Cholly Naranjo shares fabulous Bobby Maduro memories at SABR baseball meeting

Bobby Maduro had his fingerprints all over Cuban baseball, supporting a generation from the 1940s and 1950s that jump at any chance to tell his story. Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Cholly Naranjo was just a teenager when he first met Maduro after a high school baseball competition.

Cholly Naranjo - Almendares Baseball Card - AutographAddict.com

“I’m walking out behind home plate, and Bobby walked into me and said, ‘Hey Naranjo, what do you think about baseball?’ the 84-year-old Naranjo recalled at a recent South Florida SABR meeting. “I said Bobby, if I [make it] good enough to come out to professional baseball, I will try to see what the best offer is [that] I get in order to make the next step.’ He said, ‘Hey Cholly, you’re too young; you’re thinking about money already?’”



Apparently, Naranjo wasn’t too young to be thinking ahead. He signed with the Washington Senators at 17 in 1952 under “Papa” Joe Cambria's guidance. One year later, Maduro summoned him to join fellow teenager hurler Camilo Pascual on his squad. Together, the Cuban pair made a formidable one-two punch for Maduro’s club, leading the team in winning percentage.

“When Maduro bought the franchise [in 1953], he asked for me to come to the Havana Cubans,” Naranjo said. “When the big people talk, the little people go. When I got to the ballclub, we had Camilo Pascual, one of the greatest Cuban pitchers of all time. [He was] a particular friend of mine because we lived in the same neighborhood and played in the same sandlots.”

Naranjo revealed a hidden detail about Pascual's career that few knew; he battled arm problems his entire career en route to his 2,167 strikeouts.

“Camilo, all his life, since he was 13 years old, he had a sore arm,” Naranjo said. “The story of that guy is incredible — how he has accomplished what he has done in baseball, all with a sore arm."

Maduro would beckon Naranjo to accompany Pascual to get regular treatment no matter where in the Florida International League the team was playing. Naranjo proudly carried that responsibility over 55 years later.

“[When] we went on the road, Maduro used to call the traveling secretary to tell me to bring Camilo with me away from wherever we were playing,” he said. “[I would] take him to Miami to go see this famous trainer. I would take Camilo with me to see that guy, and that was my relation directly with Maduro as far as I was concerned.”

* Special thanks to Sean Holtz at Baseball-Almanac.com for the video.