Havana Cubans: “One more step and we’re there”
On April 17, 1946, the Havana Cubans made their debut in La Tropical Stadium. It was a Cuban team founded by U.S. scout Joe Cambria which participated with that name in eight U.S. organized baseball series. A year later, with the inauguration of the Cerro Gran Stadium, they would transfer their venue to the island’s most important stadium. The Havana Cubans made their debut with a 5-4 victory over the Miami Beach team all thanks to Rafael Rivas. The Puerto Padre southpaw pitched 12 outs that night and finished with a cero record when striking out two batters with full bases. This first game had the peculiarity that it had two home umpires. Bill Klem, an outstanding Major League umpire and who was already retired, was invited to the game and only took part in the first inning. He was replaced as the principal umpire by Cuban Raúl Morales, who thus became the first Latin umpire to perform in the U.S. baseball circuit. The peculiar team assumed the slogan of “One more step and we’re there” to jump from the Florida International League to the Triple A. It belonged to the franchise of the Washington Senators, a team in which...