December 21, 2008
Disappearing Group
Negro League star Carlos Manuel Santiago passed away today (Sunday).
Santiago played second base and shortstop for the New York Cubans in 1945-46. He was invited to spring training by the Cleveland Indians in 1951 but was soon drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Korea. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant about two years later.
There can't be too many Negro League players left. The youngest would be in their 70s. Certainly the number left from before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier has to be pretty small.
My thoughts go out to his friends and family.
Posted by David Pinto at
06:46 PM
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Could be more surviving players than you'd think at first. Their last season was 1951 so the youngest players would be around 75. If I remember correctly, the Negro League rosters had a lot of player movement so their could be quite a few still alive. FWIW, I read a year or so ago about one who turned 100.
