Cuban baseball legend Conrado Marrero dies just short of 103rd birthday

Havana: Cuban baseball legend Conrado Marrero, who played in the US big leagues in the 1950s and was the oldest living MLB veteran, died Wednesday in Havana just two days shy of his 103rd birtthday.

"Early this afternoon, Conrado Marrero Ramos, one of the best pitchers in Cuban baseball history, passed away," said official news portal Cubadebate. No cause of death was listed. But at 102, the US major league has said he was its oldest living ex-player. Marrero, who hailed from the central province of Villa Clara, played with the now-defunct Washington Senators from 1950-1954, after getting his (late) start in the Cuban league. In Cuba, where baseball inspires passions like few other sources of pride and joy, Marrero was nicknamed "Guajiro," or country boy, since he hailed from a ranch. In the US major leagues, his mates called him "Connie." "Adios, Guajiro. Good bye, Connie", read the headline for his obituary in Cubadebate. He became the oldest ex- (US) MLB player after the February 2011 death of Anthony Malinowski, who played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Marrero was often seen as a brilliant pitcher who defied the odds to get there; he started late -- at 27 (in 1938) -- and at 1.66 m and 75 kilos (5`5" and 165 lbs) physically was on the short and lean side to rank with the most powerful hurlers.