Martín Dihigo

Martín Dihigo
Martín Dihigo
	Pitcher/Second baseman
	Born: May 25, 1906; Matanzas, Cuba
	Died: May 20, 1971 (aged 64); Cienfuegos, Cuba
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
Cuban League debut
	1922, Habana
Last Mexican League appearance
	1950, Águila de Veracruz
Negro leagues statistics
Win–loss record	22-19
Batting average	.307
Slugging percentage	.511
Teams
	Negro leagues Cuban Stars (East) (1923–1927, 1930); Homestead Grays (1927–28); Hilldale Giants (1929, 1930–31); New York Cubans (1935–36, 1945); Cuban League Habana (1922–23, 1924–1929, 1938–39, 1940–1945); Almendares (1923–24, 1929–1932); Santa Clara (1935–36); Marianao (1936–1938); Cienfuegos (1939–40, 1945–1947); Mexican League Águila de Veracruz (1937–1939, 1950); Azules de Veracruz (1940, 1947); Unión Laguna (1941–1943, 1946); Nuevo Laredo (1944); San Luis Potosí (1947); Venezuelan League (1932, 1934); Universidad (1933); Leones del Caracas (1952–53);
Career highlights and awards
	2× Negro League All-Star (1935, 1945); 4× Cuban League MVP (1927/28, 1935/36, 1936/37, 1941/42); Only player in History to be elected to 5 different Hall of Fames; Elected to Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame (1951); Elected to Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame (1964); Elected to Venezuelan Hall of Fame; Elected to Dominican Hall of Fame; Cuban League records 107 career wins; 121 career complete games; Mexican League records .676 career winning percentage ( > 1,000 innings);
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1977
Election method	Negro League Committee

Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos (May 25, 1906^[1] – May 20, 1971) called The Immortal, was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played in Negro league baseball and Latin American leagues from 1923 to 1936 as a two-way player, both as a pitcher and a second baseman, although he excelled at several positions.

Early career[]

Dihigo (front row, center) on club Almendares.

Dihigo was born in the sugarmill town of Cidra in Matanzas Province, Cuba. He began his professional baseball career in the winter of 1922-23 at the age of 16 as a substitute infielder for Habana in the Cuban League. The following summer, Dihigo broke into American baseball as a first baseman for the Cuban Stars. He played in the Negro leagues from 1923 through 1936 and again briefly in 1945. Over the course of his career, he played all nine positions. As a hitter, he led the Negro leagues in home runs in 1926 and 1935. As a pitcher, he once defeated Satchel Paige while Paige was touring Cuba.^{[citation needed]}

Negro leagues[]

Dihigo's career record in twelve seasons in the Negro leagues was a .307 average and .511 slugging percentage, with 431 hits, 64 home runs, 61 doubles, 17 triples, 227 RBI, and 292 runs scored in 1404 at bats. He drew 143 walks and stole 41 bases. As a pitcher, he went 26–19 with a 2.92 ERA, with 176 strikeouts and 80 walks in 354 innings.^[2] Dihigo served as player-manager of the New York Cubans in 1935 and 1936.^[3]

Mexican and Cuban leagues[]

Although a two-time All-Star in the American Negro leagues, Dihigo's greatest season came in 1938 with Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz in the Mexican League, where he went 18-2 with a 0.90 ERA as a pitcher, while winning the batting title with a .387 average. In another season in the Mexican League, he had a 0.15 ERA. In his Mexican career, he was 119-57 with a .317 batting average. In the Cuban League, he was 107-56 as a pitcher with a .298 average at the plate. Dihigo continued his playing career in Mexico into the early 1950s. He served as Cuba's Minister of Sport from 1959 until his death in 1971. In Cuba, Dihigo was known as "El Inmortal" ("The Immortal"); in other Latin American countries, he was sometimes called "El Maestro" ("The Master").

Career stats[]

In Dihigo's career, including statistics from Dominican, American, Cuban, and Mexican leagues, he compiled a lifetime .302 career batting average with 130 home runs, although eleven seasons of home run totals are missing. As a pitcher, he compiled a 252-132 win-loss record.

