View source for Dolf Luque

{{short description|Cuban baseball player (1890–1957)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|De Guzmán|Luque|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Dolf Luque
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|image=Dolf Luque, Cincinnati NL (baseball) LCCN2014709351 (cropped).jpg
|birth_date={{Birth date|1890|8|4}}
|birth_place=[[Havana]], Cuba
|death_date={{death date and age|1957|7|3|1890|8|4}}
|death_place=Havana, Cuba
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=May 20
|debutyear=1914
|debutteam=Boston Braves
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=April 26
|finalyear=1935
|finalteam=New York Giants
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=194–179
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=3.24
|stat3label=[[Strikeouts]]
|stat3value=1,130
|teams=
*[[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] ({{mlby|1914}}–{{mlby|1915}})
*[[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1918}}–{{mlby|1929}})
*[[Brooklyn Robins]] ({{mlby|1930}}–{{mlby|1931}})
*[[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1932}}–{{mlby|1935}})
|highlights=
*2× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1919}}, {{wsy|1933}})
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders|MLB wins leader]] (1923)
*2× [[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders|MLB ERA leader]] (1923, 1925)
*[[Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame]]
| hofcolor= blue
| hoflink= Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame
| hoftype= Cuban
| hofdate= 1957
}}
'''Adolfo Domingo De Guzmán Luque''' (August 4, 1890 – July 3, 1957)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jamail |first=Milton |title=Dolf Luque {{!}} Cuban baseball player and manager |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dolf-Luque |access-date=2020-06-26 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> was a [[Cubans|Cuban]] [[starting pitcher]] in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) from {{by|1914}} to {{by|1935}}. He spent 12 seasons of his career (1918–1929) with the [[Cincinnati Reds]]. Luque was not only the [[Hispanic and Latino athletes in American sports|first Latin American pitcher]] in MLB, but also the first to earn a [[World Series]] [[List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders|win]] (in [[1919 World Series|1919]]), and the first to lead the majors in wins, shutouts and [[earned run average]] (ERA).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dark-tempered and great|url=https://www.lavidabaseball.com/adolfo-luque-first-latino-superstar/|access-date=2020-06-26|website=La Vida Baseball|date=May 17, 2017 }}</ref>

A native of [[Havana]], Luque played winter baseball in the [[Cuban League]] from 1912 to 1945 and was also a long-time manager in the league, leading [[Almendares (baseball)|Almendares]] to eight championships over 19 seasons.<ref>Figueredo 2003, pp. 487, 509.</ref> Along with his contemporary [[Mike González (catcher)|Miguel Ángel González]], he is considered one of the best Cuban baseball managers of all time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dolf Luque |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dolf-luque/ |website=SABR |publisher=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mike Gonzalez |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-gonzalez-2/ |website=SABR |publisher=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref> Additionally, he [[manager (baseball)|managed]] in the [[Mexican League]] in all or parts of eight seasons spanning 1946–1956.<ref name=BR>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=luque-001ado Cuban, Minor, Negro and Mexican leagues statistics]. ''Baseball Reference''. Retrieved on March 23, 2016.</ref>

Luque was enshrined in the [[Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1957 and the [[Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame]] in 1967, as well as in the [[Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame|Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1985.

== Playing career ==
Luque made his professional debut in Cuba for the [[Habana (Cuban League)|Habana]] baseball club against a Major League opponent, the [[Philadelphia Phillies]], in an exhibition series in the fall of 1911.  He left the game after 8 innings with his team ahead 6–5, but his reliever failed to hold the lead and left Luque with a no decision. He then pitched against the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]], going 1–2, getting the only win for Habana in six games. He debuted in the Cuban League in the winter of 1912, but went 0–4, 0–2, and 2–4 his first three seasons. In 1914/15 he moved to [[Almendares (baseball)|Almendares]] and had his first winning season, going 7–4. The following season he led the league in wins with a 12–5 record. The next winter, 1917, he tied for the league lead in wins and also led in hitting with a .355 average.<ref>Figueredo 2003, pp. 95–96, 99, 103, 110, 114, 119, 123–124.</ref>

