Born in Key West, Florida, on May 31, 1890, and passing away in New York City at 83 on March 14, 1974, Alex Pompez was fully bilingual in Spanish and English. His father was a big supporter of José Martí, who supported Cuba’s independence from Spain. His father’s death affected the family emotionally and financially since much of their wealth went to Cuban independence efforts. In 1916, Pompez’s «Imposters,» with José de la Caridad Méndez and Cristóbal Torriente, defeated Abel Linares’s rival barnstorming team in PR, 3-2, giving Pompez much-needed credibility in his Stateside ownership efforts with the Cuban Stars East, a team he brought to PR in 1920. Conversely, Abel Linares enticed Babe Ruth to a barnstorm in Havana, Cuba, in November-December 1920 with a $20,000 offer for 10 games plus $3,000 for two contests in Santiago.
Cristóbal Torriente Outshines Babe Ruth in Havana
Cristóbal Torriente
The «Bambino» joined the New York Giants (NYG) in Havana. The 8-5-5 NYG were 2-4-3 versus Almendares, 6-1-1 against Havana, and tied an All-Cubans Team from October 16 to November 28, 1920. Ruth went 10-for-29 (.345 BA) with two homers but was outplayed by Torriente on November 6, 1920, when the latter went 4-for-5 with three homers and six RBI in an 11-4 Almendares win. Fans gave Torriente a gold watch, 400 cigars, and $103. Abel Linares cleared $40,000 after the games ended. One U.S. dollar = one Cuban peso then.
The dark-skinned Pompez experienced more baseball-related success in PR and the States than in Cuba during his pre-NYG scouting era. He only lived in Cuba for part of the year. Another reason pertained to racism within Cuba versus darker-skinned executives and team managers. Cuban Winter League (CUWL) skippers throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s were fair-skinned, e.g., Adolfo Luque, Mike González, and Fermín Guerra, unlike the PR Winter League (PRWL), which featured Black player-managers like Santurce’s Josh Gibson (1939-40) and Ponce skipper George Scales (1940s). Gibson was also a player-manager for Estrellas de Ramírez in PR in the 1930s.
Martín Dihigo’s Talent and Friendship with Pompez
Alex Pompez and Martin Dihigo
Their professional collaboration started with the 1923 Cuban Stars East, an MLB team, due to Commissioner Rob Manfred’s December 16, 2020, ruling. Dihigo was 18 and managed by Pelayo Chacón. Alejandro Oms (.366/.424/.542 slash line and .966 OPS) and Pablo Champion Mesa were star outfielders. They and Oscar Charleston then starred for owner Abel Linares’s 1923-24 Santa Clara Leopards, 36-11 W-L mark, CUWL, equivalent to 118-36. Their team BA was .331 with catchers Frank Duncan (.336) and Julio Rojo (.320); 1B Eddie Douglass (.322) and Eddie Johnson (.345); 2B Frank Warfield (.296); 3B Oliver Marcelle (.393); SS Dobie Moore (.386); OF Charleston (.375), Oms (.381), and Mesa (.328).
In between Negro Leagues team ownership duties, Pompez helped organize the 1924 Negro World Series between Hilldale and the Kansas City Monarchs. These events took place from 1924 to 1927 and from 1942 to 1948. Pompez followed Dihigo’s winter seasons in Cuba, including 1929-30, with Almendares. The 6-2, 195-pound Dihigo, joined the 5-6, 165-pound Oms with the New York Cubans for successful seasons, including 1935, when the Cubans took Gus Greenlee’s Pittsburgh Crawfords—with Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Charleston, Judy Johnson, Sam Bankhead, Bill Perkins—to a seven-game Negro National League II series. Dihigo (.326/.409/.569, and .978 OPS) and Oms (.377/.428/.572, and 1.000 OPS) starred for the 1935 Cubans in league play, as did Lázaro Salazar (.338/.417/.541, and .959 OPS). Twenty-two-year-old shortstop Horacio «Rabbit» Martínez from the DR was a valuable utility infielder, and future «bird dog» for Pompez in the DR. Luis Tiant Sr. pitched for the Cubans. Pompez kept on top of Dihigo’s barnstorming, including some games with the 1934 Concordia Eagles. (Josh Gibson replaced Johnny Mize on Concordia’s roster when the latter departed for the States from Puerto Rico circa January 1934. Mize opined that Dihigo was the «best overall player he had ever seen/played with,» based on several games as Dihigo’s Concordia teammate.)
Dyckman Oval
New York Cubans played home games at Dyckman Oval, 50 blocks from the Polo Grounds. On September 29, 1935, Pompez arranged for the Babe Ruth All-Stars to play a twin-bill versus the Cubans at Dyckman. Ruth hit a first-inning double off Tiant Sr. in Game One, a 6-1 Cubans win. Pompez earned extra revenue hosting wrestling/boxing events, including an August 26, 1935, bantamweight title fight between Sixto Escobar of PR and Lou Salica. Jack Dempsey refereed some of the Dyckman wrestling and boxing matches.
Underworld Challenges
In 1935, Pompez and partner Big Joe Ison grossed $5 million from their Harlem lottery business the same year mobster Dutch Schultz was murdered. (Schultz took over some of Pompez’s Harlem «numbers business» during the Great Depression.) Thomas E. Dewey, New York City prosecutor, got an indictment and warrant against Pompez in January 1937. Pompez was extradited from Mexico City to New York City in late October 1937. Dihigo had a stellar 1938 season in the Mexican League (18-2 W-L).
