Pancho Coimbre - Baseball Career

Baseball Career

In high school, Coimbre played in a school league in the positions of pitcher and second baseman. His incursion in organized baseball came about when he was recommended by a member of the Leones de Ponce, to the team officials. The Leones de Ponce was the local team of the Puerto Rican amateur league who was to play in a series against the San Juan Athletics. During that season the team needed additional players and he was selected by the team's owner, Pipo Maldonado. He debuted in a game that took place in Ponce, where he was given the position of right fielder and he had four hits in five at bats. He continued in the team and in 1928 participated in a championship series between his team and the team of Guayama, where Ponce won on six games. In the last game of this series Coimbre pitched and won with a final score of 5–3, in a game where the team almost lost following an error.

Coimbre's first performance outside Puerto Rico was in the Dominican Republic, where he played with a team named Sandino in Santiago de los Caballeros in 1927. He was accompanied by several Puerto Rican players during this stay. In 1929, he played for the "Magallanes" a team in Venezuela where he played as a pitcher and outfielder. Four of his teammates, who now had homes in Caracas, had played with him in the Puerto Rican league. After having a solid performance in the 1930 season of the amateur league, he was recruited by the Tigres del Licey team to play in the Dominican Republic, which was coached by Charles Dore. Following that season, he continued alternating between both leagues, playing with Santo Domingo in 1931.

After the Puerto Rican league season came to an end in 1932, Coimbre went to work as a security guard in a penal institution and only played with a semi-professional team. Shortly after, he was offered a contract to play in La Guaira, with a team called Santa Marta. The season concluded with Buchipluma, a second team owned by Santa Marta's proprietor winning the league's championship. Following his participation with Santa Marta, he continued playing, both in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. While playing with Licey, the team developed a rivalry with El Escogido, which gave Coimbre an opportunity to establish relationships with several players, from both countries. During this period the team continued to be coached by Dore, and included several known Dominican players. The team would win the league's championship once, but Coimbre decided not to assist the ceremony where the trophy was awarded choosing to stay in his hotel room instead. Dore took the cup to Coimbre so that he could have it in his possession some days, but he rejected this and suggested that it be filled with money for a donation.

In 1935, he moved to Maracaibo where he played for Pastora, in Zulia's Stadium. The team reached the league's final series but lost to Magallanes. Prior to this series, the team had to travel to Caimbas, an industrial city where the games where scheduled. The usual way of traveling there was by boat, but following Coimbre's advice the team was transported there by airplane. After the season was over he moved to La Victoria, Aragua, where one of his friends resided in a hacienda. There he played in a series that served to determine what the final roster of Concordia, a team that was going to travel to Puerto Rico that year, would be. Coimbre participated in the series, but choose to play with Ponce instead of Concordia. In 1937, he returned to the Dominican Republic and his team won the league's championship in what he described as the "most powerful team in his memory".