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Tuesday 25 OcTOber 2022 locAl
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Short history of the beginnings of baseball in Aruba

sional soccer player in the Venezu- a big lift from the influx of Puerto Ri-
elan league. Rosendo was nick- can and US soldiers stationed here.
named “Cabeza de oro” (golden As LAGO was playing a very impor-
head) for a memorable header he tant role in the struggle against Hit-
scored to win a game for his team. ler, it was able to get all the sports
equipment needed here to allow
Interestingly, it was in Aruba that more people to participate.
Luis Aparicio played his first game
outside of Venezuela. This took In the ‘40s only the Lago Sports Park
place in 1950 when he played organized baseball championship
shortstop for the school he attend- games. The first teams to partici-
ed. Later he played for “Cabimas” pate were Artraco, (Aruba Trading
in a doubleheader of the Venezu- Co.), Esso Garage and Botica San
elan Western League. These official Lucas. In 1945 Venezuelan employ-
games of the league were autho- ees of the Lago refinery participat-
rized to be played in Aruba by the ed under the name of “Cafenol”,
Professional Baseball Organization a very popular Venezuelan coffee
of Venezuela. Several others who brand. Two other groups of Ven- isting teams in a league that was
played in those games have also ezuelan immigrants formed the referred to as A-class, ABBA estab-
ORANJESTAD — Baseball was been enshrined. teams “Cerveceria” (named after lished a B-class league in which the
played on the island of Aruba in the iconic team Cerveceria Cara- “Budweiser’ and “Braves” played
the 1930’s, but only by United States Luis Aparicio’s father was the super cas), and “Venezuela”, although the first years.
expatriates working for LAGO and popular Luis “El Grande” (the great not all members of these teams
living inside the LAGO colony. Jim one) after whom the baseball sta- were Venezuelans. This was also By 1952 Aruba became a mem-
Bluejacket, the legendary US In- dium in Maracaibo is named. He the year that the team sponsored ber of the International Amateur
dian who had played in two major and his brother owned the profes- by Roxy Café started to play as Baseball Association and fielded
league teams, worked for LAGO sional baseball teams “Gavilanes” “Dodgers”. a team managed by Joe Proterra,
during 14 years and was a key fac- which later became the “Aguilas”, Dodgers became the dominant (former pitcher of “Barnes’ Ram-
tor in the growth of the popularity of and the “Cabimas”. baseball powerhouse till the 1950s. blers”), that would play for the first
the game in the colony. There is no time ever in the Amateur Baseball
record of Bluejacket ever playing In the early ‘40s, another group, Other teams that entered the base- World Series that took place in
outside the colony. mostly immigrants from the Domini- ball scene in the late 1940s: Pepsi Havana, Cuba in September. Sur-
can Republic also became very Cola (Oranjestad) and St. Thomas prisingly, Aruba won two of its six
Outside the colony, the game of active with pickup teams. Some of Boys (former students of St. Thomas games and became the darling
baseball was introduced to Aruba these remained active in baseball College, Oranjestad). “Baby Ruth” of the Havana fans. Nell Harms of
by Venezuelan immigrants and well into the early ‘50s; as umpires, in San Nicolas played initially under the Aruban team was named the
sailors on the Venezuelan fishing managers even as players. Among the name “Camel” and “Barnes` “Outstanding player of the week”
boats that used Aruba as their these were Nestor “Pantin” Guer- Ramblers” the only team consisting for his performance against Hondu-
home port. They formed pick-up rero who also had a musical band. of Lago Colony players to partici- ras. He allowed just two hits, struck
teams and played games on Sun- Perhaps not so coincidentally, pate in the Lago Sport Park cham- out 15 and hit the only homerun
days on an open field behind what many of Pantin’s players were also pionships. “Red Rock Cola” was of the game. Joe Cambria, the
is now the Court of Justice. One musicians. Luthai Pantophlet who formed in Oranjestad in 1950. famous scout for the Washington
of the Venezuelans that comes to umpired many years was a well- In 1952 the team Pepsi Cola be- Senators offered him a contract,
mind is Felix Garrido, grandfather known drummer. Gaston Hazel came “Nesbitt’s” and had players but Nel was not interested, but the
of our current Prime-Minister. was a bongo player; José Bryson of seven countries, including two next year, at the Amateur Baseball
and the brothers Nicholson, Teddy American expats from Lago Colo- World Series in Caracas, Venezu-
In the late 30s the leader of this and Julio, all played several instru- ny. ela, Nel and Ruben Phillips did sign
group was Raúl Aparicio, a cous- ments. and in 1954 they played profes-
in of Luis Aparicio who is now In 1950 a group of prominent sional baseball the Georgia-Florida
enshrined in the Hall of Fame in In San Nicolas, baseball was members of the Aruba commu- League and the Texas-New Mexi-
Cooperstown. The Aparicios were played on the grounds next to nity founded the Amateur Base- co League. They were the first Aru-
evidently very good at sports. Raúl where the LAGO Sport Park (now ball Bond of Aruba (ABBA) to give bans to play professionally, but not
had two brothers who also played Laveist Sport Park) was officially in- structure to the management of the only ones.
baseball, René and Roman. Rosen- augurated in March 1941. the sport and became the orga-
do, his only brother who did not nizers of official championship During the games in Havana, con-
play baseball became a profes- During the WWII years, baseball got games. While maintaining the ex- tacts were made with the orga-
nizers of Little League Baseball in
Cuba which eventually resulted
in the introduction of Little League
in Aruba. Little League of Aruba
has been extremely successful: It
has produced many players who
earned baseball scholarships at
universities in the United States,
a few who played profession-
ally in the Netherlands and dif-
ferent countries in the Caribbean
and five who reached the major
leagues: Calvin Maduro, Eugene
Kingsale, Radhames Dijkhoff, Syd-
ney Ponson, and Xander Bogaerts
one of the brightest stars of Boston
Red Sox.q