Post career[]

After retiring, Dihigo became a radio announcer for the Cuban Winter League. He fled Cuba in 1952 to protest the rise of Fulgencio Batista. He managed the Leones del Caracas in the 1953 Caribbean Series but finished last. Upon Fidel Castro's rise to power, Dihigo returned to Cuba and was appointed the minister of sports. ^[4]

Death and Hall of Fame Inductions[]

Plaque of Martín Dihigo at the Baseball Hall of Fame

Dihigo died five days before his 65th birthday, on May 20, 1971, in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He is buried in Cementerio Municipal Cruces in Cruces, Cienfuegos, Cuba.^[5]

Known as a humorous, good-natured man as well as a versatile player, Dihigo was posthumously elected to the American Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. Dihigo was also inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame.^[6]^[7]

Martín Dihigo's stature as a ballplayer is reflected in this conversation between former Dodgers general manager Al Campanis and broadcaster Jaime Jarrín:

Al said, 'Jaime, the best player that I have ever seen in my life is Martin Dihigo, but he never came to the Major Leagues,'" Jarrin said. "'After Dihigo, I would put Roberto Clemente above Willie Mays. Those are the two best players I have ever seen in my entire life.'^[8]

Along with Willie Wells, Dihigo is just one of two players to be inducted to the American, Cuban, Mexican, Dominican Republic and Venezuelan Baseball Halls of Fame.

Notes[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Sources disagree on Dihigo's birthdate. Hogan, p. 386, shows his birthdate as May 25, 1906, while Riley, p. 233, and baseball-reference.com show May 25, 1905.
^ Hogan, pp. 386–87, 404–05.
^ "Martin Dihigo Manager Page". seamheads.com. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
^ Bjarkman, Peter (2007). A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864–2006. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 34. ISBN 0786428295.
^ Martín Dihigo at Find a Grave
^ "Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum". Archived from the original on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
^ Early Latino Ballplayers in the United States: Major, Minor and Negro Leagues By Nick C. Wilson
^ Jesse Sánchez. "Clemente headlines All-Time Latino Team". Retrieved 2012-09-28.

References[]

Clark, Dick; Lester, Larry (1994), The Negro Leagues Book, Cleveland, Ohio: Society for American Baseball Research
Figueredo, Jorge S. (2003), Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878–1961, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, ISBN 0-7864-1250-X
González Echevarría, Roberto (1999), The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-514605-0
Hogan, Lawrence D. (2006), Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, ISBN 0-7922-5306-X
Riley, James A. (1994), The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, New York: Carroll & Graf, ISBN 0-7867-0959-6

External links[]

Martín Dihigo at the Baseball Hall of Fame
Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference and Baseball-Reference Black Baseball / Minor league stats and Seamheads
Martín Dihigo managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com and Seamheads
Martín Dihigo at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Martín Dihigo at Baseball Library
Martín Dihigo at Find a Grave

[birthdate-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b Sources disagree on Dihigo's birthdate. Hogan, p. 386, shows his birthdate as May 25, 1906, while Riley, p. 233, and baseball-reference.com show May 25, 1905.

[2] Hogan, pp. 386–87, 404–05.

[3] "Martin Dihigo Manager Page". seamheads.com. Retrieved October 12, 2020.

[4] Bjarkman, Peter (2007). A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864–2006. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 34. ISBN 0786428295.

[5] Martín Dihigo at Find a Grave

[HHBM-6] "Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum". Archived from the original on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2008-07-21.

[7] Early Latino Ballplayers in the United States: Major, Minor and Negro Leagues By Nick C. Wilson

[8] Jesse Sánchez. "Clemente headlines All-Time Latino Team". Retrieved 2012-09-28.

