Roberto Ortiz

Cuban professional baseball player who started his career in the late 1930s and became a batting sensation playing for different teams in Cuba and Mexico. He also achieved fame in United States where he played for the Washington Senators (1941-1944) and the Philadelphia Athletics (1949-50). Besides his amazing record-breaking performances in baseball, Roberto Ortiz was tall, handsome, and charismatic, traits that gained him an enormous following among young fans, especially females. As Cuba's national hero, Ortiz was the subject of the 1952 biographical film "Honor y Gloria" (Honor and Glory) in which he played himself supported by a cast of popular Cuban actors and several baseball players of renown. He retired during the baseball season of 1955-1956 but remained an important presence in sports, until 1959 when a communist dictatorship took over Cuba and controlled all activities including sports. Roberto Ortiz fled the island and settled in Miami where he lived quietly with his family until his death at age 56 on September 15, 1971 . His batting consistency and huge home runs will never be forgotten.