Havana Sugar Kings

The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played in the Class AAA International League from 1954 to 1960 . They were affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and their home stadium was El Gran Estadio del Cerro (sometimes called Gran Stadium) in Havana, Cuba.

History

The Sugar Kings began life in 1946 as the Havana Cubans, founded by Washington Senators scout Joe Cambria. They played in the old Class C (later Class B) Florida International League. In 1954, Roberto "Bobby" Maduro bought the team, moved it to the International League, and renamed it the Sugar Kings. Several talented Cuban players and other Latinos who eventually made it to the Major Leagues donned the Sugar Kings uniform, including Luis Arroyo, Pompeyo Davalillo, Tony Gonzalez, Cookie Rojas, Elio Chacon, Daniel Morejon, Preston Gomez, Leo Cárdenas, and Mike Cuellar.

Exhibition with Fidel Castro and Los Barbudos

Fidel Castro was a long-time baseball fan and often attended Sugar Kings games at Gran Stadium. In fact, Castro had been a pitcher during his days at the University of Havana. Soon after taking power, he pledged to underwrite the Sugar Kings' debts. In an exhibition contest between his own pickup squad Los Barbudos ("The Bearded Ones") and a military police team prior to a game between the Sugar Kings and the Rochester Red Wings on July 24, 1959, Castro pitched two innings. He ended up with two strikeouts.

List of Cubans

This is a list of notable and well-known Cubans, ordered alphabetically by first name within each category.

Additional lists

For Cuban-Americans please see List of Cuban Americans

Art and entertainment

Actors

Artists, photographers and fashion designers

Cubans

Cubans or Cuban people (Spanish: Cubanos) are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. The majority of Cubans descend from Spaniards and as a result, some Cubans do not treat their nationality as an ethnicity but as a citizenship with various ethnicities and national origins comprising the "Cuban people". Nearly all Cubans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries.

Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture held in common by most Cubans is referred to as mainstream Cuban culture, a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European migrants, beginning with the early Spanish settlers, along with other Europeans arriving later such as the Portuguese and French, along with West African culture which is somewhat influential despite the fact that most minority Afro-Cubans are of Haitian origin and China.

Demographics

The population of Cuba was 11,167,325 inhabitants in 2012. The largest urban populations of Cubans in Cuba (2010) are to be found in Havana (2,135,498), Santiago de Cuba ( 425,851), Camagüey (305,845), Holguín (277,050), Guantanamo (207,857), and Santa Clara ( 205,812). According to Cuba's Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas ONE 2012 Census, the population was 11,167,325 including:

Havana

Havana (/həˈvænə/; Spanish: La Habana, [la aˈβana]) is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 728.26 km² (281.18 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the third largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.

The city of Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and due to its strategic location it served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the continent becoming a stopping point for the treasure-laden Spanish galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592. Walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the Spanish–American War.

Havana (Edwardian musical)

Havana is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Graham Hill, music by Leslie Stuart, lyrics by Adrian Ross and additional lyrics by George Arthurs. It premiered on 25 April 1908 at the Gaiety Theatre, London, starring Evie Greene as Consuelo, W. H. Berry as Reginald Brown, Lawrence Grossmith as Don Adolfo and Mabel Russell as Pepita. A young Gladys Cooper was in the chorus.

The production ran for 221 performances before touring the provinces. It also soon played in Berlin, Germany. An American production played at the Casino Theatre in New York after a Philadelphia tryout, with revisions by its star, James T. Powers. This production was staged by Ned Wayburn and ran from 11 February 1909 to 25 September 1909 for a total of 236 performances.

Among the show's musical numbers are the songs Little Miquette, Cupid's Telephone, How Did the Bird Know That? and Pensacola. Musical selections from the show were recorded by the Victor Light Opera Company in 1909.

Havana (juggling)

Havana ("turn left in Havana") is a club passing pattern. There are 4 jugglers with a total of 12 clubs and the pattern is a type of rotating feed, much like a feed weave. Feeders do a 2 count (everies) while feedees do a 6 count. All passes are right hand tramline.

There is always one feeder, but the feeder changes throughout. It is best described from the feeders point of view. When feeding, begin passing to your leftmost feedee. Make 5 passes in a windshield wiper fashion.

After the first pass, feedee B and C begin to switch places in a clockwise motion. After the places have been exchanged and the feeder has given their 4th pass, B takes one additional step forward and turns counter clockwise (see: "turn left"), such that D will be the new feeder.

Once A finishes their 5th pass, D immediately begins their feed cycle starting on their left. Note that A has no break between A's 5th pass and D's first pass.

Some find that practicing a 4 person feed weave with a single feeder is a good warm up for this pattern.