Teams

The level of play in the Cuban winter league often was described as being between Triple-A and major-league caliber. Many of Cuban teams gave visiting major-league teams fits in exhibition games during the early decades of the 20th century.

When the Cincinnati Reds visited in 1908, they limped away from Cuba with a 4-7 record. The following winter, the American-League champion Detroit Tigers without Cobb fared no better, winning four and losing eight. In separate trips, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies managed only moderate success against Cuban teams. Among the teams in the Cuban League:

Habana
Almendares
Cienfuegos
Marianao
Santa Clara
Fe
Matanzas

The Cuban League wasn't the only professional baseball played on the island. In the 1950s, Cuba fielded minor-league entries in the Florida International League, the Havana Cubans; and in the International League, the Havana Sugar Kings. Many viewed Bobby Maduro's Triple-A Sugar Kings as an audition for a major-league expansion franchise in Havana.