A Cigar With Connie Marrero and Kit Krieger
From Tom Hawthorn at The Tyee (British Columbia) on March 4:
A short, stocky man in his prime, [Conrad] Marrero is now but a wisp, shrunken in stature though still sharp of mind. He was once an all-star pitcher for the Washington Senators, hobnobbing in the grandstand with Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower after being assigned to protect them from foul balls.
At 99, he is all but forgotten by the baseball fraternity. Marrero remains isolated from old rivals and teammates, not to mention baseball fans, by a conflict pitting his island homeland [of Cuba] against another baseball-loving nation. Along the Straits of Florida, the Cold War continues on and on, still undecided though long into extra innings.
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Amid the complications of a geopolitical standoff, a remarkable friendship has been forged between [SABR member Kit] Krieger and Marrero — one Canadian, the other Cuban; one of Jewish heritage, the other Catholic; one a retired teacher, the other a retired athlete; one who speaks pidgin Spanish, the other pidgin English. The language they share is baseball.
Read the full article here: http://thetyee.ca/Life/2011/03/04/OldestMajorLeaguer/
Originally published: March 4, 2011. Last Updated: March 4, 2011.