Martin “El Immortal” Dihigo who played in the Negro Leagues and is in five separate Hall of Fames is the focus of That’s Amaury News and Commentary (photo from Cooperstown Expert)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: This Baseball star is in Five Halls of Fame

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Martin Dihigo “El Immortal,” also known as “El Maestro,” born in Cuba (1906-1971), a legendary star and Negro League player, has been inducted into five (5) separate baseball halls of fame: Cuba, México, the United States, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. Also in the United States, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1958 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The five Hall of Fames are the most in history for a baseball player.

Dihigo is arguably the greatest Negro League player. He played all nine positions and was a standout pitcher and hitter. He managed the New York Cubans of the Negro Leagues from 1935 to 1936. The New York Cubans were founded by fellow Cuban Alejandro Pompez; the team featured Cuban and Latin American players of African descent. The New York Cubans won their only Negro League World Series championship in 1947. Led by manager Josá Maria Fernández and stars like Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso and Luis Tiant Sr., they defeated the Cleveland Buckeyes four games to one (with one tie) to secure the title. 

One of the most incredible seasons for any professional baseball player in history was in 1938 in the Mexican League; Martin Dihigo won the Triple Crown as a pitcher in victories, strikeouts, and earned-run average. Then, that same season, as a hitter won the batting title with a .387 average. He did all that with the Aguila de Veracruz. In one game in México, On August 5, 1939, he struck out 22 batters during a 13-inning game, wearing the uniform of the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz.

Dihigo retired at 45 years of age and died of heart trouble in Cienfuegos, Cuba, on May 20, 1971. He was 65 years old. He died on Cuba’s Independence Day.  May 20, 1902, is Cuba’s Independence Day from Spain.

 Before Shohei Ohtani, Cubans revered Martín Dihigo as the first true two-way player who dominated as both a pitcher and a batter in the professional league

Historical Note: The first documented, official baseball game in Cuba took place on December 27, 1874, at the Palmar de Junco field in Pueblo Nuevo, Matanzas. Habana defeated Matanzas 51–9 in a seven-inning match. The field is considered the cradle of Cuban baseball and the world’s oldest active stadium.

Quote: Orestres Miñoso (All-Star): “He was a big man, but he was big in all ways, as a player, as a manager, as a teacher, as a man”.