford University Press. pages 23-24</ref>) If the formating is a problem if the book and pages numbers could be added after each statement, I can take care of the rest -- I can't format what I don't know. I added {{fact}} to the article in some places where refs are absolutely needed.
• replace the bunch of useless

  after the demographics with <br clear="all" /> OR replace demographics section with an infobox (even a static version)

• DEFAULTSORT should be used
• Introduction
  • needs to be lengthened; it is currently around 125 words but needs be around 200 otherwise it does not work well on the main page (causes alot of blank space)
  • "A top hurler (over 250 wins as a pro)..." - the parenthetical statement should be removed
  • parenthetical statements should be avoided (i.e. "Dihigo won the most MVP awards in the history of the Cuban Winter League (4)." should be "Dihigo won four Cuban Winter League MVP awards, the most in league history."
  • it is missing some basic important facts, such as where he was born, when he lived, when played, where he played, etc.
  • the intro goes above the TOC
  • "I say he was the best player of all-time, black or white." - Buck Leonard - cite and add to intro rather than separated from the body
  • mention should be made of his career path, namely that throughout his career he played year-round; for North American-based leagues in the summer, and Caribbean-based leagues in the winter
• General body comments
  • all links and references of the clubs in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela should be en Español (Algodoneros de Torreón instead of Torreon Cotton Dealers), due to our MOS
  • what about his play in Puerto Rico?
  • what is the source if his birth year -- I have seen it listed as 1906 (as does his birth record); a brief mention of that should be added
  • pronouns should be used more
  • abbreviations should be used less ('23-'24 -> 1923-1924, USA -> United States, 1B -> first base/first baseman, etc.). I used they should be stated at the first mention of the subject (i.e. "...in the Cuban Winter League (CWL)...")
  • links to Negro League seasons should be added, as could links to the Cuban Winter League
  • Martin -> Martín (and other misspellings of names)
  • explanation on why was he nicknamed "El Immortal", also shouldn't it be "El inmortal"
• Specific comments
  • sections "Martin Dihigo and Minnie Minoso" and "Martin Dihigo and Johnny Mize" could be merged with the Buck Leonard quote into a Quotations section or (preferably) incorporated into the main text. Regarding the Johnny Mize quote, see this comment for more info (the above mentioned website also has information regarding it)
  • "He was the starting first baseman for the eastern Cuban Stars..." - that the team was a Negro League team should be mentioned, also the Cuban Stars page is essentially a disambiguation page for 1922
  • "Hitting .300 and going 2-3 in Cuba in '23-'24, he managed a .249 for the Cuban Stars." - this sentence is awkward, probably should be split into two sentences
  • "The Stars 1B hit .327 (fifth in the league) and cracked 12 homers..." - Stars -> Stars' (possessive)
  • "Batting .344 in the 1925-1926 CWL, Dihigo emerged as one of the top players in the 1926 Eastern Colored League." - probably should be split into two sentences
  • no mention is made of his play in the Cuban Triangular League.
  • "Moving to shortstop in the ECL the next year, his .312 average led an average Stars ensemble." - how was the club average, by record, by hitting?
  • both "1922-1925: Early Career" and "1925-1927: Establishing himself" are a little short, could be lengthened or merged
  • "He won the league's first MVP award; his four MVP awards make him the only player to win more than two; Lazaro Salazar, Gil Torres, Minnie Minoso and Willie Wells each claimed two." - should be moved to career recap, or at the very least to after he won his third
  • "He was 3 for 13 in a series against a group of major leaguers that year." - who were these major leaguers, were they a team, or a picked club
  • "As the third baseman for the Homestead Grays, he struggled at .167 and was 1-1 on the mound." - year, how did he move to the Greys?
  • "In the winter of 1928-1929, Martin hit .303 and was 2-1 as a pitcher." - club?
  • "On November 15, though, he hit four doubles in a game, the only player to do so in the 8-decade history of the Cuban Winter League." - "though" is not needed, 8 -> eight
  • "Dihigo also made history by allowing one of three inside-the-park homers to Cool Papa Bell on January 1." - where did this occur?
  • "He followed that by going 5-3 for the Philadelphia Hilldales in 1929 after being traded with Chippy Britt for Jake Stephens and Rev Cannady prior to the season." - What did he follow? It seems like this was part of a paragraph that was split. Flipping the trade details and season stats might make the sentence flow better
  • "Switching back to Almendares in 1929-1930 after his success in Habana, Dihigo only hit .283 with no homers and was 1-2 on the mound in an off-campaign." - when did he switch from Almendares, no mention of that was made? "off-campaign" is an awkward phrase.
