Pops Club de Béisbol (from the
Catalan word for "
octopus
An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...
es") was a Spanish
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
club in
Lloret de Mar
Lloret de Mar (; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal town in Catalonia, Spain. It is south of Girona and northeast of Barcelona. With a population of 38,402 in 2021, it is the second largest town in the Selva (comarca), Selva comarc ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, where there were many descendants of immigrants from
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
.
Its founders were Nasi Brugueras and Alex Colomer from
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, and its sponsor and president was Roque Romero, a stockbroker born in
Mendavia,
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
. Roque Romero remained as president of the Pops club until its demise and for a while also became chairman of the Catalan Baseball Federation. This now defunct baseball club was active during the heyday of baseball in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in the 1950s and 1960s. But owing to mass-interest in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, Pops baseball club did not survive into the 1970s and its field was converted into a field for the local football team.
Pops won the local ''Campionat de Catalunya'' (Catalan Championship) in 1955.
See also
*
History of baseball outside the United States
*
Baseball in Cuba
Baseball was popularized in Cuba by Nemesio Guillot, who founded the first major baseball club in the country. It became the most played sport in the country in the 1870s, before the period of American intervention.
Despite its American origin ...
References
Picture and historical data
Baseball teams in Catalonia
Defunct baseball teams
Defunct sports clubs and teams in Spain
Sport in the Province of Girona
{{Europe-baseball-stub