Major League

Barnstorming trips to Cuba by major-league teams were commonplace during the first two decades of the 20th century, with visits by the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants. When the Tigers visited in 1910, Ty Cobb was thrown out three consecutive times in one game while trying to steal second. After his third failed attempt, an irate Cobb demanded the bases be measured. Indeed, second and first were three inches further apart that the required 90 feet. Umpires ordered the base moved but didn't credit Cobb with a steal.

In the winter of 1911, manager John McGraw brought the New York Giants, just three weeks removed from their World Series loss to the Athletics, to Cuba for a series of games. Against the Giants, Mendez split a pair of decisions with Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson as the Giants went 8-3 against the Cubans. But Connie Mack's World Series champion Philadelphia Athletics struggled to split an eight-game series in 1910.

McGraw returned to Cuba in 1920 with the Giants and special guest Babe Ruth. Cuban promoter Abel Linares paid Ruth, who had just hit a then-major-league record 54 home runs in his first season with the New York Yankees, $1,000 a game to join the Giants' tour of the island. That set up a home-run derby between Ruth and Cuban slugger Cristóbal Torriente (left) in a game in Havana's Almendares Park. As Ruth went hitless in three at-bats, Torriente crushed three home runs.