Luque made his major league debut with the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] in 1914. In 1918, he was traded to the [[Cincinnati Reds]], with whom he played the next 12 seasons. In the notorious [[1919 World Series]], he appeared in two games as a relief pitcher. Luque also played for the [[Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers]] from 1930 to 1931 and with the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] from 1932 to 1935. He was with the Giants in the [[1933 World Series]], and, pitching in relief, won the fifth and final game over the Washington Senators, thus becoming (at age 43) the oldest pitcher ever to win a World Series game.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who is the oldest pitcher to win a clinching World Series game|url=https://www.answers.com/Q/Who_is_the_oldest_pitcher_to_win_a_clinching_World_Series_game|access-date=2020-06-29|website=Answers|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Adolfo Luque, the oldest pitcher to ever win a World Series Game {{!}} Billy-Ball|work=Billy-Ball - Home of the Bill Chuck Files & Bill Arnold's Beyond the Boxscore|date=October 24, 2019|url=https://billy-ball.com/2019/10/adolfo-luque-the-oldest-pitcher-to-ever-win-a-world-series-game/|access-date=2020-06-29|language=en-US|archive-date=May 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518105354/https://billy-ball.com/2019/10/adolfo-luque-the-oldest-pitcher-to-ever-win-a-world-series-game/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He ended his career with a record of 194–179 and a 3.24 [[earned run average|ERA]].

Luque was an above average hitting pitcher in his major league career, posting a .227 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] (237-for-1043) with 96 [[run (baseball)|runs]], 5 [[home runs]] and 90 [[Run batted in|RBI]]. He also drew 70 [[bases on balls]].

Luque became a starting pitcher in 1920. Primarily pitching with a [[curveball]], he led the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] in losses in 1922, then had his best year in 1923, leading the league with 27 wins and an ERA of 1.93.  Luque also led the NL in ERA with a 2.63 in 1925. He was known as an adept mentor in the later years of his pitching career, and went on to become the [[coach (baseball)|pitching coach]] of the Giants from 1936 to 1938 and 1942 to 45.

As a blue-eyed, fair-skinned, white Cuban, he was one of several white Cubans to make it in Major League Baseball at a time when [[baseball color line|non-whites were excluded]].  Between 1911 and 1929 alone, seventeen Cuban-born Caucasian players played in the Major Leagues. Many of them, including Luque, also played [[Negro league]] baseball with integrated teams from Cuba. Luque played for [[Cuban Stars (West)|Cuban Stars]] in 1912 and the [[Long Branch Cubans]] in 1913 before signing with [[organized baseball]].<ref>Riley, p. 498</ref>

Luque was known to have a temper.  While with the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]], a heckler in the stands hollered "Lucky Luque! Lucky Luque!" repeatedly.  Luque went over to the dugout and told manager [[Wilbert Robinson]], "I tell you, Robbie, if this guy don't shut up, I'm gonna shut him up." "Aw, come on, Dolf", said the manager. "He paid his way in—let him boo." Just then the heckler spotted the rotund Robinson and yelled, "Hey, fat belly!" Robinson said, "OK, Dolf—go ahead and clobber the jerk." Luque obliged his manager's request.

Luque also served as a [[coach (baseball)|coach]] at the major league level for seven seasons (1936–1937; 1941–1945) with the New York Giants, working under managers [[Bill Terry]] and [[Mel Ott]]. As a coach, Luque was a member of the Giants' {{baseball year|1936}} and {{baseball year|1937}} National League champion teams.<ref>[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/L/Pluqud101.htm Retrosheet]</ref>

== Managerial career ==
Luque managed in the [[Mexican League]] for the [[Pericos de Puebla]] (1946–1947), [[Azules de Veracruz]] (1948), [[Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo]] (1953–1955) and [[Leones de Yucatán]] (1956). Besides, he managed the 1951 [[Havana Sugar Kings#History|Habana Cubans]] of the [[Florida International League]] sandwiched between two stints with the [[Águilas de Mexicali]] in 1950 ([[Sunset League]]) and 1952 ([[Southwest International League]]).<ref name=BR/><ref>[http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/29c1fec2 SABR Biography Project]. Article written by Peter C. Bjarkman. Retrieved on March 23, 2016.</ref>

=== Cuba ===
Luque was the only manager to head each of the “big four” teams in the [[Cuban League]]; though the bulk of his career was spent with [[Almendares (baseball)|Almendares]], he also managed [[Habana (Cuban League)|Habana]] for three seasons (1924, 1955, 1956) and spent one season with [[Cienfuegos (Cuban League baseball club)|Cienfuegos]] (which he led to a title in 1946) and [[Marianao (baseball)|Marianao]].

