Notable Black Baseball Families Part 3: OF Edward "Eduardo" Green & OF David Green
Discover more from The Red Black Green Baseball Blog
Notable Black Baseball Families Part 3: OF Edward "Eduardo" Green & OF David Green
The third article in this series focuses on the Jamaican-Nicaraguan father-son duo Edward Green and David Green, two of Black baseball's biggest "what if?" stories.
Writer’s Note
“Notable Black Baseball Families” is an article series on Black families from throughout the African diaspora who have had multiple members make notable contributions to professional baseball.
Edward Green Sinclair & David Green Casaya
The third article in this series focuses on the Jamaican-Nicaraguan father-son duo Edward Green and David Green. Both individuals were born and raised in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. These two individuals make up two of Black baseball’s biggest “what if?” stories.
The father was one of the greatest outfielders to have never played in the Negro Leagues or MLB although he did make multiple attempts to do so. The son was one of the greatest prospects in MLB history, drawing comparisons to Hall of Famers as a teenager before a lengthy but lackluster professional career that included multiple seasons in MiLB, MLB, and NPB.
The North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua make up 60,366 square kilometers of land on the Mosquito Coast that was a British colony from the 1600s until the late 1800s before being annexed by Nicaragua. The North & South Autonomous Regions’ Anglophone contingent is one of the largest concentrations of English-speaking individuals in Latin America.
The Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua have a history with baseball that stretches back to the late 1800s. Multiple baseball players from the region have reached Triple-A and MLB. MLB players include David Green, Albert Williams, Cheslor Cuthbert, Devern Hancock, and Marvin Bernard.
Edward “Eduardo” Green
Edward Green Sinclair was the son of a Jamaican missionary named David Green who immigrated to the Mosquito Coast while it was still a British colony in the 1890s. His mother was an Afro-Nicaraguan who was born and raised in Bluefields, the colony’s largest settlement. Born in 1920 per Nicaraguan public records, he would’ve been a peer of Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Minnie Miñoso, and Quincy Trouppe in the Negro Leagues or MLB but it never happened.
Green is widely considered by baseball historians to be one of the greatest players to have never played in MLB or the Negro Leagues. He dominated Nicaragua’s amateur and professional leagues quietly but made a name for himself in international baseball circles as the centerpiece of his home country’s teams in numerous Baseball World Cups.
A shortstop early in his career, he began playing professionally at around 19 to 20 years old for the ball club in his hometown of Bluefields. Green would become known for his time playing for “Cinco Estrellas”, Spanish for five stars. The baseball team got the moniker because it was owned by the dictator of Nicaragua, a five-star general named Anastasio Somoza García.
He would win nine championships in a ten-year span for Cinco Estrellas. The 5’11’’ infielder would move to center field during this run, where his speed and strong throwing arm would allow him to thrive. Green’s exploits in centerfield and on the basepaths led to him being known as “La Gacela Negra”, Spanish for The Black Gazelle. He also got the nickname “Cabo” from his assigned rank in the Nicaraguan army, as he was a corporal in Somoza’s personal guard.
In early 1951 he agreed to join the Brooklyn Dodgers organization and would report to Triple-A Spring Training in Florida. So disgusted with the racism he encountered, Green quit and went back to Nicaragua.
He made his only appearances as a professional baseball player in the winter leagues of Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Cuba during his 30s and 40s. He made his pro debut in late 1952 and played until 1964, showing that he could still perform at a high level.
After retiring during the mid-1960s he would then coach at a university in the Bluefields. Green was also an area scout of the Mosquito Coast for Nicaragua’s national baseball entity, looking for talented costeños that could carry on Nicaragua’s baseball excellence.
He died in 1980, at the age of 60 years old.
David Green
David(Dah-VEED) Alejandro Green Casaya was one of ten kids born to Edward Green Sinclair and Bertha Francisca Casaya Madrigal. He was named after his grandfather but his name used the Romantic pronunciation instead of the Germanic one. Born in 1959 or 1960, he grew up in Bluefields as a multi-sport phenom on the level of Bo Jackson or Jackie Robinson.
