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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Esteban Bellan played for the Troy Haymakers (1871-73) of the National Association (NA). That would
qualify him as the first Latin ballplayer; and, I am well aware of this. But in 1967, MLB determined that
the NA statistics should not count and consequently the Elias Sports Bureau does not include the stats
of the NA in their records. Some of the NA teams were reorganized into the American Association; how-
ever, Troy was not one of those teams.

Therefore, because of this 1967 ruling, Luis Castro is considered the first Latin Major League ballplayer.
You can say this is a very controversial call....but, that is my understanding of it.

Thanks for bringing this up.

TED Z