In 1919/20 Luque became a playing manager for Almendares and led the team to a championship in his first season at the helm, the first of seven championships as a manager.  He contributed on the pitching mound with a 10–4 record, leading the league in wins. In 1922/23 he moved to Habana (where [[Mike González (catcher)|Miguel Angel González]] was manager) and again led the league in wins with an 11–9 record. The next season, he took over the helm as Habana's manager and went 7–2 as a pitcher. Later in the decade, Luque's Major League team, the Cincinnati Reds, did not allow him to play winter baseball in Cuba. Luque sometimes evaded the ban by playing under assumed names.
<ref>Figueredo 2003, pp. 130–132, 143, 145–146, 148, 151, 174, 177.</ref>

By the 1930s, Luque had returned to Almendares as manager.  He generally pitched only occasionally, though in 1934/35 he contributed as a pitcher to his second championship as a manager; he tied for the league lead in wins with a 6–2 record and led the league with a 1.27 ERA. As manager, he again led Almendares to championships in 1939/40, 1941/42, and 1942/43, led [[Cienfuegos (Cuban League baseball club)|Cienfuegos]] to a championship in 1945/46, and returned to Almendares for his final championship in 1946/47. He continued to manage for various teams until 1955/56.<ref>Figueredo 2003, pp. 203–204, 229, 243, 247, 262, 276–279, 410.</ref>

Luque's career Cuban League pitching record was 106–71.  Luque is the all-time Cuban League leader in years pitching with 22, ranking second behind [[Martín Dihigo]] in wins with 106, and seventh in winning percentage with .599.<ref>Figueredo 2003, pp. 502–503.</ref>

== Legacy ==
Luque is mentioned in [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s 1952 novel ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'', when Hemingway writes "Who is the greatest manager, really, Luque or [[Mike González (catcher)|Mike Gonzalez]]?."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rl9kCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Who+is+the+greatest+manager%2C+really%2C+Luque+or+Mike+Gonzalez%3F%22&pg=PA29|title=The Old Man and the Sea|last=Hemingway|first=Ernest Miller|year=2007|publisher=Al Manhal|isbn=978-9796500116|language=en}}</ref>

Luque died July 3, 1957,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1957-07-04|title=Adolfo Luque, 66, Baseball Pitcher; Cuban, a Hurler in National League 1914–35, Dies – Player, Coach for Giants Noted for Curve Ball|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/04/archives/adolfo-luque-66-baseball-pitcher-cuban-a-hurler-in-national-league.html|access-date=2020-06-29|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and is buried at [[Colon Cemetery, Havana]].

==See also==
*[[List of Cubans]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball players from Cuba]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{citation | last=Figueredo | first=Jorge S. | title=Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878–1961 | place=Jefferson, North Carolina | publisher=McFarland & Company | year=2003 | isbn=0-7864-1250-X }}.
*Riley, James A. (2002). ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.'' 2nd ed.. New York: Carroll & Graf Publ. {{ISBN|0-7867-0959-6}}.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{baseballstats|mlb=118012|espn=24439|br=l/luquedo01|fangraphs=1007843|brm=luque-001ado|retro=L/Pluqud101}}
*{{Negro-league-stats|lg=cu|seam=887|brn=luque-001ado}}
*{{SABR Baseball Biography Project|29c1fec2}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060723093653/http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/library/columns/rw_050718.htm Baseball Hall of Fame]
*[https://desdemipalcodefanatico.wordpress.com/jugadores/adolfo-luque-1/ Adolfo Luque – Cuban Baseball Statistics and History]. Data gathering on ''Desde mi palco de fanático'' by Rogério Manzano (Spanish)

{{1919 Cincinnati Reds}}
{{1933 New York Giants}}
{{NL wins champions}}
{{NL ERA champions}}
{{Cincinnati Reds Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame}}
{{Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame}}
{{Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{Leones de Yucatán managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luque, Adolfo}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1957 deaths]]
[[Category:Almendares (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Angeles de Puebla players]]
[[Category:Boston Braves players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Robins players]]
[[Category:Cienfuegos players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Club Fé players]]
[[Category:Habana players]]
[[Category:Jersey City Skeeters players]]
[[Category:Leones de Yucatán managers]]
[[Category:Long Branch Cubans players]]
[[Category:Louisville Colonels (minor league) players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Cuba]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban sportsmen]]
[[Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States]]
[[Category:Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Mexican League baseball managers]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:National League ERA champions]]
[[Category:National League (baseball) wins champions]]
[[Category:New York Giants (NL) coaches]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Orientals players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Havana]]
[[Category:Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players]]
[[Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada]]
[[Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in Mexico]]