Talk:Cuban Winter League

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Should we mention the other pro/semi-pro leagues on the island in this era, especially in the 1940s/1950s (see here) or put them on their own page? --MichaelEng (talk) 14:31, 3 November 2006 (EST)

"Manager" and "Captain"[edit]

In the 1923-24 season, Agustin "Tinti" Molina was listed as the manager of the Santa Clara club. This is correct in the strictest sense, as that was his title, but he was in reality the team's business manager; he was not involved in game decisions. Jose Mendez was the team's manager in the modern sense, but his title was generally described as "field captain" or "field manager" to distinguish him from Molina. A report in a black weekly newspaper in December '23 mentioned that Mendez had removed Charleston from a game for indifferent play, and listed him as "captain"; Molina was not mentioned.

In Harry Wright's day, the "manager" wore a number of hats, and was field as well as business and general manager; by the 1920s, the jobs were being split up, but the terminology had not yet solidified.

The question is: do we want to list the "manager" as the one who had the title at that time but did not do the job assumed by today's readers, or the man who would fit the description by today's definition but wasn't necessarily addressed by that title at the time?

-- Couillaud 12:08, 9 August 2007 (EDT)

Tough question. Didn't this arrangement take place in MLB at one point as well? If so, what is the policy there? ---Mischa 12:31, 9 August 2007 (EDT)
As best as I know, they count managers under the modern definition where they can tell for certain; the philosophy is that the word "manager" describes the person who directs the team on the field and makes game by game personnel (e.g., lineup and rotation) decisions, no matter how he was described contemporaneously. As far as Molina goes, he was once a player and a regular field manager, but by at least 1923 he was the guy who signed the players for the Cuban Stars, set up travel to the U.S. scheduled games with other teams, etc., but he did not make the calls from the bench. In the 1923 NNL season, Rafael Figarola was the team's manager. -- Couillaud 16:58, 9 August 2007 (EDT)
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