Matanzas had teams even in the Semi-Professional Baseball League.

That Portuarios, full of veterans and some young figures, went down in history as the only team from this province that competed in that strong Commercial Semi-Professional Baseball League.

For more than 150 years, the province of Matanzas has been represented in Cuba’s main baseball competitions, both amateur and professional, with outstanding results.

Let’s remember the beginning of this sport in the 60’s of the 19th century, when Matanzas and Havana were already playing their teams, first in exhibition or preparation games until they competed in the First General Base Ball League of the Island of Cuba, in 1878.

In that competition, considered professional, the Almendares team was selected together with the teams from these two territories.

The province of Yumurina also participated with the teams Progreso and Cárdenas in some championships in the last two decades of the 19th century, and even at the same time, as it happened in 1888 when Progreso and Matanzas played together with Fe and Habana, or a year later, when Cárdenas was added to these four teams.

Matanzas had its home ground in Palmar de Junco, while Progreso played in Quinta de Oña and Cárdenas in its grounds in Ciudad Bandera.

These selections enjoyed great popularity and had a wide diffusion of the press in the province, which published their results, mainly the newspaper La Aurora del Yumurí and the weekly newspapers El Bat, promoted by the poet Bonifacio Byrne, representative of the Progreso and the famous El Álbum, an illustrated weekly newspaper, which was directed by the novelist Bonifacio Byrne, representative of the Progreso and the famous El Álbum, an illustrated weekly newspaper, which was directed by the novelist Bonifacio Byrne, representative of the Progreso illustrated weekly, directed by the novelist Nicolás Heredia.

As for amateur baseball, the province stood out in many leagues of that category, among them the National League, which was part of the Amateur Athletic Union of Cuba, in which it was represented by the teams Bellamar, champion of 1918; Deportivo Matanzas, holder of 1943 and 1945, in addition to Deportivo Cardenas, placed in the first division on several occasions.

The Pedro Betancourt, Jovellanos, Inter Centrales Azucareros, Social Amateur and Quivicán leagues, among the most famous, in which teams from this territory were champions, should not be forgotten.

In 1941, the so-called Semi-Professional Commercial League of Cuba began in the capital of the country, specifically in the Galván Lobo stadium in Regla, with notable players such as Orestes Miñoso and Andrés Mesa from Matanzas, Héctor Rodríguez, Conrado Pérez, Pedro Formental, Charolito Orta, Ray Gavilán and Adrián Zabala, who would triumph in professional baseball in Cuba and abroad. These championships had as their main facility the Ferroviario stadium.

Although the Semiprofessional League did not last for many years, it was noteworthy that before 1945 there had not been a team representing Matanza, a province that together with Havana had been the country’s baseball champion since the middle of the 19th century, competing in that category.

That year, according to the special supplement of the Diario de la Marina of 1957, it was not possible to play at the Ferroviario Park, destroyed by the cyclone that hit the capital in October, so the actions were moved to the La Tropical stadium, where they would play two Sundays of each month.

For this series, the Portuarios team, from the city of Matanzas, requested its registration to Dr. Rafael Inclán, commissioner of semi-professional baseball on the Island, which was accepted together with that of the Mayca team, from Pinar del Río.

The championship was inaugurated on April 22nd with the presence of the 15 participating teams. The first ball was thrown by Luis Orlando Rodríguez, director of Sports of the government of the day; Dr. Inclán hoisted the National Flag and that of the League and Maestro Gonzalo Roig conducted the Havana Municipal Band.

The Portuarios had in their roster Juan Eckelson, Jacinto Hernández, Justino Bustamante, Pedro Díaz, Cuso Izquierdo, Arnelio Soto, Gustavo Quevedo, Gilberto Cañizares and Marcelino Donis. Completing the team were Severino Ramos, Alberto «Chichì» Caraballo, Juan Hernández, Antonio Cepero, Carlos Santana, Rafael Lescaille, Tomás Armas, Julio Suárez and Pedro Herrera. Director, Juan Bustamante and delegate Justo Samá.

Among the referees of the tournament were Servando Gutiérrez and Francisco «Paco» Luján. That Portuarios, full of veterans and some young players, went down in history as the only team from this province that competed in that strong Commercial Semi-Professional Baseball League.

Written by Francisco Soriano.