On Sunday, I always say hello at church to a couple of old-time Brooklyn Dodgers fans. Like many others, they moved to Texas years ago but cannot stop talking about their old team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. They know that I was born in Cuba and can’t help to remind me of that Cuban who made one of the greatest postseason catches in baseball history.
Edmundo (Isasi) Amoros was born in La Habana in 1930. He died in Miami in 1992.
Sandy Amoros, as he was known in the majors, broke with the Dodgers in 1952. He was a part-time outfielder, a platoon hitter facing primarily right-handed pitchers. Amoros was also a late-inning defensive replacement.
Amoros also played in the Cuban winter league. I remember my father speaking about him.
His biggest moment was Game 7 in the 1955 World Series. Amoros made a running catch and then threw back to shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who then doubled off a Yankee runner at first base. It killed the rally and preserved the eventual 2-0 shutout and the only Brooklyn Dodgers World Series victory.
It turned the Cuban outfielder into one of the biggest heroes in Brooklyn baseball history.