Peter C. Bjarkman

Peter Bjarkman (1941–2018) is widely recognized as a leading authority on Cuban baseball, both pre- and post-revolution. He covered the Cuban League and the Cuban national team for the popular website www.BaseballdeCuba.com, from 2007 until his death in fall 2018, and traveled widely with the Cuban national team to international tournaments over the past 18 years. His recent book, CUBA'S BASEBALL DEFECTORS: THE INSIDE STORY (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), won a SABR Baseball Research Award. His volume entitled A HISTORY OF CUBAN BASEBALL, 1864-2006 (McFarland, 2007/2014) is also universally considered the seminal work on the history of the island nation's national pastime. His 1994 book BASEBALL WITH A LATIN BEAT: A HISTORY OF THE LATIN AMERICAN GAME (McFarland) was likewise an influential study, which La Vida Baseball's editor-in-chief Adrian Burgos recently noted "became the bible for many young Latino writers, broadcasters, and historians" (https://www.lavidabaseball.com/peter-bjarkman/). Bjarkman was featured with Anthony Bourdain on "No Reservations Cuba" (The Travel Channel, 2011), appeared in the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary "Brothers in Exile" (November 2014) and in the MLB Network documentary film "Cuba: Island of Baseball" (December 2016), and has been profiled on the front page of the Wall Street Journal (November 9, 2010). The author's work can also be found at www.Bjarkman.com (his official Authors Guild Website) as well as at www.BaseballdeCuba.com (where he served as Senior Baseball Writer and Columnist). His new book, FIDEL CASTRO AND BASEBALL: THE UNTOLD STORY (Rowman & Littlefield), published posthumously in December 2018, explores the reality of Castro's impact on Cuban baseball and insightfully unpacks the lore surrounding this controversial figure.