Pompez Represents Dihigo in a Contract Issue
The 1938-39 Guayama Witches, champions of the first PRWL season, lost the services of Alejandro Oms but secured Dihigo’s signature on a $15/week contract before Dihigo went to Mexico, bypassing his Guayama deal. Guayama signed RHP Bertrum Hunter—released by the Ponce Lions—to a short-term contract. Hunter won all three of Guayama’s final series versus the San Juan Senators. «Guayama had Perucho Cepeda and other good hitters,» recalled Jimmie Crutchfield, San Juan’s center fielder. «We had Ray Brown, one heck of a pitcher.»
In 1940-41, Pompez was Dihigo’s agent in approaching Guayama to help the Witches earn a «three-peat,» having won back-to-back crowns, 1938-39 and 1939-40, plus the 1939 Semi-Pro World Series versus Oklahoma’s Duncan Cementers. Guayama Rotary Club officials—the team’s sponsor—denied Pompez’s efforts on Dihigo’s behalf, and Dihigo’s suspension remained. (A Dihigo-Tetelo Vargas-Perucho Cepeda trifecta would have been lethal.) The PRWL also rejected Pompez’s offer to install lights in PRWL ballparks.
World War II
Pancho Coimbre with the New York Cubans
Hard-working Pompez secured the use of Yankee Stadium for New York Cubans’ home games during World War II. He signed Francisco «Pancho» Coímbre to 1943 and 1944 contracts, along with Tetelo Vargas, Rabbit Martínez, and other top-notch talent. Coímbre was a five-time PRWL champion with the 1941-45 and 1946-47 Ponce Lions, managed by George Scales.
1947 Negro World Series
The Cubans won the Sept. 19-27, 1947 «Classic» over the Cleveland Buckeyes, four games to one, with one tie. Top hitters for the victors were Minnie Miñoso (.423 BA), Claro Duany (.421), Ray Noble (.400), Silvio García (.389). A 5-5 six-inning tie at the Polo Grounds (Sept.19) preceded a 10-7 Buckeyes win at Yankee Stadium two days later. Four straight Cubans wins were 6-0 at Cleveland Stadium (September 23), 9-4 at Shibe Park (Sept.24), 9-2 at Comiskey (September 26), and 6-5 at Cleveland Stadium (September 27). Regular season stats included 9-0, 2.37 ERA for Luis Tiant Sr., Lino Dinoso’s 5-2 and 2.30 ERA, and Pat Scantlebury’s 7-5, 3.48 ERA. Miñoso’s .356/.406/.508 and .915 OPS, with Duany’s .321 BA and Silvio García’s .335 BA, helped the cause. Rabbit Martínez and Ray Noble were capable contributors.
1948-1973 Scouting for New York Giants (NYG)/San Francisco Giants (SFG)
Pompez’s quarter century of working with Giants owner Horace Stoneham and staff, including farm system coordinator Carl Hubbell, scouting department head John Schwarz, managers Leo Durocher, Herman Franks, and others, proved fruitful. Pompez was instrumental in Monte Irvin’s signing for the NYG with John Ford Smith, Ray Dandridge, etc. Irvin played for the 1948-49 Almendares when Pompez approached him about an NYG opportunity in Cuba. Pompez’s friendship with the Santurce Crabbers owner, Pedrín Zorrilla, opened the door for hurler John Ford Smith’s signing. (Ford Smith and Dandridge never played for the NYG.) Pompez coordinated Willie Mays joining Almendares late in the 1950-51 CUWL season when OF Dick Williams was called into Military Service. Still, Mays’s ankle injury precluded him from playing for the Scorpions.
Selected List of Cuban, DR, and PR Players Scouted and/or Signed by Pompez
From Cuba—José Cardenal, Tito Fuentes, José Tartabull. DR players: three Alou brothers (Felipe, Jesús, and Mateo), Juan Marichal, Manny Mota, Ozzie Virgil Sr. PR: Orlando Cepeda, José «Cocó» Laboy, José A. Pagán, Jimmy Rosario, José «Palillo» Santiago. Pompez facilitated Willie McCovey playing winter ball in the DR (1957-59) for the Escogido Lions, who had a working agreement with NYG/SFG. Willie Kirkland (1957-58) and Bill White (1958-59) played for Escogido, due to Pompez. Conversely, Kirkland (1958-59) and White (1955-56, October-November 1956) played for Santurce, with Pompez’s input. Rabbit Martínez, at the University of Santo Domingo in 1955, alerted Pompez to a talented Felipe Alou. Many of the above were traded—something that saddened Pompez. «He [Pompez] was a good scout,» noted Laboy. «I got my start due to him.»
Cooperstown Recognition
Pompez was on the early 1970s Negro Leagues Committee to recognize deserving National Baseball Hall of Fame candidates Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. In 2006, he was enshrined in Cooperstown, with Effa Manley, José Méndez, and Cristóbal Torriente, among others.
Post Script
Rubén Gómez, long-time Santurce pitcher and PR’s first hurler to start and win a [1954] World Series Game for the NYG, recalled: «Pompez was directly involved with scouting our PRWL and amateur players. Santurce had a working agreement with the Giants for about six seasons (1954-1960). That is why even Willie Mays played for us in 1954-55—Mr. Stoneham appreciated my 1953 and 1954 pitching for the New York Giants and allowed Willie to reinforce Santurce a year before Orlando and Pagán were Crabbers rookies.»
Thanks to Jimmie Crutchfield, Cocó Laboy, and Rubén Gómez. Jorge Colón Delgado edited and placed the photos.
