Jovellanos and its baseball fields.

Quality baseball players began to make themselves known in the municipality in the early years of the twentieth century, competing in the Dolores or Soledad centers, the closest to the town, or in other teams such as the famous Cuba, of Pedro Betancourt, founded in 1926.

The present municipality of Jovellanos had its first settlement in an old corral called Bemba, in 1842, according to some records. In 1870 it took its present name, in honor of the Spanish writer Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, and received the status of villa.

By the end of the 19th century, according to a local government report, Jovellanos was a rich agricultural area with an active commerce and from the middle of the 20th century it became an industrial town with several workshops and foundries, medium-sized companies and factories, as well as four sugar mills in its territory, in addition to an electric plant and an aqueduct.

From 1860 to 1890 the territory is acquiring a good cultural development and informative need, due to the vertiginous development reached. At that time there were more than seven publications or bulletins and in the twentieth century there were six newspapers circulating in the town until 1956, not counting those of national character.

As for baseball, the first steps appear in the area between 1886 and 1890 without official documentation of its first teams, without land to practice it, only in the open spaces.

At the beginning of the 20th century, according to statements made by some veteran lovers of this sport, it is recognized that there was land at the exit to Perico, next to where the Bus Terminal is located; at the Martínez farm, today Horacio Rodríguez; La Fruta Bomba, in the La Luisa neighborhood and on José Martí Street, on the corner of 20, where the Jovellanos Servicenter is currently located. This was the last stadium where games were played until 1951. There were a few more, but these were the most popular.

There was no one to direct the sport, nor were there any executives in charge of the competitions, so many youngsters played in the so-called «placeres» or in the grounds of the central stadiums near Jovellanos and anywhere else they were invited.

By 1940 it was clearer the need to have its own league and a stadium with the conditions to practice this sport and develop it. In 1942, the provincial press (radio and written), echoes the claim of A STADIUM FOR JOVELLANOS, which it seems was not well received by the authorities and it was necessary to wait almost ten years more so that the old yearning of the fans was fulfilled.

In the municipality, quality baseball players began to make themselves known since the first years of the XX century, who competed in the Dolores or Soledad centers, the closest to the town, or in other teams such as the famous Cuba, of Pedro Betancourt, founded in 1926.

Among those youngsters was a 16-year-old power hitter named Alberto Marcial Hernández Gómez, nicknamed «Sagüita», who would become one of the most popular baseball players in our country due to his exploits with the Havana team of the Cuban Professional League.

From 1930 to 1940, baseball continued to be the preferred sport for the young people of the territory, who even had teams in the municipal capital, representing factories, foundries and held local tournaments with others from nearby areas: central Soledad, in the town of Carlos Rojas, next to the hamlet of San Joaquín, and Coliseo, with its central Carolina and Santa Amalia, among the most famous.

When the Pedro Betancourt League was created in 1944, some of these teams or many of the players became part of different teams in the strong tournament.

It is not until 1949, with the beginning of the Jovellanos Winter Amateur Baseball League, popularly known as the Sagüita League, in recognition of its creator, illustrious son of this town, Alberto Hernández Gómez, that they began to work on the construction of a stadium with conditions that would serve as headquarters for this competition that was very well received by the local fans and that quickly spread to the whole province of Matanzas.

The third Jovellanos Amateur Baseball Winter League Championship began on July 15th, 1951, already in the new stadium, located in the areas of the La Luisa neighborhood, near the well-known La Fruta Bomba field, where a lot of popular baseball was played since the early years of the 20th century.

The first game to be played at the facility was between the Jovellanos team and the Nueva Aurora team from Colón, a game that lasted ten innings and ended with a one-run-nothing victory in favor of the Colombinos.

According to the chronicle that appeared in the municipal newspaper Opiniones, «it was a tremendous pitcher’s duel between the visitor Humberto Pedroso and the local Ramón Rodríguez, known as «Bragañita», which counted on the brilliant umpiring work of Amado Maestri and the accurate scoring of the young Elito Rodríguez. The Jovellanense fans enjoyed the game very much and went home satisfied with the beauty and functionality of their new stadium».

At last Jovellanos was able to have a facility with good conditions for the development of this sport: playing field with the regulatory measures, closed with fences, dogouts for each team and a modern blackboard.
for each team and a modern scoreboard painted in black and edged in white, indicating on its highest part: Saguita Hernández Stadium.

Written by Francisco Soriano.