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The first Mexican American major league baseball and second Latino player of all-time is Vincent Nava (California). A catcher for the Providence Grays (1882-1884) and the Baltimore Orioles (1885-1886). The first Latino major leaguer is Esteban Bellan (Cuba), who played infield for the Troy Haymakers and the New York Mutuals, 1871-1873. What 5 Latino major leaguers managed/played in the 1954 World Series? -Al Lopez (Florida), manager Cleveland Indians, won 111 games that season (Hall of Famer) -Roberto Avila (Mexico), 2nd base, Cleveland Indians, American League Batting Champion in 1954. -Rudy Regalado (California), 3rd base, Cleveland Indians, went 1 for 3 in Series. -Mike Garcia (California), pitcher, Cleveland Indians, won 19 lost 8 that season. -Jose Santiago (PR), relief pitcher, Cleveland Indians. What Latino major leaguer is a member of the respective professional Baseball Halls of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, Monterrey, Mexico, Cuba and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri? -Martin Dihijo (Cuba) MAJOR LEAGUE FATHER & SONS
The first Mexican born player to appear in Major League baseball is Baldomero "Mel" Almada (Hwatabampo, Sonora, Mexico), who began his career with the Boston Red Sox on September 8, 1933. Almada played on 4 teams in his 7 year career: Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns and the Brooklyn Dodgers. He set a major league record by scoring 9 runs in 18 innings on July 25, 1937, playing centerfield for the Washington Senators. The Senators swept a double-header from St. Louis 16-10 and 15-5, in which Almada hit 6 for 9 including a homerun, 2 doubles, 3 singles, 4 runs batted in, stole 2 bases and scored a record 9 runs. He finished his major league career with a .284 lifetime batting average. 20 GAME WINNERS Joaquin Andujar
(DOM), St. Louis Cardinals Mike Cuellar
(Cuba), Baltimore Orioles Ed Figueroa
(PR), New York Yankees Mike Garcia
(California), Cleveland Indians Vernon "Lefty" Gomez
(California), New York Yankees Teddy Higuera
(Mexico), Milwaukee Brewers Adolfo Luque
(Cuba), Cincinnati Reds Juan Marichal
(DOM), San Francisco Giants Pedro Martinez
(DOM), Boston Red Sox Ramon Martinez
(DOM), Los Angeles Dodgers Camilo Pascual
(Cuba), Minnesota Twins Luis Tiant
(Cuba), Cleveland Indians Mike Torrez
(Kansas), Baltimore Orioles Fernando Valenzuela
(Mexico), Los Angeles Dodgers The Latino pitcher with the most season wins is "The Pride of Havana", Cubano Adolfo Luque, who posted 27 wins, 8 losses, 6 shutouts and an incredible 1.93 Earned Run Average (ERA) in 1923. His 1.93 ERA was a major league record until Dominicano Luis Tiant registered a 1.60 ERA in 1968. CY YOUNG MEMEORIAL AWARDS (Pitchers only) 1969 (AL) Mike Cuellar (Cuba), Baltimore
Orioles Venezuelan born Luis Aparicio led the American League in stolen bases for 9 consecutive seasons (1956-1964) and also played on 10 All-Star teams during his 18 year major league career. The speedy and golden glove Aparicio wore Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox uniforms. He set an All-time record for games played by a shortstop and was inducted in the Hall at Cooperstown in 1984. MAJOR LEAGUE "MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS" 1965 (AL) Zoilo Versalles (Cuba),
Minnesota Twins Who are the Latino Baseball Hall of Famers in Cooperstown, New York? -Martin Dihijo (Cuba) BATTING CHAMPIONS 1954 (AL) Roberto Avila (Mexico),
Cleveland Indians There are seven Latino Major Leaguers whose uniform numbers have been retired. One player in particular, with two different teams. Who are they? #06 Tony Oliva (Cuba), Minnesota Twins ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD 1956 Luis Aparicio (VEN), Chicago White
Sox The only perfect game pitched by a Latino pitcher was accomplished by Montreal Expos pitcher Dennis Martinez (Nicaragua) on July 28, 1991 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The final score was 2 0. SOURCES Bjarkman, Peter C.. Baseball with a Latin Beat: A History of the Latin American Game. Jefferson: MacFarland & Company Inc., 1994. Loarte, Sara. "Historical Facts About Mexicans In Major League Baseball" (Compiled information). MLB International Marketing, New York, NY, September 2000. Longoria, Mario. Vincent Nava: The Mexican Catcher of Providence. Unpublished Manuscript. San Antonio, Texas. October 2000. Neft, David, Cohen, Richard M., Neft, Michael L.. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball. 19th Edition. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 1999. Oleksak, Michael M. and Oleksak, Mary Adams. Beisbol: Latin Americans and the Grand Old Game. Grand Rapids: Masters Press, 1991. Reichler, Joseph L, Editor. The Baseball Encyclopedia: The Complete and Official Record of Major League Baseball. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1988. Villa, Beto, compiled by. "Major League Statistics Estadisticas De Grandes Ligas". Latino Baseball. New York: King Paniagua, 1999, pages 30-31. Mario Longoria-Chapultepec
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