Martin Dihigo

Since a lot of people aren't too familiar with Who Martin Dihigo is beyond maybe the fact that they know he is a HOFer, I thought I'd post a bit about him. Most of it is from The Negro Leagues Book put out by SABR in 1994.

Described as a superb pitcher and brilliant hitter who could play every position except catcher. His career spanned over 25 years. He was usually the ace of his staff as well as being among the league leaders in HR and BA and was the player manager for several teams. Dihigo is the only player elected to HOF in the US, Mexico and Cuba. In the 1938 Mexican League he was 18-2 with a 0.90 ERA wile leading the league in BA and HR. He served as Minister of Sports in Cuba until his death at age 65 in 1971.

Roy Campanella was quoted as saying "Dihigo was one of the greatest I ever saw. He was a tremendous pitcher, could for power and average and do everything."

Buck Leonard, "Dihigo was the best all around player I have ever seen. He could run, throw, hit,, think, pitch and manage. He both knew the game and could play it well. I was in the game for 23 years and never saw anyone better than he was."

Johnny Mize, "The greatest player I ever saw was a black man.He's in the HOF although not a lot of people have heard of him.His name is Martin Dihigo. I played with him Santo Dimingo in winter ball in 1943. He was the manager and the only guy I saw who could play all nine positions, run and was a switch hitter. I was having a pretty year down there and they were walking him to get to me."

Good stuff, Jay.

With all due respect, I would still go with Josh Gibson as the greatest Negro League player of all time. But it was still very interesting to read about Dihigo. Thank you for enlightening me.

Josh was an amazing hitter but he couldn't pitch. If Ruth wasn't such a good pitcher lots of people would be arguing that Cobb, Williams or someone else was a better all around player. The fact that he was a top flight pitcher puts him over the top the same way it makes Dihigo the best choice for best all around. There is another player that give Dihigo a run for the all around title but I won't name him yet because he is still available in our All-Time Greats fantasy draft that is going on. Once he is drafted I post who it is.

I don't care so much about how many positions a person can play since each player can only play one position at a time. Rather, I care about the quality of offensive production and the defensive demands required of their position. For that I will take Ruth and Gibson. Statistically, in the MLB, I think that Ted Williams was the only one who came close to Ruth. But I'm sure that Cobb was up there.

Dihigo was primarily a 2B and considered one of the best. Not your traditional position that leads the league in power hitting. Add to it that he is taking his turn in the rotation as the team's ace and you get a much more valuable player than Gibson. Not sure I'd rate him above Ruth even though Ruth played a much less demanding defensive position.

Sounds good, Jay!

I'll take this name to my grave, but Jimmy Claxton won more than 350 games as a pitcher, hit .360 over his career, with more than 200 stolen bases. In 1925 Claxton won 20 games in 20 starts while hitting .385 in the Timber League. In 1929 he "never hit below .700" including 13 consecutive hits in integrated company (by newsprint records he went 34 for 46 for the season; only 11 of 20 games are recorded). Claxton also played multiple positions C,P,1B, & OF.

Unfortunately Claxton was forced to play under aliases from 1910-1915 including Clawson, Clausen, Clauson, Barton, Clarkson, and Klaxton to play in integrated company. He also claimed to be Native American and Ethiopian in consecutive seasons (1916-17). I'll give you Dihigo's excellence but so many others careers were overlooked because of their race.

CU-BA, the next MLB franchise should be in Havana

I'm sure Claxton was very good but wasn't playing in leagues at the level of Dihigo. An example, Jim Eisenrich, former MLB player quit after a few years. Went back to MN and played semi-pro ball where he hit somewhere close to .700. Lee might know the details better than me. Putting up crazy numbers in town ball/company ball isn't quite the same as putting up big numbers at the level competition Dihigo was playing.

Are you saying Cuba could put a better team on the field than the Wenatchee Apple Knockers, Snohomish Pilchuckers, or the Everett Wide Awakes? (insert sarcastic statement here)

Claxton's numbers versus former and future Major Leaguers is pretty impressive. Earl Averill went 1 for 12 versus Claxton in 1925, Roy Johnson hit a robust .050 (2 for 40) 1922-25, Indian Bob Johnson lost both games versus Claxton 1927, Babe Danzig went 0 for 4 in 1919 Northern California Championship (a game Claxton won 2-1). Too many others to list. The only player who really hit his nasty "fast-breaking curve" well was an aging Hunky Shaw (18 for 54) 1922-27.

