Baseball History Baldomero Melo Almada was the first Mexico born player to play in the major leagues. An outfielder, he joined the Boston Red Sox at the height of the Great Depression in 1933 at age 20 and played there until June 11 1937 when he was traded to the Washington Senators in a five-player swap. He played only 37 games combined his first two years in Boston, however when new manager Joe Cronin took over as the Red Sox in 1935 he immediately inserted the fast running Mel Almada as the team’s leadoff batter in the starting lineup because he was confident the young player could hit major league pitching. Playing in 151 games in 1935 Mel Almada hit a solid .290, lined 27 doubles, 9 triples and 3 homers, walked 55 times, struck out just 34 times in 607 at bats, stole a career-high 20 bases, scored 85 runs and had 59 RBI. After slumping to .253 the next season, and batting just .236 in 32 games in 1937, he was traded to Washington, where he batted a very fine .309 in 100 games. Mel Almada also played with the St Louis Browns and Brooklyn Dodgers. |