Vincent Irwin "Sandy" Nava (April 12, 1850 – June 15, 1906) was an American 19th century

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), ...

player for five seasons from through . Of Mexican heritage, Nava is the first known American-born Hispanic baseball player in the major leagues, and the second of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

descent, behind Cuban-born Steve Bellán.

Career

Born as Vincent Irwin in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, Sandy made his Major League debut for the 1882

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He was brought in to be fellow San Francisco native

Charlie Sweeney Charles Joseph Sweeney (April 13, 1863 – April 4, 1902) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher from 1883 through 1887. He played for the Providence Grays, St. Louis Maroons, and Cleveland Blues, and is best known for his performance in ...

's catcher. Nava's history in professional baseball showed two sides; when he was growing up in San Francisco, he apparently tried to hide his Mexican heritage and went by names like Irwin Sandy or Vincent Irwin, but when he came to the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

, he returned to his name of Nava and the Providence team tried to promote his "Spanish" heritage. He played in 28

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

his rookie season, and batted .206, while scoring 15 runs. He returned to the Grays for two more seasons, continuing to be the back-up catcher to Barney Gilligan, having his best year in when he batted .240 and scored 18 runs in 29 games. Even though he didn't hit well, he stayed on as Sweeney's personal catcher, until Sweeney was expelled from the team by refusing to leave a game in favor of

Cyclone Miller Joseph H. "Cyclone" Miller (September 24, 1859 – October 13, 1916) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He played just two seasons in the majors, but did play with four teams in three leagues. He ...

. The team decided to leave Nava and Miller behind on a road trip and later loaned them to a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

team in

Fort Monroe, Virginia Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virg ...

. For the and seasons, Nava played for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, and played in just 10 games in those two years before leaving the Majors.

Post-career

Nava was of Mexican descent, however, he was identified as

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, and

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

throughout his baseball career. In the

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

United States Census, he was enumerated at 363 Davis Street in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He was listed as Vincent Nava, white and single, born April 1851, and working as an upholsterer, in a neighborhood with a large black population. Nava died in Baltimore at the age of 56, and is interred at Trinity Cemetery in Baltimore, a segregated cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nava, Sandy 1850 births 1906 deaths 19th-century baseball players American baseball players of Mexican descent Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Baseball players from California Major League Baseball catchers Oakland (minor league baseball) players Providence Grays players San Francisco Athletics players San Francisco Reno players