Most point to his numbers in 1932 as proof he did not have what it took to compete with the best. He played briefly for a couple teams in the Negro Leagues that season. However, he was nearly 40, and recovering from his first serious injury that cost him nearly the entire 1931 season. He only pitched three games in '31, pulled in the fifth of his second game versus Owl Transfers of Seattle. He returned one month later but threw 2/3 inning, walked four and hit three before he was yanked.

For sheer longevity his career is amazing. He pitched regularly in the South Pines League (Tacoma) in 1946 at the age of 53 (12-5 record, .318 batting average). Legend has it he pitched a two-hit complete game shutout at the age of 62!

Sorry, I do not mean to derail the thread. Yes, Dihigo was amazing, perhaps the greatest. It is such a shame we will never know how awesome these men could really have been. Dihigo certainly stands tall by any measuring standards. Claxton's career is far more unknown, and of questionable validity.

Yet they all pale in comparison to Louis Sockalexis... "The Deerfoot of the Diamond".

Ty you are not derailing the conversation at all.

By all accounts Sockalexis was a hell of a player. Sadly, we'll never know just how good.

Interesting thread. Certainly, the early game emphasized the complete player. 2B is way more demanding than the OF, but pitching is tough to master too.

I suppose an extension is to insist the best talent be in the game. Love baseball? Support it locally and professionally is the message here, I guess. What I mean is that the game in the US has a less native flavor. As the rest of the world becomes richer, will the best players continue to be paid the most here? Look at soccer. Best paid and best players including Americans play usually in Europe.

Back to baseball, my impresion is during that era, at least a portion of the public at large was highly interested in the quality of Negro League players. Their AS game appears to have been highly profitable is the 30-40s if you look at the Haupert Winter stuff from the Cooperstown Baseball Symposium. I have an impression that a large part of the paid attendance was from White Americans. If the League refused to integrate, then was it the Commissioner, the owners, or the players, the fans, or the public? A combination.

For today, I read comments that there are so many Latin players. Usually the extension suggests that they replace native players. In the context of our history where some Latin players could play here before integration, why not embrace the higher quality play that these athletes bring to our National game? Compared to the 20-30's, our native athletes have more than baseball to choose when it comes to well-paid professional team sports.

I do not mean that we are opposed to foreign players here on this board. Boy, I hope I do not bore or lecture too much. I also hope I do not derail the thread.

Personally, I could care less where the talent comes from. Europe is the most affluent part of the world that loves soccer, so naturally most of the best players are going to go play there. Same for baseball. The US is the most affluent of the baseball playing countries so the best talent is going to play in the US. When relations get normalized with Cuba, I'm guessing that if there is ever a franchise in financial trouble it will get moved to Cuba. Monteray, Mexico would be a good choice too with all the violence in Mexico it's just not a safe place for a team at the present time.

sabrjay wrote:Personally, I could care less where the talent comes from. Europe is the most affluent part of the world that loves soccer, so naturally most of the best players are going to go play there. Same for baseball. The US is the most affluent of the baseball playing countries so the best talent is going to play in the US. When relations get normalized with Cuba, I'm guessing that if there is ever a franchise in financial trouble it will get moved to Cuba. Monteray, Mexico would be a good choice too with all the violence in Mexico it's just not a safe place for a team at the present time.

A MLB team in Cuba would very unlikely because the people there can't afford the ticket prices.

If trade is ever normalized there will probably be a fairly quick turn around in the economic situation there. Besides, how many average Americans actually go to sporting events on their own dime on a regular basis anymore? Luxury boxes, the big revenue makers for the team, are almost exclusively corporations. Same for prime box seats. I'm pretty sure there would be plenty of corporate and govt support for a team in Cuba.

The people there can't afford soap.

The great player I had mentioned early was Bullet Joe Rogan. A better pitcher Dihigo but not quite as good of a hitter. Leon Day could also be included in this group too but he's not as a good a pitcher or hitter as either and didn't play as many different positions.