Hiram Bithorn

Hiram Bithorn (March 18, 1916 – December 29, 1951) was a professional right-handed pitcher who became the first baseball player from Puerto Rico to play in Major League Baseball.

Standing 6 foot 1 inch (1.87 m) and weighing about 200 pounds (90 k), Bithorn was a hard throwing pitcher who commanded attention when he began his delivery with a distinctive windup, raising his long left leg high in the air and throwing a blazing fastball toward home plate.

Early life

He was born as Hiram Gabriel Bithorn Sosa in Santurce, a heavily populated area in the city of San Juan, and would be one of five children born into the family of Waldemar G. Bithorn, a municipal employee, and María Sosa, a public school teacher. The Bithorn family traveled frequently to the United States. María taught her children English, and at one time produced a radio program called Abuelita Borinqueña (Puerto Rican Grandmother). The young Hiram attended Central High School in Santurce, and his older two brothers, 11 and 10 years his senior, encouraged and assisted in training him to become an athlete.