Si, amigos, now we will speak of the joys and hopes that arise in the warm places of the South at this time of year. Specifically, of the many promises Tribe management made to the fans during the 1960s regarding the bounty of hispanic ballplayers that were flooding into the majors.
Tiny bit of history: Hispanics played years before blacks were allowed in. As Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Al Smith and others were crossing the color barrier in the 1950s with much fanfare, players like Clemente, Pascual, Ramos, Minoso, Vic Power (Puerto Rico), Aparicio and Bobby Avila were quietly paving the way for what would be a virtual invasion of latinos post-1960.
So spring training would arrive in those days. At the Twins' camp, you could watch Tony Oliva, Zoilo (Zorro) Versalles and Cesar Tovar cavort in the sun. You could drop in on the LA Angels and see Jose Cardenal rocket a few off the fences. The Two Joses--Tartabull and Santiago--were struttin their stuff with Boston, while KC (soon to be Oakland) was showcasing the man who would spark the As for years: Bert Campaneris. We won't even talk about the NL, the Alou Bros., Tony Perez, Leo Cardenas, Manny Mota, The Baby Bull (Cepeda), Marichal. No, it's too painful to speak further on this topic.
Now take yourself in your imagination to Tucson, Spring Training home of The Tribe. Who do we find? Why, our own Matty alou: Vic Davalillo! We had the Future Leo Cardenas: Pedro Gonzalez! The next Campaneris: Mike De La Hoz! And don't forget The Immortal One, Jose "Joe" Azcue, a fan favorite. Wait, we gave up on Johnny Romano, who was hitting nearly 20 HRs a year and driving in nearly 50 runs a year, to put Jose behind the plate. The Immortal One was pinking out 6-8 HRs and maybe driving in 35 during those same years. Amusing, si! Manny Sanguillen, no!
OK, we had one legit hispanic star in those days: Luis Tiant. Traded after five years because he had one off year. Went on to win 154 games for other teams. Que terible!
The question is: How did our talent evaluators screw up so completely? I mean, a lot of other teams weren't really scouting Latin talent at the time. The Yankees, Tigers, Orioles and White Sox waited to jump in. But Cleveland's scouts were actively looking for Latin players! How many times did we have to hear that Chico Salmon was going to be the next Bert Campaneris before we lost all hope in the Tribe's front office? And this blind spot was to plague us for years, as we were offered up a Miquel Dilone when Milwaukee fans were getting Sixto Lezcano, or Bo Diaz when the Pirates had Tony Pena behind the plate.
Ah, primavera en Tucson! Que hermoso el cielo! Que bonito el desierto! Que buenas las muchachas locales! Que malos los latinos del Tribe!
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