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by Douglas Logan
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His name was Mario Gonzalez de Mendoza, and he was my grandfather. I adored him. He is best known for heading up the ownership group of the heralded Cuban baseball team, Almendares. The Scorpion. El Alacran.
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On February 25, 1947 the team won its most important victory. The Cuban championship against the Havana Reds. Max Lanier pitched a beauty of a game to end an exciting season. But perhaps what occurred in the weeks after the game was even more important.
One of Mario’s best friends was Branch Rickey, the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. A baseball genius, known as “The Mahatma”. Rickey and my grandfather communicated frequently and visited each other several times a year.
I remember that in 1950 Mario visited NYC and my parents and I went to the city to see him. He answered the door of his suite in the Waldorf-Astoria dressed in an undershirt and silk boxer shorts with an embroidered scorpion (and a lit cigar). He explained he was dressing to see Branch Rickey for dinner.
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In 1947 the Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson from Montreal to play in the big leagues. The breaking of the color line. An epochal event, not only for baseball, but also for the culture. Rickey had consulted with my grandfather prior to announcing his intentions. They discussed the consequences, pro and con. Together they made a plan to address one of the major hurdles.
Florida had a terrible reputation for racial bias. In some quarters it was nicknamed “South Alabama”. These two savvy baseball execs feared the reaction to this move would be hostile and viral during Spring Training. They understood the ferocity of the protest might lead to violence.
In 1947 the Dodgers did not participate in Spring Training in Vero Beach, their usual encampment. They conducted their drills for a month in Havana, using the Almendares facilities provided by Mario. They played a couple of exhibition games on their way up the east coast to Brooklyn.
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All due to the deal made between these two friends.