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show v t Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1977
BBWAA vote	Ernie Banks (83.8%)
Veterans Committee	Al López Amos Rusie Joe Sewell
Negro League Committee	Martín Dihigo Pop Lloyd
J. G. Taylor Spink Award	Harold Kaese Red Smith

show v t Members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Pitchers	Alexander Bender Blyleven M. Brown R. Brown Bunning Carlton Chesbro Clarkson Cooper Coveleski Day Dean Dihigo Drysdale Eckersley Faber Feller Fingers Ford B. Foster Galvin B. Gibson Glavine Gomez Gossage Grimes Grove Haines Halladay Hoffman Hoyt Hubbell Hunter Jenkins R. Johnson W. Johnson Joss Keefe Koufax Lemon Lyons Maddux Marichal Marquard P. Martínez Mathewson McGinnity Méndez Morris Mussina Newhouser Nichols Niekro Paige Palmer Pennock Perry Plank Radbourn Rivera Rixey Roberts Rogan Ruffing Rusie Ryan Seaver H. Smith L. Smith Smoltz Spahn Sutter Sutton Vance Waddell Walsh Welch Wilhelm J. Williams Willis Wynn Young
Catchers	Bench Berra Bresnahan Campanella Carter Cochrane Dickey Ewing Ferrell Fisk J. Gibson Hartnett Lombardi Mackey Piazza Rodríguez Santop Schalk T. Simmons
First basemen	Anson Bagwell Beckley Bottomley Brouthers Cepeda Chance Connor Foxx Gehrig Greenberg G. Kelly Killebrew Leonard McCovey Mize Murray Pérez Sisler Suttles Taylor Terry Thomas Thome
Second basemen	Alomar Biggio Carew E. Collins Doerr Evers Fox Frisch Gehringer Gordon Grant Herman Hornsby Lajoie Lazzeri Mazeroski McPhee Morgan J. Robinson Sandberg Schoendienst
Third basemen	Baker Boggs Brett J. Collins Dandridge J. Johnson Jones Kell Lindstrom Mathews Molitor B. Robinson Santo Schmidt Traynor D. White J. Wilson
Shortstops	Aparicio Appling Bancroft Banks Boudreau Cronin Davis T. Jackson Jennings Jeter Larkin Lloyd Maranville Reese Ripken Jr. Rizzuto Sewell O. Smith Tinker Trammell Vaughan Wagner Wallace Ward Wells Yount
Left fielders	Brock Burkett Clarke Delahanty Goslin Hafey Henderson Irvin Kelley Kiner Manush Medwick Musial O'Rourke Raines J. Rice A. Simmons Stargell Wheat B. Williams T. Williams Yastrzemski
Center fielders	Ashburn Averill Bell W. Brown Carey Charleston Cobb Combs DiMaggio Doby Duffy Griffey Jr. Hamilton Hill Mantle Mays Puckett Roush Snider Speaker Stearnes Torriente L. Waner H. Wilson
Right fielders	Aaron Clemente Crawford Cuyler Dawson Flick Guerrero Gwynn Heilmann Hooper R. Jackson Kaline Keeler K. Kelly Klein T. McCarthy Ott S. Rice F. Robinson Ruth Slaughter Thompson Walker P. Waner Winfield Youngs
Designated hitters	Baines E. Martínez
Managers	Alston Anderson Cox Durocher R. Foster Hanlon Harris Herzog Huggins La Russa Lasorda López Mack J. McCarthy McGraw McKechnie W. Robinson Selee Southworth Stengel Torre Weaver D. Williams
Executives and pioneers	Barrow Bulkeley Cartwright Chadwick Chandler Comiskey Cummings Dreyfuss Frick Giles Gillick Griffith Harridge Hulbert B. Johnson Kuhn Landis La. MacPhail Le. MacPhail Manley Miller O'Malley Pompez Posey Rickey Ruppert Schuerholz Selig Spalding Veeck Weiss S. White Wilkinson G. Wright H. Wright Yawkey
Umpires	Barlick Chylak Conlan Connolly Evans Harvey Hubbard Klem McGowan O'Day

show Authority control
General	VIAF 1 WorldCat
National libraries	United States
Other	Faceted Application of Subject Terminology