  • "Dihigo tied for 3rd in the east in triples (5) with the 1931 Philadelphia Stars, though he only hit .244, while playing the outfield primarily." - could be rewritten as "In 1931, Dihigo played outfield for the Philadelphia Stars. He only hit .244, but was tied for third in the East in triples with five." Also how did he end up on the Stars, he had played with the Philadelphia Hilldales and the Cuban Stars in the previous two years, was it a merged team?
  • both "1927-1929: Starting to win awards and make history" and "1929-1931: Power hitting in the USA" are short; merge or expand
  • no mention is made of his Cuban play in 1930 or 1931/1932.
  • no mention is made of his playing for Santa Domingo in 1934
  • no mention is made of his play for Concordia in Venezuela
  • "In 1935, at age 29/30, Martin returned to North America as player-manager of the New York Cubans and hit .335, while going 7-3 with a 3.54 RA on the mound." - what is a RA, why does he have two ages?
  • "Dihigo led the Cuban Winter League in almost everything in 1935-1936, his first full season on the island in 7 years. He led the league in average (.358), runs (42), hits (63, tied with Wells), triples (8), RBI (38, tied with Bill Perkins), winning percentage (.846), complete games (13), victories (11) and shutouts (4). He captured two-thirds of both the hitting and pitching Triple Crowns and won his second MVP award. Additionally, Dihigo was now managing Santa Clara and led them to the title with a 34-14 record." - Wells should be wikilinked, Dihigo's club should be mentioned before all of the stats (In his first full season in the Cuban Winter League in seven years, Dihigo was the player-manager for Santa Clara in in 1935-1936. He led the league in almost everything; batting average (.358), runs (42)..." What was his second part of the pitching Triple Crown?
  • "In 1936-1937, Dihigo was 14-10 in Cuba (second to Ray Brown in wins) and third in average (.323) and home runs (4) and managed Tigers to a title with a 38-31 record, one game ahead of his old Santa Clara team. - split into two sentences, add Marianao to Tigers so the reader can follow the rest of the paragraph
  • Heading "1937: Dominican Republic and Mexico; two more record performances" - needs to be shortened by about twenty characters
  • "He spent most of the 1937 season with the Aquilas Cibaenas club in the Dominican League." - He -> Dihigo (avoid starting paragraphs with pronouns), Aquilas Cibaenas -> Aguilas Cibaeñas
  • "He also pitched for the Veracruz Eagle of the Mexican League, going 4-0 with a 0.93 ERA, a .78 WHIP and 51 Ks in 38 2/3 innings and threw a no-hitter against Nogales on September 16, the first no-no in Mexican League history. He hit .357/~.419/.643 in Mexico that year, driving in 12 runs in 7 games." - Ks -> strikeouts, move sentence regarding no-hitter to after batting stats
  • "That winter, he went 14-2 in Cuba to lead the league in wins by six, though he hit only .253. On December 21, he won the first night game in Cuban Winter League history, topping the Almendares Blues, 6-5." - merge with paragraph below, 14-2 record from 1938/1939
  • "In the winter of '37-'38, Dihigo went 2 for 6 against the New York Giants and was 11-5 in the regular CWL season, putting him second in wins (one behind Brown) and fourth in average (.303)." - split into two sentences
  • "Among pitchers with over 100 innings, it remains the lowest ERA in the history of the LMB and his .900 winning percentage would not be matched for 50 years." - what is the LMB? Either Liga Mexicana de Beisbol should be used for all references to the Mexican League or LMB should be replaced with Mexican League or something
  • "Dihigo twice beat Paige that year, including one game in which Martin helped his cause by going 6 for 6 with a homer." - who Paige is and why is it important that he beat him twice should be mentioned; was he the second place person in wins? Also the info about six hit game should be moved to the sentence on the game
  • "In Cuba that winter, he returned to Havana and had his 4th straight season of double-digit wins, tied for the record. Dihigo was 14-2 but only hit .255 with one homer. He easily led the CWL in both winning percentage and victories, 3 ahead of Brown, Alex Carrasquel and Cocaina Garcia." - split into separate paragraph, who is Brown?
  • "In 1939, Dihigo batted .337/~.429/.508 for Veracruz and went 15-8, 2.90 on the hill, completing 20 of 23 starts and whiffing 202 batters (a league record at that point) and walking only 42 in 202 innings." - two sentences
  • "Dihigo hit .291 and was 6-4 for Cienfuegos; one of his losses was against 19-year-old Early Wynn. He managed the team part of the season and they finished in second place." - what season did this occur in and why is it important that he lost to a 19-year old?
  • "Moving to the Veracruz Blues in 1940..." - wasn't he already on Veracruz, what was the relationship between the two clubs?
  • "Dihigo was suspended by the Cuban Winter League after a disagreement with owner Francisco Curbelo." - what did Curbelo own (the league, a club)?
