Hiram Bithorn (March 18, 1916 – December 29, 1951) was a professional right-handed pitcher who became the first baseball player from Puerto Rico to play in Major League Baseball.

Standing 6 foot 1 inch (1.87 m) and weighing about 200 pounds (90 k), Bithorn was a hard throwing pitcher who commanded attention when he began his delivery with a distinctive windup, raising his long left leg high in the air and throwing a blazing fastball toward home plate.

He was born as Hiram Gabriel Bithorn Sosa in Santurce, a heavily populated area in the city of San Juan, and was one of five children born to Waldemar G. Bithorn, a municipal employee, and María Sosa, a public school teacher. The Bithorn family traveled frequently to the United States. María taught her children English and at one time produced a radio program called Abuelita Borinqueña (Puerto Rican Grandmother). The young Hiram attended Central High School in Santurce, and his older two brothers, 11 and 10 years his senior, encouraged and assisted in training him to become an athlete.

In 1935, Bithorn competed in the III Central American and Caribbean Games held in San Salvador, El Salvador, helping his Puerto Rican teammates bring home a silver medal in volleyball and a bronze in basketball. By this time, he had already begun making a name for himself in baseball in 1932, while pitching on a team of nativos playing in the city of Guayama. The Puerto Ricans faced the Richmond BBC, a squad composed entirely of American players, including slugging first baseman and future Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, as the 16-year-old Bithorn led his team to a 10–1 victory over the visiting club.

Bithorn played winter ball for his home team Senadores de San Juan. When San Juan manager Juan Torruella resigned only two weeks into the 1938 season, the Senadores chose 22-year-old Bithorn as their new skipper, making him the youngest manager in Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League history. Within three years, Bithorn was pitching at Wrigley Field.

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