Baldomero "Mel" Almada Quirós (February 7, 1913 – August 13, 1988) was a Mexican center fielder in

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), ...

who played from 1933 through 1939 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 eigh ...

(1933–37), Washington Senators (1937–38),

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

(1938–39) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1939). He batted and threw left-handed. A native of

Huatabampo Huatabampo () is a city in Huatabampo Municipality in the States of Mexico, state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. It is situated on the Gulf of California, near the mouth of the Mayo River, Mexico, Mayo River. It is located at latitude . Huata ...

, Sonora,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Almada made history by becoming the first Mexican baseball player to play in the major leagues.

Biography

Raised and educated in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Almada attended

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a pub ...

and was a teammate of another future major leaguer, Bud Bates, on that team. Almada was a fine outfielder with strength and accuracy in his throws. Basically a line-drive hitter with an outstanding speed, he was a respected

leadoff hitter In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. It can also refer to any batter who bats first in any inning. Strategy Traditionally, the leadoff hitter has been utilized as a contact-oriented position. The leadoff hit ...

for his great ability to see a significant number of pitches, being also able to successfully execute in a bunt situation at any time in the game. Almada was signed by the Boston Red Sox out of the Pacific Coast League. He made his Major League debut with the Red Sox on September 8, 1933,

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 ...

.344 in 14 game appearances. On October 1 of that season, Almada batted the last hit

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

gave up as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Overall, he had three hits and two walks off Ruth. Almada then became an everyday player in 1935, appearing in 151 games and finishing with a .290 average and 20 stolen bases. In the 1937 midseason, Almada was traded by Boston along with the brothers

Rick Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

and

Wes Ferrell Wesley Cheek Ferrell (February 2, 1908 – December 9, 1976) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1927 through 1941. Primarily a starting pitcher, Ferrell played for the Cleveland Indians (192 ...

to the Washington Senators in exchange for Ben Chapman and

Bobo Newsom Louis Norman "Bobo" Newsom (August 11, 1907 – December 7, 1962) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Also known as "Buck", Newsom played for nine of the 16 then-existing big-league teams from 1929 through 1953 over all o ...

. At the time of the deal, Almada was hitting just .236, but he hit .309 the rest of the way, ending with a .296 average, 91 runs and 27 doubles. On July 25, during the first game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns, Almada scored five runs to tie a Major League record. When he added four runs in the second game, he set an 18-inning Major League record with nine runs scored in a double-header. After a poor .244 start in 1938, Almada was sent by Washington to the Browns in exchange for All-Star outfielder Sam West. Almada hit .342 with St. Louis, ending with .311, 101 runs, 197 hits and 29 doubles, all career-high numbers. That season, he also had a phenomenal stretch in which he had a base hit in 54-out-of-56 games from June 21 through Aug 19 (second game), meaning he fell just two hitless games short of

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

's record 56-game hitting streak. But he slumped to .239 in 1939 and was sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers. With Brooklyn, he was used as a backup outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist. He made his last Major League appearance on October 1, 1939. In a seven-season career, Almada posted a .284

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 197 RBI in 646 games. Almada returned to the Pacific Coast League for one season with the

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...

in 1940. He later managed in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. In 1972, he was inducted to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Mel's older brother,

Lou Almada Louis J. Almada (born José Luis Almada, September 7, 1907 – September 16, 2005) was a Mexican-American professional baseball outfielder. Almada played for the Hollywood Stars, the Seattle Indians, and the Mission Reds of the Pacific Coast Lea ...

, was also a professional baseball player. Mel Almada died in his home state of Sonora, Mexico, at age 75.

Sources

External links

SABR Biography Project article
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almada, Mel 1913 births 1988 deaths Algodoneros de Torreón players Baseball players from Los Angeles Baseball players from Sonora Boston Red Sox players Brooklyn Dodgers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball players from Mexico Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Mexican people of Portuguese descent Minor league baseball managers People from Huatabampo Sportspeople from Sonora Sacramento Solons players Seattle Indians players Los Angeles High School alumni St. Louis Browns players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players