Armando Vazquez

I met Armando in my neighborhood in Manhattan when my car mechanic, Fausto, heard about my Negro League affiliation and told me a Negro Leaguer lived four blocks away from me. I asked him to introduce me, so we walked down to 85th street where Armando just happened to be putting away supplies in the trunk of a car as he was the custodian of an elementary school across the street.

Upon first meeting, he looked like he was growling at me with a very untrusting look on his face and a voice to match. His voice had a deep growling sound to it. A voice I loved to mimic with his Cuban accent. I asked him if we could have a drink in the bar about twenty feet from where we were standing. We hit it off and had a happy hour relationship from that day forward. We would meet at a bar called the firehouse on 85th and Columbus Ave. We would meet at least 3 times a week. We became like brothers and Armando became like family to my family.

His baseball career started in Cuba. He was teammates with the HOFer Martin Dihigo. He lied about his age and started playing first base for the Indianapolis Clowns at 17 years of age. Armando was the first baseman to Hank Aaron's shortstop in Aaron's short stint with the Clowns prior to the Major Leagues.

Armando and I would travel together, visiting ballplayers in the area or on long car trips to Chicago and beyond. Armando would talk about players that I hadn't heard of but he would describe them so well that I could see them. He introduced me to the great Wild Bill Wright who nobody had seen or heard from for decades. He was described by Armando as the black Joe Dimaggio.

Armando would get jealous that I liked the other ballplayers better than him. He was just like a kid. He actually slept in his first uniform he got as a child in Cuba. Armando is truly missed as one of my family members. He was truly my “Buddy Buddy.”