Madden: MLB May Pay Marrero The Pension He’s Owed
From SABR member Bill Madden at the New York Daily News on August 27:
It’s taken 56 years for baseball’s pension poobahs to finally figure this out, but it now appears Connie Marrero could at long last get his due.
Three weeks ago in this space, the Daily News reported that Marrero, at age 100, the oldest former major-league player, was residing in near-poverty on a $125-a-month government stipend, sharing a small two-bedroom apartment with a five other relatives in his native Havana, Cuba.
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Initially, it was believed that Marrero, a legend in Cuba, was one of the 900 or so former players who didn’t have enough service time to qualify for the baseball pension, worth approximately $10,000 annually in an agreement reached earlier this year between MLB and the Players Association. However, since Marrero’s plight has been brought to light, the powers-that-be at the Players Association are on the case and, as it turns out, Marrero, who joined the majors at age 39 in 1950 and compiled a 39-40 record with mostly lowly Washington Senators teams through 1954, was actually a fully-vested five-year player in the pension plan the entire time and conceivably would have been receiving payments for the last 38 years, after he turned 62. The only problem – he never recieved a dime because, after his retirement, he went home to Cuba and never came back.
Read the full article here: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2011/08/27/2011-08-27_it_appears_mlb_finally_will_pay_connie_marrero_the_pension_hes_owed.html
Related link: View our coverage of Marrero’s 100th birthday celebration in April.
Originally published: August 31, 2011. Last Updated: August 31, 2011.