Bobby Maduro
From BR Bullpen
Roberto Maduro
[edit] Biographical Information
Bobby Maduro was a major figure in professional baseball in Cuba. He gave $2 million to help build Estadio Latinoamericano as the home of the Cuban Winter League in 1946. He later owned the Havana Sugar Kings, moving the club to Jersey City, NJ after Fidel Castro rose to power. he was also forced to emigrate to Miami, FL as a result of his disagreements with Castro and went to work in the Commissioner's office with the title of "Coordinator of Inter-American Baseball", from 1966 to 1974.
Maduro later organized the Inter-American League, although it proved to be a short-lived failure. He was an eternal optimist who continuously saw a golden era just around the corner for Latin-American baseball, something which may have clouded his business judgment at times. He was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Miami Stadium was renamed Bobby Maduro Stadium in his honor in 1987. It was demolished in 2001.
[edit] Further Reading
- John Cronin: "When a Dream Plays Reality in Baseball...: Roberto Maduro and the Inter-American League", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 40, Number 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 88-93.
