Orlando Suárez (minors01)

Orlando Suárez Torres (Tango)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 145 lb.

• Born 1924 in Regla Cuba

BR register page

Biographical Information

Orlando Suárez played in the minors and for the Cuban national team. His brothers Lindo Suárez and Fello Suárez also were on the national team.

He was 3 for 18 for Cuba in the 1944 Amateur World Series, outhitting fellow backstop Rouget Ávalos on the Bronze Medal winners. He made his pro debut with the 1946 Havana Cubans, hitting .274/.357/.374 with 9 triples in 281 AB. He tied Jack Bearden, Joe Derrico and Benny Fernandez for 9th in the Florida International League in three-baggers, while Havana won the title.

Suárez batted .227 as a backup catcher for the Havana Reds in the 1946-1947 Cuban winter. He started for the Cubans when they repeated as FIL champs in '47, hitting .254/.320/.353 with 73 RBI. In the Cuban Winter League, he was 9 for 36 (all singles) with three runs and three RBI for the champion Almendares club, backing up Andrés Fleitas.

In the summer of 1948, he hit .235/.317/.298 for Havana. He again started for the FIL champs. He was 2 for 10 with a run as the third-string catcher for the Marianao Tigers in 1948-1949. That ended his CWL career. He had a bit role for the Cubans when they again won the FIL; Gilberto Valdivia was now the starter.

Tango split 1950 between the Abilene Blue Sox (.252/.306/.391 in 33 G) and Laredo Apaches (.299/.406/.548, 18 HR, 59 RBI, 50 BB in 79 G). He resurfaced in 1953, playing briefly for the Cubans and hitting only .120/.228/.120 in 35 games for the Roswell Rockets. He was 10-3 with a 5.12 ERA. One wonders if this might be a different player, given that Suárez had never pitched before and the 1954 Baseball Guide labels that player Orlando Torres (Torres was Suárez's mother's name and baseball sources of the era sometimes conflates Latino players' names, though).