Books and articles about Leo Cardenas

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Cardenas was one of baseball's best shortstops during the 1960s. The son of Rafael Cardenas, himself an outstanding pro shortstop in Cuba, Leo became known as "Mr. Automatic" for his fancy fielding. As a Cincinnati regular (1962-68), he won a Gold Glove in 1965 and topped NL shortstops twice each in fielding and putouts and once in double plays. He hit 20 homers in 1966, a Reds record for shortstops. Traded to Minnesota for pitcher Jim Merritt in November 1968, Cardenas helped the Twins win a divisional championship in 1969, batting .280 and leading AL shortstops in assists, double plays, and putouts. His 570 putouts that year tied a 63-year-old league record. He led the AL in fielding again in 1971. (TJ)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 25, 1959: Fidel Castro supporters, enjoying a raucous July 26th Celebration in La Gran Stadium in downtown Havana, bring a halt to the IL contest between the Red Wings and the Sugar Kings with random gunshots from the grandstand. Red Wings 3B coach Frank Verdi and Havana SS Leo Cardenas both suffer minor flesh wounds, which causes manager Cot Deal to pull his players from the field and retreat to their hotel. League officials cancel the remainder of the Havana team's homestand, and, with pressure on Ford Frick from U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter, eventually relocate the franchise to Newark for the 1960 season. » May 7, 1961: Trailing Milwaukee, 4-0 after seven innings, the Reds unleash the fire power. They score three runs in the 8th on homers by Frank Robinson and Wally Post, and two more in the 9th, on homers by Leo Cardenas and Gordy Coleman, to win 5–4. » September 11, 1964: In a pitching duel between the Braves Denny Lemaster and the Reds Jim Maloney, Milwaukee scores a run in the 8th to win, 1–0. Gene Oliver doubles, the 2nd hit of the game off Maloney, and scores after a double steal and fly out. Leo Cardenas has the only hit off Lemaster. » October 2, 1964: With first place on the line, the Phils win 4–3 in Cincinnati with the help of their 3rd triple play of the season, and snap their 10-game loss streak. The Phils score four runs in the 8th off Jim O'Toole with the rally starting after a routine fly ball drops between Leo Cardenas and Pete Rose. Cardenas and O'Toole exchange angry words after the game and then start swinging. The 4th-place Giants stay in the chase when Bob Bolin shuts out the Cubs, 9–0. » August 19, 1965: In a magnificent performance, Reds P Jim Maloney's records his 2nd 10-inning no-hit effort of 1965. It is another 0–0 duel through nine innings, until Reds SS Leo Cardenas homers off the LF foul pole in the 10th at Wrigley Field. Maloney sets a no-hit record by allowing 10 walks, and fans 12 in Cincinnati's 1–0 win. Larry Jackson is the losing pitcher. » June 5, 1966: Reds SS Leo Cardenas hits four homers two in each game—in a doubleheader split with the Cubs. The Reds win the opener, 8–3, then drop the nitecap, 9–5. Cardenas drives in eight runs. » June 16, 1967: In a 3–2 Reds' win over the Dodgers, Cincinnati SS Leo Cardenas suffers a broken finger when hit with a pitch by Dodgers P Bill Singer. Cardenas is out until August 15th. » November 21, 1968: Cincinnati trades SS Leo Cardenas to the Twins for P Jim Merritt. » April 25, 1970: Tiger P Earl Wilson fans for the 3rd out in the 7th inning against the Twins. On the 3rd strike by Jim Kaat, Twins C Paul Ratliff traps the ball in the dirt, and must either throw to 1B or tag the batter. Instead he rolls the ball back to the mound, ignoring the fact that ump John Rice has not signaled a K. As the Twins head for their dugout, Wilson begins running the bases and is around 3B when OF Brant Alyea retrieves the ball and throws to SS Leo Cardenas, who is standing by home. Wilson turns back to 3B but Cardenas and Alyea run him down for a 7-6-7 out on a 3rd strike. Wilson pulls a hamstring on the play and leaves, trailing, 2–1, and Detroit ties it up 3–3 in the 9th. But Harmon Killebrew singles home Tony Oliva in the bottom of the 9th for the win. » September 3, 1970: The Twins Leo Cardenas hits a Wally Bunker pitch in the 8th inning off the foul pole, but the umps rule it a foul ball. Manager Bill Rigney and Bob Allison argue that is should be a homer and get tossed for their efforts. Cardenas then strikes out. Phil Roof and Roberto Pena homer to lead the Brewers, to an 8–3 victory. » September 29, 1970: Winning pitcher Ted Abernathy singles home a run in the 12th to give the Royals a 14–13 win over the Twins. The two teams use 49 players, 27 by Minnesota, to set a new ML record. The previous mark (48) in both leagues was set in 1956. The Twins lead 9–5 going into the 9th but the Royals score six runs. Leo Cardenas has five hits and four RBIs for the Twins. » November 30, 1971: The Twins trade SS Leo Cardenas to the Angels for P Dave LaRoche. » July 1, 1972: Nolan Ryan allows five hits and strikes out 16 in pitching the Angels to a 5–3 victory over the Athletics. Ryan has an RBI single and is helped by homers from Ken Berry and Leo Cardenas, off Steve Hamilton.