File photo. Cholly Naranjo (left) with the legendary Roberto Clemente, his teammate on the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Twitter
Lázaro Ramón Gonzalo Naranjo Couto, a former Cuban baseball player popularly known as “Cholly”, died on January 13 in Miami from complications of COVID-19. He was 87 years old.
Because of his humorous character, his anecdotes and his witty jokes, Naranjo will always be fondly remembered by many players and journalists from different generations.
He was born on November 25, 1934, in the Luyano neighborhood, in Havana. He became known in the baseball world when, as a 17-year-old student, he dressed as a pitcher for the Cuba Amateur team at the World Championship held in 1951 in Mexico.
In this tournament, the Antilleans under the direction of Oscar Reyes and Antonio “Quilla” Valdés lost in the final against Puerto Rico (champion) and Venezuela, after winning the qualifying stage with nine wins and one loss.
Naranjo was throwing to the right and batting to the left. His main repertoire as a pitcher was the curve and his other weapon was the study of hitters to find their weaknesses. His height was five feet 11 inches with a weight of 165 pounds.
Talent scout Joe Cambria signed him with the Washington Senators in 1952 (at the age of 18), and in this same season he appeared in 19 games with a record of six wins, six losses and 3.26 earned runs with the Chattanooga Lookouts teams (Class AA) and Richmont Colts (Class B). He was with this franchise until November 30, 1954 when he was sent to Pittsburgh.
He played for 10 seasons with several Minor League teams with a record of 73 wins and 79 losses. His only year in the major leagues was in 1956 with the Pirates, making his debut on July 8 in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader against the New York Giants at the New York Polo Ground.
During his brief stay with the Pirates had 17 appearances, added 34.1 innings, with a 1-2 record, 4.46 ERA, three games saved and 26 strikeouts.
In Cuban baseball, Naranjo started in the winter of 1952-53 (18 years old) with the Alacranes del Almendares, accumulating six appearances as a rookie going 1-0 in nine innings. He also did it with the Leones del Habana and in two Caribbean Series (Almendares) as a reliever with a victory against Panama.
In 1953, in addition to playing with Chattanooga, he played for the Havana Cubans, which was a team from the Florida International League (Class B), adding 33 games; 29 of them with Havana, including 17 starts. He won eight, lost seven and his ERA was 3.67. This same year on a tour of the Pirates for several exhibition games in Cuba, in one of them Naranjo beat them 4-1.
In nine seasons in Cuban professional baseball, he finished with a 16-25 record and a 3.60 ERA, pitching in 152 games with 430 innings and 234 strikeouts. In his final year with the Leones, he pitched alongside then-rookie Luis Tiant, who would later become one of the best Latino pitchers in the Major Leagues.
According to his own words, the two batters who hit him best in the Cuban League were Hilario “Sandy” Valdespino and José Tartabull.
Before emigrating to the United States in 1991, Naranjo worked as a pitching coach in the municipalities of Diez de Octubre and El Cerro.
Rest in peace, our friend Gonzalo “Cholly” Naranjo.
This story was originally published on January 16, 2022 6:03 p.m.
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Cuban baseball in mourning. Cholly Naranjo, former Major League pitcher, dies in Miami