We can now confirm that “J. Padrón,” whom Jorge Figueredo also refers to as “José Padrón,” is indeed Juan Padrón. In the first game of the 1915/16 Cuban League season, played on December 4, 1915, Juan and Luis Padrón played against each other, Juan pitching for Almendares, Luis playing center field for San Francisco. A play-by-play account published in La Lucha gives both first names, not just initials: Luis is named in the sixth inning, Juan in the seventh. For the record, Luis batted one for three, with a single, a walk, and two strikeouts, against the man he would later be confused with.
Here’s the whole game (click to enlarge):
Since I haven’t yet found Juan in Cuba any earlier than fall, 1915 (he shows up in the Indianapolis ABCs series, as you may have noticed), right now his earliest known (to me) professional appearance was for Molina’s Cuban Stars in 1915, after which he went to Cuba for the 1915/16 winter. He then returned to the States with Molina for the summer of 1916, when he was one of the best pitchers on the Midwestern black baseball circuit. It makes sense that he would play for Almendares, since Molina’s Cuban Stars were largely (though not entirely) drawn from Los Azules during those years. Luis, on the other hand, seems to have played for the Long Branch Cubans in 1914, possibly the Lincoln Stars in 1915 (though that could also be Juan—I haven’t studied 1915 yet), and Long Branch again in 1916.
I understand from another Negro League historian that Juan is known to have been a Cuban-American born in Key West in 1896, although the same source maintained that generally Juan played for fellow Key West native Alejandro Pompez’s (eastern) Cuban Stars, whereas I believe that Juan played for Molina’s (western) Cuban Stars in 1915 and 1916, and later for the American Giants and other NNL teams. He also says that Juan died in Grand Rapids in 1981.
By the way: I’ve gotten to the end of February, 1916, and so far every single game of the 1915/16 Cuban League is given this batter-by-batter treatment (the season ended in late March). All but a handful of 1914/15 games have play-by-plays, too; when I get to them, these seasons will yield unusually rich and detailed stats.
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