Adolfo Domingo De Guzmán Luque

Glory of Cuban sports, known by the nicknames Papá Montero and Habana Perfecto. During 20 seasons of play in the Major Leagues, his record was 193-179, with a clean earned run average of 3.23 and 28 saves as a relief pitcher, 26 shutouts and 3 league-leading performances in that department, he obtained the title of World Champion in 1919 and 1933. He is considered a sporting glory of Cuban baseball and Latin America, for this reason in the auditorium of the Estadio Latinoamericano there is a bust that perpetuates his memory.

His parents were wealthy, so he received a good education, and from childhood he liked to play baseball, he began in Baseball playing third base for the Vedado club.

He was short in stature, light-skinned, which is why his face was almost always seen as red, with a thick voice and energetic character. He was a great ballplayer, trainer and manager of several teams both in Cuba and abroad, for which all ballplayers obeyed him for the prestige he had earned.

He had a strong temperament, for this reason he was nicknamed "Habana Perfecto" in the United States and the defense of Cuban identity, went beyond the typical national dress of the era, wearing a straw hat, plantation pants, guayabera and a # 5 vueltabajero "habano" between his teeth, he won the respect among the public and American players who, several times, tested his patriotism with fistfights without any consideration

He was famous as a right-handed pitcher in the Major Leagues in the early twentieth century.

He was born in La Habana and debuted with the Boston Braves in 1914. In 1918, he was transferred to the Cincinnati Reds, where he played for 12 seasons.

In the 1919 World Series he played mainly as a pitcher.

Luque played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the years 1930 and 1931 and with the New York Giants between 1932 and 1935. He was with the Giants in the 1933 World Series, being the pitcher in the 5th and last game of the series against the Washington Senators. He ended his career with a record of 194-179 and a 3.24 ERA.

Luque became a star pitcher in the 1920 season. After leading the National League in losses in 1922, he had his best year in 1923 leading the same league with 27 victories and an ERA of 1.93. He also led the National League with an ERA of 2.63 in 1925.

Luque's main pitch was the curveball. Therefore, he was quite analytical with his pitches.

In Cuba, Adolfo Luque played professionally starting in 1912, the year he debuted at third base with Fe and left on record 93 victories against 62 defeats when in the 1938-1939 season he threw his last game for the Almendares, a team which he served most of his life and for whose games he was, much more than a favored figure, a true leader for his indisputable quality, for how much he loved the blue banner, and for the explosive character that gave him an exceptional flair.

As manager, he won seven Cuban League championships for the Almendares and one with Cienfuegos. He was also a winning manager with the "Pericos" of Puebla, in the Mexican League, and for eight years he was the pitching coach for the New York Giants, a position he left to go to Mexico.

His attention to detail made him a great teacher after his retirement, and Luque was a pitching coach for the Giants team between 1936 to 1938 and 1942 to 1945.

He was an educated man, spoke English and Spanish, was cataloged as a model manager, when he called players' attention to something he did it in a good way, he was the most renowned mentor of Puebla, as well as in the United States he was considered the most important Cuban, since he had good relationships with Americans both white and black, as he was not racist.

He died from heart problems.