Cuban-born players make history in ALDS
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The moment players took the field at Minute Maid Park for the American League Division Series between the Astros and the White Sox, a playoff record for Cuban-born players was taking shape.
For the first time in postseason history, six Cubans are playing in the same October series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time that six Cubans appeared in a game, and that number could go up to seven if Aledmys Díaz plays for Houston.
José Abreu, Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Luis Robert Jr., Yuli Gurriel and Yordan Alvarez rounded out the Cuban talent to kick off Game 1 of the ALDS between the White Sox and Astros on Thursday afternoon.
The previous record for the most Cuban players in the same postseason series was four, which happened seven times, according to Elias, most recently in 2020, when Houston had Yuli Gurriel and Aledmys Díaz in its lineup against Tampa Bay's Randy Arozarena and Yandy Díaz in the ALCS.
The first of the seven previous occasions was in 1965, then in consecutive years in '69 and '70. After a 46-year gap, four Cuban players appeared in a postseason series in 2016, '19 and '20.