Along with photo archivist and designer Mark Rucker, Peter Bjarkman made three trips to Cuba to gather material for Smoke, a lavish and poignant panorama of the island's national passion from its 19th-century origins to the 1999 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Smoke reproduces hundreds of exquisite photographs, trading cards, handbills and other visual artifacts going back to the days when Cuban ballplayers, like their counterparts to the north, struck stony poses with handlebar mustaches and hightop shoes.
"A lot of the stuff was literally crumbling in his hands," Bjarkman says of Rucker's adventures in purchasing and copying memorabilia. "You see the cracks in some of these, and many of them have been greatly computer-enhanced. We have tried to create a pictorial record that's going to last."
Bjarkman and Rucker both hope Smoke will do more than help solidify Cuba's colorful baseball past. They'd like to contribute to its future.
Book Description
Shrouded in mystery for decades, Cuban baseball has become the final frontier for fans of the sport in America. An unprecedented collection of photographs, statistics, and lore, Smoke explores the depth and range of the island's baseball heritage - from its origins in the 1870s, to Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb's barnstorming tours, to Fidel Castro and the Cold War that closed off access, to Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez of the world-champion 1998 Yankees. The combined efforts of Latin baseball's leading historian and the recognized authority on baseball images provide an exciting reading and viewing experience, bringing to life a rich baseball culture that has remained hidden.
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