Bartolomé Portuondo

He was a Cuban baseball player who stood out in the second and third decades of the twentieth century, playing for the Habana and Almendares clubs, and also played for Kansas City and San Francisco in the United States.

He was born in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood in Havana, Cuba.

He was married to Esperanza Peláez, from which union were born Haydeé and Omara Portuondo who dedicated themselves to the arts, the first to dance and the second to singing.

He played as an infielder in Cuban winter baseball between 1916 and 1927, playing for the Habana, Almendares and Marianao clubs, and also played in the Negro Leagues of the United States.

In these leagues he played for the Cuban Stars East, the Cuban Stars West (1917-1918), the All Nations Team (1919) and the Kansas City Monarchs (1920-1922).

In his first season in the United States, that of 1915, he played for San Francisco, where he batted 22 hits in 62 at-bats with eight runs scored, two doubles, five stolen bases and a .349 average, being named Rookie of the Year.

In 1917 he participated with the White Sox in the so-called Cuban-American League, leading in at-bats with 57 appearances.

In the 1918-1919 series playing for Habana, — the champion team — in one of the final playoff games he stole five bases against Almendares, plus the eight stolen by Pata Joroba Jiménez, establishing a record for a game in baseball of that era.

In 1919 the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team from the American Major Leagues, visited for a series of 16 games against the Cuban clubs Habana and Almendares, at the end of the series, Habana split honors, achieving four wins and four losses, Portuondo was one of the most outstanding with a .323 average.

In the 1919-1920 series he played for Almendares, — the champion team — he led in stolen bases with 10 steals in 101 at-bats, was third in runs scored with 16 and hits with 29.

In the decisive playoff game, he scored the winning run — after having hit a triple — driven in by a hit from Cristóbal Torriente.

On November 6, 1920 he participated in a memorable event, when American home run hitter Babe Ruth visited Havana with the New York Giants to face the Almendares club in an exhibition game.

The game was played at Almendares Park and the hero turned out to be the Cuban Cristóbal Torriente, with two home runs and a hit, Portuondo batted a hit in two at-bats and scored four runs in the Cuban victory of 11 runs to four.

In the 1923-1924 season he played with the Habana club and in general Cuban baseball he batted over .300 in four seasons.

Sports writer Andrés Pascual, in selecting the five best Cubans by position in Cuban professional baseball through 1959, includes him among the best third basemen along with Héctor Rodríguez, Miguel de la Hoz, Napoleón Reyes and Roberto Estalella.

In 1985 he was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame.