The 1951 Texas League Champion Houston Buffs didn’t finish 13 1/2 games in first place by accident. Like most good teams, they had a pitching staff that got them there. Fortified by knuckleball ace Al Papai (23-9, 2.44), lefty rookie phenom Vinegar Bend Mizell (16-14, 1.96), veteran righty Fred Martin (15-11, 2.56), Mike J. Clark (10-7, 2.78), relievers Dick Bokelmann (10-2, 0.79) and Jack Crimian (1-2, 0.90), the ’51 Buffs needed few other pieces to be as about as complete a staff as any winning club could ever hope to unfold, but they had that extra “umphh” arm too!
26-year old Cuban righthander Octavio Rubert brought a record of 19-5, 2.28 to the banquet table in that special ’51 season, and it came too with much Latin color and playing field gusto. The tremendously popular Rubert not only knew how to pitch, he also knew how to use all of his God-Given gifts and life conditions to best advantage in his pitching craft. You see, he had this special left eye, one that could’ve worked against him, but not as Rubert used it.
Rubert had a blind and wandering left eye. I always thought it was just an abnormality in his natural eye, but teammate Larry Miggins says it was actually a glass eye, one that Rubert could actually manipulate in the socket as he saw fit while he worked the mound. The stories are quietly legend about how Rubert used the eye to hold first base runners close to the bag. An unsuspecting opponent could reach first base and be fine as per normal – until he started to take his lead on Rubert. Then he’d look over to the mound and see the pitcher in the stretch position, but also looking straight at him.
WHOA! – And that was pretty much the intended message that Octavio Rubert hoped to be sending.
Unfortunately, 1951 was Rubert’s last really good minor league season. Octavio returned to go 9-9, 4.50 for the last place 1952 Buffs, but then he won only 13 final games in his last three seasons of organized ball (1953-55). Over the course of his ten seasons in American baseball (1946-55), however, Octavio Rubert compiled a career minor league record of 123 wins and 65 losses, with a an Earned Run Average of 2.53.
The game was different then because of the reserve clause, but you do have to wonder as you examine Rubert’s first three season stats in the Class C Florida International League (1946-48). The guy went 58-25 over that period, with an ERA that hovered around the two runs per game mark. You wonder how a pitcher that productive could simply be held back to success at that level and not move up faster, even with the acknowledged abundance of fully controlled other pitchers in the farm system hopper.
The 6’0″ , 160 lb. Cuban also enjoyed several good seasons with Almendares in the Cuban Winter League prior to the 1959 government takeover by Fidel Castro. He was inducted into Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in Miami, Florida in 1997. That organization went into into some kind of suspended status following 1998 due to political tensions between Cuban-American residents and their homeland of origin, but it’s still quite a statement about the abilities of Octavio Rubert that he even got there.
Ocatvio Rubert is listed among the living at age 84 in 2009. I have no idea where he now lives nor what he’s been doing since baseball. When I am able to learn something, I’ll write about it here. In the meanwhile, I’ll settle for the gratitude that this talented young Cuban immigrant was once such a great contributor to the success of our hometown Buffs.
Tags: Baseball, Houston Buffs
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 18, 2009 at 11:28 pm |
http://bill37mccurdy.wordpress.com/
Hi, I am Octavio Rubert’s daughter and wanted Mr. Bill McCurdy to know that my father passed away on September 30, 2005 at the age of 80 in Miami Florida.
October 19, 2009 at 12:00 am |
Dear Veronica,
I am very sorry to learn of your father’s fairly recent passing. He was one of my favorite Houston Buff pitchers during the 1951 season. We always had a good shot at winning with your dad on the mound. May Godspeed the Blessings of His Love to you and the entire Rubert family.
August 25, 2012 at 4:55 am |
hi, this is a wonderful website. i live in san francisco and we now have the north american baseball league. The local team is just north of the golden gate bridge, the San Rafael Pacifics. A couple of days ago, on 8/21/12, they played the Na Koa Ikaika of Maui who started Eri Yoshida on the mound. She was the first woman, at age 16, to play for a pro japanese team, Osaka. Then, last year she played for the Chico Outlaws, a northern california team. This year with Ikaika. She is 5′ 1″ and pretty crafty. In Osaka they gave her the nickname “knuckleball princess.” vs the Pacifics she went 5 innings, 1 hit, 2 Ks, 3 walks , and 2 runs. she got the W. She has gone from sidearm to over the top delivery, and has put some mustard on her pitches. Her control has really improved, and it looks like she is going to make it in the minors.
Just thought i’d pass that along.
btw, didn’t vinegar bend mizell throw a knuckler as well? I batted against him in 54 when he was in the army, playing for Greenpoint (brooklyn). i was a teenager playing with the First airforce at mitchell field. seemed like you could count the stitches as the ball flew by.
thanks. will segen.
March 18, 2015 at 12:04 am |
My name is Edson E Rubert. I never got to see my uncle pitch but my dad used to tell me how good he was. He was one of my favorite uncles. I was very proud of him. It is because of him that I love baseball so much.
October 4, 2020 at 7:28 pm |
Hi, My name is Isabella. I am the great granddaughter of Octavio Rubert. I wish I would have gotten to meet him. I heard he was an awesome pitcher.
March 29, 2021 at 3:29 pm |
hello i am octavio rubert grandson i never got to meet him but this helped me know what kind of player her was