  • "Mike Gonzalez was able to get Dihigo back into the loop to help his Havana team to its first title in 7 years. He only hit .182 withotu a homer in a bad year offensively but was 8-3 and one of the staff aces." - Havana should be linked. Was Mike Gonzalez the club's manager? withotu -> without
  • "1941 was a 9-10, 4.01 season on the hill, his lone losing record in 11 seasons in Mexico." - there is no subject, club?
  • "Dihigo was 8-3 in the 1941-1942 season for Havana and continued to struggle at the plate (.228) but led the league with 11 complete games and was one behind Ramón Bragaña in victories." - two sentences
  • "Bragaña beat him in the pennant-clincher but Dihigo still won his 4th MVP award and joined Bragaña as the All-Star pitchers.." - remove extra period, what was Bragaña's club, were the two clubs close in the standings, was he an "All-Star" as in a game or a post-season all-star
  • "In '42, he managed Torreon to the pennant and went 22-7, 2.53 on the mound. He led the LMB with 211 strikeouts, had the best winning percentage, tied Cuban nemesis Bragaña for the win lead and led with 26 complete games." - missing "ERA", also could be split into three sentences, moving the Bragaña statement out. Cuban nemesis -> Cuban nemesis, Bragaña and Dihigo's dislike for each other needs to be citied
  • "As a hitter, he hit .319/~.466/.477 and his 77 walks were possibly the top total in the circuit." - "possibly the top total in the circuit"?
  • "In the 1942-1943 Cuban Winter League, Dihigo lost 8 of 12 decisions and batted .267 for the Reds." - who were the Reds?
  • "In 1943, Dihigo was 16-8, 3.10 and hit .277/~.407/.450 in Mexico." - club?, merge with paragraph below
  • "Though still a star, the 38-year-old El Immortal was beginning to look mortal." - Move to top of paragraph, before 1943 Mexico statement as it is describing his less than stellar batting over the next three years. El Immortal needs to be italized, it is a tacky sentence
  • "Dihigo was still 8-1 in Cuba that winter and hit .266 with 10 doubles, one behind leaguie leader Alejandro Crespo. He led the league in ERA (2.23) and winning percentage." - merge pitching stats into one sentence, batting into another, leaguie -> league
  • "He appeared in the 1945 East-West Game, allowing one run in 3 1/3 IP in a 9-6 loss by the East." - what team did he play for in the game (I am guessing East), replace 1/3 with ⅓, IP with inning(s), hyphen with en dash (–, the first "symbol" below)
  • "He hit .225 and was 5-4 in Cuba that winter." - club?
  • "Back in the Liga Mexicana in '46, when he turned 40, Dihigo hit .316/~.427/.441 to show he could still out-hit all the white big-leaguers who came south that year." - "when he turned 40, " -> "the forty-year old Dihigo", did he lead the league?, the movement of the major-leagues to the league due to Pasquel should be briefly mentioned (Back in the Liga Mexicana in 1946, the forty-year old Dihigo hit .316/~.427/.441 for the Torreon, to lead the league. He out-hit all the white big-leaguers who came south that year lured by large contracts offered by Jorge Pasquel.)
  • "...beating out the likes of Sal Maglie and Max Lanier." - who were Maglie and Lanier, and why is it important that he had a better winning percentage than them
  • "It was one last stand-out year for the elder statesman, who fell to 4-2, 4.37 in 1947 for two teams and hit only .196/~.302/.304." - two sentences, he played (and managed) for San Luís and another club.
  • split following sentences into a separate paragraph
  • "Dolf Luque tried to recruit Dihigo for the 1947-1948 Alacranes but Dihigo retired instead." - what league (Cuban?)
  • "Coming back for one game in 1950 for the Eagle, he threw two scoreless innings." - what league, team should be linked
  • move "After retirement" above "Career statistics" (also capitalization)
  • "Dihigo managed the Venezuelan entry in the 1953 Caribbean Series." - club and record in series?
  • "Dihigo's health declined and he spent his last years living with his oldest son, suffering reportedly from cerebral thrombosis. Dihigo was buried in his wife's family plot in Cruces." - move to after "After retiring, Dihigo became a radio..." paragraph
  • "Dihigo's son Martin Dihigo Jr. played briefly in the minors before returning to Cuba to help the revolution. His younger son Gilberto Dihigo was a sportswriter who left Cuba in the early 1990s to work in Mexico City and has contributed to at least one Cuban baseball history." - merge with "Dihigo's health declined" paragraph. "at least one Cuban baseball history" - history book? What about a wife or other children?
  • merge remaining sentences
  • Career Statistics needs a proper introductory sentence ("Playing for over two decades, Dihigo..."
  • "During his career, he led his leagues in batting average, strikeouts, wins, ERA, winning percentage, homers and doubles at various points." - move to the second sentence in paragraph
  • move Cuban record to the first position in leagues
  • instead of "in Cuba", "in Mexico", etc., "Cuban Winter League", "Mexican League", etc.
  • replace 2nd, 3rd, etc. with second, third, etc.
  • "2nd in years pitched (trailing Luque, 22-19)" - trailing Luque 22 to 19, years to seasons (since seasons spanned years)

--MichaelEng (talk) 12:21, 17 September 2007 (EDT)

I made about a quarter of the changes and hope to finish the rest this week. A couple points -

1) I was unfamiliar with any play in Puerto Rico so can't add information about it. If you know of any, please feel free to add it.

2) We don't have yearly Cuban Winter League pages - we have them for the Castro-era Cuban leagues only. If we had them, I would add links. I added the few Negro League season links I had missed.

3) I don't know about the origins of the El Immortal nickname, but have seen it in several sources.

- --Mischa 13:25, 18 September 2007 (EDT)

4) I list two ages in 1935 because he began the season at age 29 and ended it age 30.

5) RA stands for Runs Allowed Average. It is used in lieu of ERA in some Negro League sources for seasons in which earned runs are not available, but runs allowed are.

- --Mischa 13:56, 20 September 2007 (EDT)

6) The Veracruz Eagle and Veracruz Blues were two distinct clubs, like the New York Mets/New York Yankees. - --Mischa 12:29, 21 September 2007 (EDT)

7) I don't know about his wife's name or any other kids so only mentioned the two sons I have seen mention of. Also, I didn't see the need to reorder some of the paragraphs in the After Retirement section so left some as is - I think it should go in chronological order, so his health declining should be near the end. - --Mischa 12:44, 21 September 2007 (EDT)

8) There are about 10 more suggested edits that I need to incorporate, but they are ones I need my source materials handy for and I don't have those at work. I'll try to tackle this on Sunday, as Yom Kippur is coming up tonight. - --Mischa 12:50, 21 September 2007 (EDT)

9) While several sources do list El Immortal, I have found more frequent references to El Inmortal so will change it to the grammatically correct version. El Immortal likely was an error by early American sources which has lingered.

- --Mischa 17:30, 21 September 2007 (EDT)