Rafael Suárez (minors01)

Rafael Suárez (Felo)

• Bats Right, Throws Right

Biographical Information

Rafael Suárez was the only pitcher to lose a game for the Cuban national team when they won Gold in the 1935 Central American and Caribbean Games. He turned pro that summer, going 4-2 (as per Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo; Figueredo's book Who's Who in Cuban Baseball puts him at 4-1), the same record as teammate Dolf Luque.

The right-hander was with the Washington Senators farm system in 1936; the Senators at that time were the most active team in signing Cubans. He pitched one game for the Albany Senators and was briefly in the New York-Penn League but spent most of the summer with the Brockville Pirates (8-8, 4.40). He pitched two more games for Almendares in 1936-1937 without a season and that was it for his career.

Sources

• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• Who's Who in Cuban Baseball by Figueredo
• The International League: Year-by-Year Statistics by Marshall Wright
• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman