A Fordham baseball player was the first Latino to play in the majors in America in the 1800s and that same player brought his love for the game home to Cuba, where he helped establish the country’s professional league. Three baseball experts will discuss the contributions of Esteban “Steve” Bellan and the history of the game in a discussion titled “Whose National Pastime?: Baseball between Cuba and the United States,” on Thursday, April 5 at noon in the 12th floor faculty lounge of the Leon Lowenstein building at the Lincoln Center campus. The discussion is free and open to the public. Bellan attended Fordham University from 1863 through 1868 and played for the Troy Haymakers and the New York Mutuals. The panelists for the Fordham discussion include Professor Louis A. Perez, Jr., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality and Culture ; Professor Roberto Gonzalez Echevarraa of Yale University and author of The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball; and Fordham graduate student Mari-Claudia Jimanez.
DATE: THURSDAY, APRIL 5 TIME: NOON PLACE: 12th FLOOR FACULTY LOUNGE LEON LOWENSTEIN BUILDING 113 W. 60th ST. NEW YORK, N.Y.