Green was one of the best Nicaraguan soccer prospects of his generation, as his first dream was to be a professional soccer player. He was very talented in track & field as he could have represented Nicaragua in The Olympics for multiple events.
A bit of a late bloomer to the sport of baseball, he began playing competitively as a teenager. A batboy for the local university team where his father was a coach, he started playing for the team at the age of 16 and by the next year, he was a star and being scouted by MLB teams. The younger Green made a name for himself playing for Nicaragua’s national team in the Central American Games, Amateur World Series, and Nicaragua’s amateur leagues during the mid to late 70s.
Green signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as an amateur free agent in September 1978 at 17 after multiple teams sought his services in a bidding war. He received a $20,000 dollar signing bonus. The scout who signed him traveled through Nicaragua in the middle of the Sandinista Revolution against the Somoza dynasty. The story goes that there was heavy fighting in Green’s hometown of Managua, Nicaragua’s capital when the deal was struck.
He made his professional debut during the 1979 MiLB season, playing 136 games with Milwaukee’s California League affiliate at 18 years old. Green put up a .262/.317/.478 slash line in 551 plate appearances with 16 doubles, nine triples, and eight home runs while being almost four years younger than the average player. He was promoted to Double-A for the 1980 season and took a huge leap forward, going .292/.363/.460 in 510 PAs with 27 stolen bases, 13 doubles, and 19 triples.
He was the centerpiece in the returns of two important trades during his career. The first trade would happen during the winter between the 1980 and 1981 seasons, sending him from Milwaukee to St. Louis.
One of the most hyped prospects in the history of professional baseball, David Green drew comparisons to Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente during his time in MiLB. St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog was one noted individual who spoke very highly of the Jamaican-Nicaraguan outfielder on record, saying that; “We do not make the deal without Green. He is the best prospect in the minor leagues.”
His father, the greatest Nicaraguan baseball player ever, had extremely high expectations and made lofty predictions for his son. “David will hit more than me, maybe throw harder than me, he will have more power than me, he might even field better than me”
He spent the 1981 season with the St. Louis Triple-A affiliate, putting up a .723 OPS in 460 plate appearances. David Green made his MLB debut on September 4th, becoming the first Nicaraguan position player in MLB history at the age of 20 years old.
He played 76 regular season games for the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals after putting up a .984 OPS with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville. Logging 11 plate appearances in the 1982 World Series, he helped secure a World Series championship against the team that scouted and signed him only four years earlier before trading him.
Green would play 146 games in 1983 and 126 games in 1984 for the Cardinals, logging time at center field, right field, left field, and first base. He flashed his all-world potential, hitting 10 triples and 8 home runs with 34 stolen bases in 1983. In 1984 he accrued 8 triples and 15 home runs, a career-high.
Groin and knee injuries hampered Green throughout his MLB career, and despite this, he still showed that he had talent with his hitting and strong throwing arm.
During Spring Training of the 1985 season, he was the centerpiece of a second trade that sent him to the San Francisco Giants and made All-Star Jack Clark a Cardinal. Green played 104 games in The Bay Area during the 1985 season, putting up a .648 OPS.
He would play in the Mexican League for Sultanes de Monterrey and the Japan Pacific League’s Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1986 before making his return to MiLB in 1987. Green would play 14 games with the Cardinals at the MLB level in 1987, the last time he would appear in an MLB game.
He accrued eight total hits with two doubles, one triple, and one home run. He would go on to play another four years in MiLB, posting solid numbers in Double-A and Triple-A before retiring at the age of 30.
Green passed away in early 2022 at the age of 61.
These are the links to the first two installments in this series:
Further Reading/Resources
Edward Green’s Biography by The Society of American Baseball Research
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/eduardo-green/
David Green’s Biography by The Society of American Baseball Research
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/David-Green/#_edn66
The disturbing saga of the Cardinals’ David Green
https://retrosimba.com/2022/02/08/the-disturbing-saga-of-the-cardinals-david-green/
David Green’s Baseball Reference Page
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=green-001dav
Muere nicaraguense David Green quien fuera comparado con Roberto Clemente
David Green’s obituary
https://ripbaseball.com/2022/02/01/obituary-david-green-1960-2022/