Germán Mesa Fresneda

The Magician Mesa, The Magnet Mesa was a genius and master at fielding balls, for his superior fielding abilities. Shortstop defender, his mastery reached sensational heights through his positioning on the field, speed in movements in both directions and accurate throws without looking at the bases.

He was born in Havana, as a child he dreamed of joining the Industriales team. He debuted in the National Baseball Series at only 17 years old. Licensed in Physical Education.

He debuted in the National Series with the capital's second team Metropolitanos in the 1984-1985 season, when he was only 17 years old. On that occasion, he had only 50 official at-bats, getting 8 singles, for a low average of 177. At that moment, those who saw him start did not foresee in him the hope that he would be a great shortstop.

Young Germán, eager to wear the blue shirt in those years, had before him Rolando Verde, who neither short nor lazy was also included among the good pillars of shortstop, not only for the capital's teams, but within Cuba's national team.

It was not until the 1988-1989 Series that he achieved the dream of every capital ballplayer, which is to play with the Industriales team, the main team and emblem of Cuban baseball, and with which Germán had to wait four years to enter. Then began a reign in that position, a magic on the grass of Estadio Latinoamericano, as well as in other Cuban stadiums. Play after play amazed not only the fans' eyes, but also the highest direction of baseball in Cuba.

A small athlete not of very good athletic build, he proved to Cuba and the world that he would become master of that position. That same year he debuted as a regular on Team Cuba, sending to the outfield the one who had played that position until that moment and of course had very good hands, Luís Ulacia. This is how he joined the national team for the first time during the Intercontinental Cup in Puerto Rico in 1989.

Due to a suspension, for an incident that was never publicly clarified by the National Baseball Commission, he was away from Cuban baseball for two National Series between 1996 and 1998, having left a great void not only for Industriales fans, but also for those who were against this team. However, he continued training underground. All the fans missed those great fielding plays that, as Cuba's number one Industrialista would say:
"We come to the stadium to watch Germán Mesa play, that's proven"
Armandito El Tintorero

When no one expected it, in the middle of the Opening of the 1998-1999 National Series, the announcer at Estadio Latinoamericano announced in a loud voice: Number eleven Germán Mesa... Shortstop! The fans cried with joy, because they wanted to see the great star again. After the announcement, Germán with his knees on the ground, kissed his hands and placed them on the stadium that saw him born as a ballplayer.

In this way, The Magician Mesa also returned to the national team for the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, 1999, under the tutelage of the great second baseman Alfonso Urquiola.

Then came the Sydney Olympic Games, 2000 and the last international event, the Baseball World Cup held in Taipei, China, 2001, in which he wore the Cuban team uniform, and after which four other greats of Cuban baseball also retired: Omar Linares, Luís Ulacia Alvarez, Antonio Pacheco and the Major Drummer, the greatest home run hitter of all time in Cuban baseball, Orestes Kindelán.

He was a shortstop who over the years would become one of the few home run hitters at that position, connecting 112 home runs in his 16 seasons in which he stole 335 bases, and made 805 double play balls, in an unforgettable combination with Juan Padilla.

The quality at the national level was always indisputable and those who liked comparisons often placed him alongside truly established greats. Even outside of Cuba, numerous foreign journalists valued him as a carbon copy of American Ozzie Smith, a Major League player and Hall of Fame member in Cooperstown, New York. The nickname Magician came to identify both of them in different publications and Smith himself, when he saw the Cuban perform, gladly accepted the comparison. Germán Mesa once pointed out to reporters: "I don't think I deserve the praise, but if you say so..."

Saturday, June 1, 2002, was the last time Germán was seen as a player on Estadio Latinoamericano. Due to forced retirement, he could not achieve the dream of retiring as a champion with the team.

During the 2008-2009 National Series, Germán returned to the field to replace Rey Vicente Anglada as Industriales manager, who had won three titles with the team. Germán assembled his technical staff calling Lázaro Valle Martell as pitching coach and Omar Linares Izquierdo as batting coach. Although all preseason forecasts predicted a good campaign for Industriales with such a technical staff, it turned out to be disastrous. Industriales did not qualify for the playoffs and finished in 12th place in the championship. Many voices rose in the capital calling for Germán Mesa's removal, but he went on to manage Industriales in the next championship: 2009-2010.

Industriales Team champion of Cuban baseball in 2010

This began just as badly for the capital's blue team, but with a formidable end to the campaign, where they qualified for the playoffs with only 1/2 game advantage over Pinar del Río, successively crushing three major title favorites: Sancti Spíritus (the best of the qualifying round), Havana (National Champion) and Villa Clara (Eastern Champion), the latter in seven games and in extra innings. Germán raised the national champion title at Estadio Augusto César Sandino, in which only Industrialistas fans remained within a Villa Clara city completely crushed by defeat.

In that championship at the end of the second third when Industriales' standing was in doubt, when asked a leading question by a journalist suggesting a supposed incapacity of Industriales to defeat the strong teams, Germán prophetically responded that what he needed was:
"Luck. We have a young and very competitive team. Against the strong ones we have given close games, but we've lacked the timely hit. That will improve and the story will be different"

When joining the blue team, Germán found what would be his eternal partner and with whom they made the best plays around second base. Until this moment there has not been a combination that reflects such quality of style and speed as the Germán–Padilla combination. Thus began a myth within Industriales itself, and Cuban baseball. The best shortstop-second base combination of all time.

This Germán–Padilla combination was very complete in all aspects of the game, as they communicated by just looking at each other. In the middle of the game, they were capable of guessing what others would do. Those groundballs down the middle of the field are still remembered, which very few could reach, and when it wasn't Germán, it was Padilla and vice versa. One would pass it to the other with the glove in reverse and they would make the out down the line.

Every time Industriales arrived at any stadium, eyes were fixed on both Germán Mesa and Juan Padilla, because no one knew what they were capable of doing. Even today people speak of all those fielding plays each one made, or together, and which filled with emotion an entire expectant crowd when they saw the Industriales team.

One of his memorable plays was when he caught a line drive hit by the capital-born turned Matanzas native Eduardo Cárdenas Alcalá, who was almost twice his height. And everyone exclaimed: What a play sir, but what a play!

Another of the great plays made by Germán was during the Havana 1991 Pan American Games, when in a very dangerous situation he caught a hard grounder from star catcher Charles Johnson that went down the middle of the field, he dove backwards in a very uncomfortable position and passed it to his teammate Antonio Pacheco, who took care of doing the rest, and getting Cuba out of a memorable game against the United States at Estadio Latinoamericano, where the Leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro was present.