Isidro Fabré

Isidro Fabré
(Papi)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 155 lb.

• Debut 1923
• Final Game 1939
• Born May 15, 1895 in Havana Cuba

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Biographical Information

Isidro Fabré was a pitcher in the Cuban Winter League and Negro Leagues, going under .500 for his career in both.

Fabré debuted in 1918 with the Cuban Stars (East), going 1-1 and hitting .208 as a part-time outfielder. He went 0-2 against white major leaguers in exhibition play as well. That winter, he was 10-9 for Almendares, tying for second in the CWL in wins; it would be one of his most productive seasons back home. The little right-hander was 3-0 for Almendares in 1919-1920 and 0-3 in 1920-1921. In 1921, he was 0-1 for the Cuban Stars. He posted a 4-7 record for Almendares in 1922-1923, then was 3-2 for the Stars in 1923. Back with Almendares in the winter, he was 5-5 and led the league with 20 games pitched. Isidro pitched one of Cuba's most notable games when he entered in the first, his club having allowed three runs. He worked 16 scoreless innings and 17 2/3 total in a marathon 4-4 tie with Habana; Oscar Levis did most of the pitching for Habana.

Fabré was 3-4 and batted .234 in 1924. In the winter of 1924-1925, he was 1-5 between two Cuban clubs. In the following summer, he hit .250 but was only 2-5. Returning to Almendares in 1925-1926, he had a 4-1, 4.00 record and hit .208/?/.267 as a fourth outfielder. He went 2-1 for the 1926 Stars, was 4-4 in Cuba in 1926-1927 and was 0-6 while batting .268 in 1927 in the Negro Leagues.

The Havana native went 4-2 for Almendares in 1927-1928 and was 10 for 40 with 3 doubles and 3 homers. He led the team in home runs despite ranking 11th in at-bats. He tied for third in the CWL in dingers, even with Alejandro Oms and trailing only Oscar Charleston and Jud Wilson. In 1928, he hit .292 for the Stars and was 0-1. In 1928-1929, he was 1-1 for Almendares and hit .281 with a .348 slugging percentage. Despite being their fourth outfielder, he led the squad with eight stolen bases. He batted .278 and was 1-4 for the 1929 Stars, his last significant action in the Negro Leagues (he was 0-1 for the Cuban House of David in 1931.

Fabré remained active in Cuba for years to go, all but one with Almendares. He was 2-1 in 1930, 2-3 in 1931-1932, 1-3 in 1932-1933 (his one win was a shutout, tying him for the league lead), 3-2 with a 1.80 ERA in 1934-1935 and 0-2 in 1935-1936. He pitched two games in 1936-1937 with no decisions and one game (a no-decision} in 1938-1939. His 18 seasons pitching the CWL rank him third behind Dolf Luque and Martin Dihigo. Unlike those other two hurlers, though, he did not rank in the top 10 in any other of the leaderboards. He managed the Honduran national team in the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games.

In 1957, he was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in a class with Emilio Palomino.

Sources

• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games Final Report