Rafael Almeida (baseball)
| Rafael Almeida | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rafael Almeida, 1912. | ||||||||||||
| Third baseman | ||||||||||||
| Born: July 30, 1887 Havana, Cuba | ||||||||||||
| Died: March 19, 1968 (aged 80) Havana, Cuba | ||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | ||||||||||||
| MLB debut | ||||||||||||
| July 4, 1911, for the Cincinnati Reds | ||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | ||||||||||||
| July 18, 1913, for the Cincinnati Reds | ||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | ||||||||||||
| Batting average | .270 | |||||||||||
| Home runs | 3 | |||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 46 | |||||||||||
| Stats at Baseball Reference | ||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||
| Member of the Cuban | ||||||||||||
 Baseball Hall of Fame | ||||||||||||
| Induction | 1939 | |||||||||||
Medals
| ||||||||||||
Rafael D. Almeida (July 30, 1887 – March 19, 1968) was a Cuban professional baseball third baseman from 1911 to 1913 with the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). Along with Armando Marsans, he was one of the first Cuban nationals to play in the National League when the two debuted with the Reds on July 4, 1911.[1][a]
Six years before debuting with Cincinnati, Almeida and Marsans both played Negro league baseball in the United States as members of the integrated All Cubans in 1905.[3] He also played winter league baseball in the Cuban League from 1904 to 1925.[4]
After his professional career, Almeida managed the Vedado Tennis Club to several pennant victories in Cuba's amateur league. He also acted as manager of the champion Cuba national baseball team at the 1930 Central American Games in Havana.[5] Almeida was one of ten players elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in its 1939 inaugural class.[6]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Almeida and Marsansa were not the first National League players born in Cuba, as Havana-born Chick Pedroes played in the National League in 1902, though historian Peter C. Bjarkman noted that Pedroes immigrated to the United States at a young age and likely did not learn the game in Cuba.[2] In addition, Cuban-born Steve Bellán played from 1871 to 1873 in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), a league whose status as a major league is disputed.
References
[edit]- ^ Players Born in Cuba - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Bjarkman, Peter C. (August 26, 2007). "The Mysterious Case of "Cuban" Chick Pedroes". Bjarkman's Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
- ^ Riley, 33
- ^ Figueredo 2003, pp. 484, 508.
- ^ "Rafael Almeida". SABR. Society for American Baseball Research.
- ^ Figueredo 2003, pp. 484, 508.
Bibliography
[edit]- Figueredo, Jorge S. (2003), Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878–1961, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, ISBN 0-7864-1250-X.
- Riley, James A. (2002). The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. 2nd edition. New York: Carroll & Graf Publ. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Cuban League statistics and player information from Seamheads.com
.jpg){kind=small}  | This biographical article relating to a Cuban baseball third baseman is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1887 births
- 1968 deaths
- Baseball players from Havana
- Cincinnati Reds players
- Major League Baseball players from Cuba
- 20th-century Cuban sportsmen
- Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States
- Major League Baseball third basemen
- New Britain Perfectos players
- Azul (baseball) players
- Carmelita players
- Montreal Royals players
- Scranton Miners players
- Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada
- Almendares (baseball) players
- Almendares Park players
- All Cubans players
- Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
- Cuban baseball biography stubs
- Baseball third baseman stubs