cristobal torriente
February 1, 1884 – April 3, 1948
cristóbal torriente
Cristobal Torriente was most known for his deceptive power and strong throwing arm from centerfield. Indianapolis ABCs manager C.I. Taylor stated, "If I see Torriente walking up the other side of the street, I would say, 'There walks a ballclub."
career
Cristóbal Torriente is often referred to by many Negro Leagues and Latin American baseball historians as the "Babe Ruth of Cuba".
Torriente native born Cuban professional baseball player, played primarily in the outfield, and part time in the Negro Leagues and Latin American Baseball Circuit.
Playing for multiple teams in his career, starting in 1912, he began to acquire a reputation as prime pull hitter.
He had to work on that vulnerability and through consistent practice he eventually showed his capability to have power to all fields.
His stocky and bowlegged build gave him a reputation around in the league as a deceptively strong power hitter with a strong accurate arm from centerfield.
The Indianapolis ABC’s manager C.I. Taylor stated, "If I see Torriente walking up the other side of the street, I would say, 'There walks a ballclub.'"
Torriente was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Torriente was born on November 16, 1893, in Cienfuegos, Cuba.
He began his professional baseball career as a starting pitcher, seeing some action in the outfield. However, by the age of 17, his talents had elevated his local hometown's amateur ball club, called The Yara Club.
Torriente slugged his team to a juvenile amateur district championship in 1910.
Still at the age of 17, he joined the Cuban Army and “was assigned to the artillery unit because he was husky enough to hoist the heavy artillery pieces onto the mules.”
Around this time, little else was known of Torriente's family or his childhood. [5]
What is known about his early life and baseball playing career is that Torriente played professionally in his home land of Cuba from 1913–1927, setting several Cuban League records; including highest career batting average in Cuban winter league history at .352.
Playing in his homeland earned him two batting titles and where he reportedly hit as high as .402, though records and statistics of his playing career are not well documented around this time in his life.
In 1920, his team, Almendares, played a nine-game series against the New York Giants.
The Giants had added a special guest to their tour of Cuba, Babe Ruth, who was to ensure the trip to be a spectacle.
Torriente answered the challenge by matching the Babe in most of the important offensive categories in the series, propelling Almendares to eventually prevail over the New York Giants, winning the series 5-4.
Along with Martin Dihigo and Jose Mendez, Cristobal Torriente is considered one of the greatest baseball players to ever come from the country of Cuba.
He was the first among class of inductees into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.
Torriente played a challenging schedule in the summer of 1915, and 1916, battling hard for the Cuban Stars team. So much so that a memorable and heated argument arose with the manager in the middle of the 1916 season.
This disagreement had Torriente looking play baseball outside of his homeland.
As news spread of his availability, he was soon tracked down by former teammate and friend José Méndez and later hired by J. L. Wilkinson to play for his All Nations Team.
All this movement took place just before a big series against C.I. Taylor's Indianapolis ABC’s, followed by a match up against Foster's relentless Chicago American Giants.
Seeing the talented young cuban for the undervalued asset he was, Rube Foster immediately signed Torriente to play for his Chicago American Giants in the newly formed Negro National League I.
During his time in the United States, Torriente played for the Giants teams of 1918–1925, and was a member of the roster when the club served as founding members of the Negro National League I (NNLI) in 1920.
In its inaugural season, Torriente led the American Giants to three consecutive pennants from 1920 to 1923, batting .411, .352, and .289 from the leadoff spot.
Cristobal won the inaugural Negro National League I batting title in 1920 with an astounding average of .411.
He also led the league in on-base percentage that year, along with posting an OPS of .465+ or better two consecutive seasons in 1923 and 1924. During this time he maintained an OPS of over 1.000 in four of his nine full seasons in the Negro Leagues.
The next season in 1921, he took part in the second ever postseason series held between black baseball teams, as the Chicago American Giants faced the Eastern Independent Hilldale Baseball Club.
The Giants lost the series three games to two with one tie (3-2-1), with Torriente contributing a home run in Game 1 of the series leading to a win. [6]
His next season he was abruptly traded to the Kansas City Monarchs in 1926.
After inserting him into the leadoff spot in the lineup, Torriente caught fire and led the team with a .381 batting average on the season.
In the championship playoff series against his former Chicago American Giants teammates, Torriente logged a .407 batting average, leading his team to a series win over the Giants.
Torriente briefly appeared for the Detroit Stars franchise in 1927, and now primarily a pitcher, he moved to the independent Gilkerson's Union Giants from 1929-1930.
In 1932, he appeared in games for the Atlanta Black Crackers and Cleveland Cubs, both independent teams at the time with no league affiliation.
Cristobal finished his professional baseball career with the Louisville Black Caps of the Negro Southern League, there he pitched a single game in relief.
In 1938, Atlanta Black Crackers manager Don Pelham unsuccessfully attempted to lobby Torriente to return to play for the team, but no records exist of him ever taking the field again. [9]
Torriente was notorious for his love of the night life and this caused him issues with teammates and management that lasted throughout his career.
Torriente was once sent to the bench in front of 8,000 spectators in 1915 after he "kicked dirt in the direction of an umpire."
After this interaction he put on his street clothes and sat on the bench for the remainder of the game.
However, before the conclusion of the game umpire Goekle sent Torriente to the bleachers in solitary, also sending an officer of the law to keep an eye on him.
Again on August 23, 1915, Torriente kicked dirt at an umpire, this time after the crew chief called him out on an attempted to steal third base. [10]
In another incident, this time a a fight with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, violence erupted and spilled out of the stadium and onto the streets after the game.
The sudden brawl escalated into two men attacked each other with paving stone that were left out for street workers who were repairing a water main.
Rube Foster was eventually able to intervene and settled the fight from escalating further. [11]
There was more trouble for Cristobal again in 1923, when he was sent out of the game in the third inning after objecting to umpire Bert Gholston's call at second base.
He reportedly used "awful language", and then threw dirt on the umpire's "new trousers."
His temper caused him to abandon his spot on the Monarchs roster in 1926 after a dispute involving a stolen diamond ring. [2]
In 1918, now at 24 years old Torriente registered for the World War I draft, listing his current occupation as "unemployed" in Chicago, Illinois in 1927.
He listed himself as a Cuban National and his closest living relative as his mother, Mrs. Felipa Torriente of Havana.
After baseball his days playing professional baseball were over, Torriente lived for a short time in Ybor City, Florida and faded into obscurity.
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