I thought I’d post the Brooklyn Royal Giants’ Cuban series that took place in October and November of 1908, just before the Cincinnati Reds’ visit. It turns out that this hasn’t (to my knowledge) been fully reported either; Figueredo has them playing 13 games, Holway 12, whereas I’ve been able to find 16 altogether (not including their one game against Cincinnati). According to La Lucha, “‘Home Run’ Johnson says he came to Cuba for the express purpose of beating the Almendares in the series.” Brooklyn came close, but ultimately lost to Almendares, five games to four, while beating Habana four out of seven.
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(The statistics for these 1908 series are a little messier than previous Cuban seasons, as La Lucha was no longer consistently publishing the marvelous box scores I raved about in this post. Defensive-inning breakdowns often have to be estimated, and batters’ walks and hit by pitch have to be deduced.)
October 10: Almendares 3, Brooklyn 2: José Méndez struck out 12 and let Brooklyn down with just four hits, though it was a tough duel against Frank Earle. This game was played in “los terrenos de la Avenida de la Independencia.” As far as I know, all the other contests were held in old Almendares Park on Carlos III avenue.
October 11: Habana 6, Brooklyn 4: Grant Johnson legged out a triple, but Luis Padrón got two hits himself and was able to hold the Royal Giants to four runs on four hits, despite six errors by his teammates.
October 13: Brooklyn 9, Almendares 1: Johnson began to make good on his promise, as an attack led by outfielder Ashby Dunbar (three hits, one double) raked Andrés Ortega and Juan Violá for 14 hits.
October 15: Habana 3, Brooklyn 2: A tight duel between Luis González and Frank Earle was decided in favor of the former in the bottom of the ninth.
October 18: Brooklyn 2, Almendares 0: Harry Buckner tossed a two-hitter, and Pete Hill contributed a single and a triple.
October 19: Brooklyn 4, Habana 0: Frank Earle whitewashed Cuba on three hits, while Hill, Earle, Johnson, and Bill Monroe each contributed two hits.
October 22: Almendares 4, Brooklyn 3: The Blues jumped to a lead on Rogelio Valdés’s two-run homer to center field in the second inning, and survived a ninth-inning rally by Brooklyn.
October 25: Brooklyn 8, Habana 5: The Giants scored eight runs on nine hits, led by Frank Earle (two for two with a double, three walks, and three runs) and Ashby Dunbar (two for four with a triple).
October 26: Brooklyn 4, Almendares 2: The Giants beat Méndez with a seventh inning rally, adding an insurance run in the ninth. Winning pitcher Harry Buckner hit two for two and was plunked by Méndez twice.
October 31: Brooklyn 2, Habana 1: Jude Gans, normally an outfielder, struck out six Rojos and outduelled Luis Padrón, himself usually a position player.
November 1: Almendares 4, Brooklyn 3: Andrés Ortega struck out seven Giants and survived an eighth-inning rally to win. The series stood at three victories each for Almendares and Brooklyn.
November 2: Habana 6, Brooklyn 0: Julián Pérez allowed only three hits in whitewashing the Royal Giants. Habana had also drawn even with the Americans, three games to three.
November 7: Brooklyn 4, Almendares 2: Grant Johnson (three hits), helped by Pete Hill and Bill Monroe (two hits apiece), led the Giants and pitcher Frank Earle to victory over José Muñoz and los Azules.
November 8: Brooklyn 5, Habana 1: Harry Buckner struck out five and scattered six hits, while Ashby Dunbar contributed three hits, including a double. The Giants had taken the lead in both series; this is apparently where the Habana series was left.
November 9: Almendares 2, Brooklyn 0: Carlos Royer recaptured some of his former glory by shutting Brooklyn down with just two hits, both by Pete Hill (a single and a triple). This was the last game of the series as originally scheduled; the Cincinnati Reds played their opening game on November 12. The initial plan was to have the two American teams play to open the Reds’ series, but the Cuban clubs complained that it would be unfair to cut them out of the lucrative opening day box office, so the schedule was altered, and the Brooklyn/Cincinnati game put off for a few days.
Pete Hill, Grant Johnson, Frank Earle, and Bill Monroe (one game) played for Habana against Cincinnati. After Cincinnati left, one last game was played between Almendares and Brooklyn, presumably to break their four to four tie.
December 11: Almendares 8, Brooklyn 3: Azul’s decisive victory behind the pitching of Conrado Rodríguez and the batting of Rafael Almeida (three hits) and Regino García (two hits) decided the series between the two teams.
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