Connie Marrero

Connie Marrero

Conrado Eugenio Marrero Ramos (born April 25, 1911) is a former Cuban professional baseball pitcher. The right-handed Marrero pitched in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1954 for the Washington Senators. Marrero made his major league debut when he was 38 years old, and was one of the oldest players in the league throughout the duration of his time in the major leagues. He was a popular star in his native Cuba, where he had a long and successful career in amateur baseball, pitching for Cuba in several Amateur World Series competitions, and playing several excellent seasons with the professional Cuban League and the minor league Havana Cubans. His nicknames in Cuba were “El Guajiro de Laberinto” (The Peasant from Laberinto), reflecting his rural origins, “El Premier,” and “El Curvo.”

Marrero's pitches were primarily “slow stuff—curves, sliders and knucklers.” Roberto González Echevarría provides the following description: “A bit plump, of less than average height, with short arms and small hands, Marrero looked, in uniform, like someone in a baseball costume, not a player. He looked more like a Spanish grocer or peasant than an athlete.”

At age 101, Marrero is currently the oldest living former Major League Baseball player.