Steve Bellán

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=darkblue
bgcolor2=maroon
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Esteban Bellán
position=Third base
bats="Unknown"
throws="Unknown"
debutdate=May 9
debutyear=1871
debutteam=Haymaker of Troy
finaldate=June 9
finalyear=1873
finalteam=Mutual of New York
stat1label=Runs
stat1value=52
stat2label=Doubles
stat2value=9
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=42
teams=
*Haymaker of Troy (1871-1872)
*Mutual of New York (1873)
highlights=
* First Hispanic American player in the major leagues

Esteban Enrique Bellán (1850 – August 8, 1932), also known as Esteban, or Steve Bellán ("bel-LYAHN"), was the first Cuban and the first Latin American to play professional baseball in the USA. The Havana-born Bellán also became one of Cuba's first great baseball player-managers, having learned how to play the game while he was a student at St. John's College in New York (now Fordham University) from 1863-1868. During five American professional seasons his main position was third base.

Bellán and his brother Domingo were sent to the United States to study at St. John's College, a Jesuit institution, which was a common practice among wealthy Cuban-Catholic families. During his time there, he played for the college's "Fordham Rose Hill Base Ball Club", founded in the late 1850s. Rose Hill and St. Francis Xavier College had participated in the first match between nine-man collegiate teams on November 3, 1859.

After graduating in 1868 at age 18, Bellán played one season for the Union club of Morrisania, a charter member of the National Association of Base Ball Players and the first club formed in what is now the Bronx. They played home games near the locations of Yankee Stadium (built 1923) and the old Melrose station of the Harlem Railroad. The Union club won the national championship in 1868, Bellan's season with the team.

Troy

Nicknamed "The Cuban Sylph" for his elegant and stylistic play at third base, Bellán went on to play from 1869 to 1872 for the Troy Haymakers, as the Union club of Lansingburgh, New York was nicknamed. That club became a charter 1871 member of the National Association (NA), the first professional league and forerunner of the National League. Bellán was allowed to play in Troy because he was a white Cuban, the league was lily-white.clarifyme

The Haymakers went out of business during the summer of 1872 after which Bellán played one more season, as a substitute infielder for the 1873 New York Mutuals, before returning to his homeland. During the first three NA season, he compiled a batting average of .252, with 69 hits, 52 runs scored, 42 runs batted in, 9 doubles, 3 triples and 5 stolen bases in 60 games.

Cuba

From 1878-1886 Bellán served as both player and manager for the recently founded Habana baseball team, playing in the first organized baseball game in Cuba on December 27, 1874. Club Habana defeated Club Matanzas, 51 to 9, in nine innings. Bellán piloted Habana to three Cuban League baseball championships (1878-79, 1879-80, and 1882-83).

Steve Bellán died on August 8, 1932 in Havana, Cuba. He was 82 years old. He was inducted by the Fordham University Hall of Fame, 1989-90.

See also

*List of Cubans
*List of players from Cuba in Major League Baseball

References

*Retrosheet. [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pbells101.htm "Steve Bellan".] Retrieved 2006-08-31.
* Career statistics at Baseball-Reference [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellast01.shtml]
* Profile at Fordham University Libraries [http://www.library.fordham.edu/cubanbaseball/E_Bellan.html]
* Troy baseball history at Troynet [http://www.troynet.net/history/baseball/troyball.html]
* Yankee Stadium (origins) at USA Today [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/stadium.htm]
* National Association at Baseball Reference [http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NA_1871.shtml]
* Troy Haymakers at Baseball Reference [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TRO/1871.shtml]
* New York Mutuals at Baseball Reference [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYU/1873.shtml]
* Famous First Foreign Players at Baseball Almanac [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/firsts/first13.shtml]