Paulino Casanova – known to English speakers simply as Paul – enjoyed his two best big-league seasons straight away. In 1966 the Cuban set a career high in homers with 13 and was named catcher on The Sporting News American League All-Star team. In 1967 he went to the midseason All-Star Game for the AL. Casanova never hit as well after that, posting a lifetime average of .225 with the Washington Senators and Atlanta Braves. Yet his skills as a receiver – especially his outstanding arm – kept him in the majors through 1974.

Casanova's career had many intriguing dimensions. In his native Cuba, he apprenticed for two winters, from 1959-60 to the end of professional play there in 1960-61 – though he never got into a league game. Like another Caribbean catcher, Elrod Hendricks, two big-league organizations released him in the early '60s – but he made it after paying a lot of dues at lower levels. Casanova played with the Indianapolis Clowns in 1961, as the barnstorming club kept the memory of the Negro Leagues alive. He stayed active and won notice in semipro ball. After making it to the majors, he also spent nine out of ten winters in Venezuela, from 1965-66 through 1974-75.

An elbow injury ended Casanova's career during spring training 1975, but he came back to play in the Senior Professional Baseball Association at age 47 in 1989. He coached for several years in the minors, and later founded his own academy. At the age of 70 in 2012, he was still supporting the game at the grassroots level there, with the involvement of other former ballplayers from Cuba who come by and lend their expertise.

Baseball Career:
First Game: October 3, 1943; Final Game: May 5, 1963
Managed First Game: May 23, 1963; Managed Final Game: September 30, 1971
Bat: Right Throw: Right Height: 6' 1.5" Weight: 200

Awards and Achievements:
Named Major League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News (1969)
Won Major League Gold Glove as first baseman (1957)
Won NL Gold Glove as first baseman (1958 to 1959)

Dick Bosman didn't fool around. In his early days with the Washington Senators he was quoted as saying, "If you don't hustle while I'm pitching, I'll kick your ass." That quote stated very well Bosman's approach to the game.

He was born Richard Allen Bosman on February 17, 1944, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the only son and oldest of four children born to George and Nella (Kloet) Bosman. Kenosha is a Lake Michigan town of about 90,000 people that lies between Milwaukee and Chicago. His father was a farmer; his mother stayed home and raised the children. George Bosman later gave up farming and went to work for a trucking firm in Kenosha.

Dick grew up in Kenosha, where his father was a very good fast pitch softball pitcher. George's prowess was so well known that a baseball field in Kenosha has been named after him and his uncle Clarence, also a pitcher. George – the greatest early baseball influence that Dick had – had a dream that his son would one day be a major league pitcher and did what he could to help him get there. Several sources list Dick as a cousin of Racine, WI native, and major leaguer, Duane Kuiper. Bosman, however, states that while the relationship exists, it is no closer than third cousin.