Felix Juan "Felo" Maldonado (May 24, 1938 – June 12, 2010) was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and player development official for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. A 48-year veteran of the Red Sox organization starting as a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

outfielder after being traded to the club during the season, he went on to become a minor league

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in the farm system.

Early years

Maldonado was born in Barrio

San Antón San Antón is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, and Portugués Urbano, San Antón is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are now a ...

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, on May 24, 1938. He was the son of Caro Maldonado. He graduated from

Ponce High School The Ponce High School is public educational institution in Ponce, Puerto Rico, offering grades nine through twelve. The school's main building is a historic structure located on Cristina Street, in the Ponce Historic Zone. From its beginning t ...

and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.

Track and field

Maldonado was also an accomplished track and field athlete. In 1956, he became the first Puerto Rican high school student to run the 800m in less than two minutos, and second only to Olympic medal-winner George Kerr. At Ponce High he won all the track and field events including 200m, 400m, and 800m, as well as

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and 4 × 800 m relay."Félix Juan Maldonado: Ponce despide a uno de sus grandes."
by Junior Lugo Marrero. Ponce, Puerto Rico: ''Periodico La Perla''. June 14–21, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.

Baseball career

Maldonado's entry into professional baseball occurred in 1958 when Pedrin Zorrilla signed him with the Santurce Crabbers. He played 13 seasons, winning five championships. As a baseball player, the , Maldonado threw and batted right-handed. He signed with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in 1959 and had two stellar seasons while a member of the Giant

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

— 1960 with the Eugene Emeralds of the Class B Northwest League and 1962 with the

El Paso Sun Kings EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

of the Double-A

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batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

.334 and .326 respectively. All told, he played for 12 minor league seasons (including years at Triple-A) and batted .281 with 1,267

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 4,503 at bats. From 1971 to 1988, Maldonado spent 18 years as an amateur scout for the Red Sox in his native Puerto Rico. He then worked as a manager of Red Sox farm clubs for seven years (1989–95), six at the Rookie level and one in Class A, compiling a record of 238–262 (.476) in an even 500 games managed. From 1996 to 2002, he was an instructor and Latin American coordinator of instruction for Boston's minor league system and became a player development consultant in .Boston Red Sox, ''2009 Media Guide'' Maldonado also worked as coach for the Ponce Lions and the Mayagüez Indians.

Death and legacy

Maldonado died of cancer June 12, 2010, at his home in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

. He was interred at Cementerio La Piedad in his hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico. He was inducted into the Puerto Rico Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. A practice field at Boston's Fort Myers

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

facility is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonado, Felix 1938 births 2010 deaths Burials at Cementerio La Piedad Eugene Emeralds players Minor league baseball managers Boston Red Sox scouts Sportspeople from Ponce, Puerto Rico Deaths from cancer in Florida Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico alumni El Paso Sun Kings players