Peter Bjarkman Heads Home
By Adrian Burgos
Cuban baseball was a mystery for most fans in the United States. The end of United States-Cuba diplomatic relations in 1961 had put Cuba’s grand baseball tradition out of reach for baseball enthusiasts in the States.
Peter Bjarkman’s work over the past 30 years unraveled much of that mystery and enhanced our understanding of Cuban baseball.
His seminal book, Baseball with a Latin Beat: A History of the Latin American Game, became the bible for many young Latino writers, broadcasters, and historians.
Bjarkman, a well-regarded historian who became a featured contributor to La Vida Baseball since our launch in March 2017, passed away after suffering a heart attack at the Havana airport on Monday morning after finishing a baseball tour of the island.
“He wasn’t well the week before the trip, but he wanted to go. He died a happy man,” his wife Ronnie Wilbur said.
Un Aficionado
Knowing Cuban baseball was truly Bjarkman’s sweet spot.
He educated us all through passionate writing, authoring over 40 books on sports history, from academic studies to picture books.
Few could rival Bjarkman’s knowledge of Cuban and Latin American baseball. None surpassed his passion for the subjects.
Bjarkman, a native of Hartford, Conn., traveled the world to see the Cuban national team. He witnessed their games on the Caribbean island and also in Japan, Holland, Italy, and other parts unknown to most baseball fans.
Bjarkman romanticized players and events. He also gave Cuban and Latino players their proper due and helped changed the narrative about the history of the game.
Peter was well known for his passion and knowledge of Cuban baseball that when Anthony Bourdain headed to Cuba to film “No Reservations: Cuba” episode, his production company called on Peter to be Bourdain’s baseball guide in Havana.
The pairing of Bourdain and Peter was more than just a television producer’s dream. It was smart because the two were so similar.
Both were passionate about what they knew and eager to learn more about what they didn’t. The two were willing to travel pretty much anywhere to acquire that knowledge. Upon reflection, it is hard to say who was luckier in that pairing. There was no one you’d want to spend time with at a Cuban ballpark more than Bjarkman.
Peter was insistent that we not divorce the Cuban baseball story, especially its post-revolutionary era, from the history of baseball in the United States.
He had seen so many Cuban greats perform, including legends Omar Linares, Oscar Kindelán, German Mesa, Lourdes Gurriel and Pedro Lazo.
He also saw José Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes and Aroldis Chapman play before they became Cuban baseball defectors and starred in the major leagues.
He worked to help us understand the place in history of these Cuban ballplayers, of Cuba’s baseball tradition, and of the impact that Major League Baseball’s desire for Cuban talent had on the future of Cuban baseball.
His passion came through loud and clear, both in his writings and in person.
When La Vida Baseball needed someone to write about Cuban baseball history, the most recent baseball defector, or about what’s next in the Cuban game, we knew to call on Bjarkman first.
The Baseball Professor
Before dedicating his time fully to research and writing on baseball, Peter was Professor Bjarkman. He had obtained a doctorate in linguistics and had held positions at George Mason, the University of Colorado and Purdue University, among others.
He was a baseball professor for me and countless others. He was someone who educated us on not just the facts of the matter but also how to research matters, read sources more carefully, and how to ask questions. Basically, he helped many of us become better historians and journalists.
Bjarkman’s Baseball with a Latin Beat was a Latino baseball bible that I first read as a graduate student. He wrote about nearly forgotten Cuban baseball greats Adolfo Luque and Martin Dihigo con gran pasion, or great passion.
Equally significant, he connected the story of baseball in Latin America and in MLB unlike anyone else I had previously read.
I got a little of that flavor a couple years back when the Society of American Baseball Research convention was held in Miami. Marlins Park is not Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, but few things could compare with Bjarkman’s company for baseball banter and fun.
It was an honor to nominate Bjarkman for SABR’s Chadwick Award, which recognizes the great researchers of baseball history “for their invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America with its past.” This all perfectly describes Bjarkman’s prolific writings and arduous research on Cuban baseball, as well as the way the man himself and his approach to his life’s work.
His baseball writings included Cuba’s Baseball Defectors, Smoke –The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball, and A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006. Each book revealed the power and significance of Cuba’s baseball story.
Bjarkman was finally selected as a Chadwick Award winner in 2017. The recognition from his fellow baseball researchers seemed to truly have pleased him. It was a sign of well-earned respect. As a group, we may have had differences of opinions on some matters, but we all saw terrific value in the work he had produced.
My last interactions with Peter occurred at the 2018 SABR convention in Pittsburgh this past June. We chatted for about an hour about the recent death of Bourdain, their time together in Cuba, and the greatness of Roberto Clemente as a player and as a person for all to admire.
That conversation along with the many others showed that the Hartford native and New York-raised Bjarkman was a man “con alma Latina.”
Que en paz descanse, amigo. Rest in Peace, my friend.
Featured Image: Peter Bjarkman Facebook
Inset Images: Peter Bjarkman Facebook