Mel Almada
Mel Almada, born Baldomero Melo Almada Quiros on February 7, 1913, in Huatabampo, Mexico, is recognized as the first Mexican-born player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Coming from a wealthy family with a background in landownership and nobility, Almada moved to Los Angeles in 1914 to escape the Mexican Revolution. He excelled in sports during his education, particularly in baseball, which led him to a professional career starting in the early 1930s. Almada made his MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1933, where he showcased his skills as a left-handed batter and outfielder.
Throughout his career, he played for several teams, including the Washington Senators and the St. Louis Browns, and achieved notable records, such as scoring five runs in one game during a double-header. Although his MLB career concluded in 1939, Almada remained connected to baseball through various roles, including managing a Mexican League team and serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Almada is a significant figure in baseball history, often celebrated in Mexico, though less known in the broader American context, highlighting the cultural layers of sports history and the experiences of immigrant athletes. He passed away on August 13, 1988, in Caborca, Mexico.
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Subject Terms
Mel Almada
Mexican-born baseball player
- Born: February 7, 1913
- Birthplace: Huatabampo, Mexico
- Died: August 13, 1988
- Place of death: Caborca, Mexico
Almada was the first Mexican-born Major League Baseball player. He signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1933, then played for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. After his playing career was over, he managed baseball teams.
Early Life
Baldomero Melo Almada Quiros, better known as Mel Almada (ahl-MAH-dah), was born February 7, 1913, in Huatabampo, located in northwestern Mexico along the Gulf of California. He was one of the eight children of Baldomero Almada and Amelia Quiros Almada, wealthy upper-class landowners. Baldomero was a descendant of conquistadors and Amelia from Spanish nobility. Baldomero was appointed governor of Baja California but the previous governor, Esteban Cantu, refused to give up the position. Hoping to escape the turmoil and violence of the Mexican Revolution, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1914.
Almada and his older brother José Luis began playing baseball at an early age. Educated in the Los Angeles public school system, Almada was a star of the local baseball, football, and track teams. He was a pitcher and center fielder who threw and batted left-handed. After graduating from high school, Almada followed José Luis into semiprofessional baseball. He was signed by the Seattle Indians, part of the Pacific Coast League, in 1932 at age nineteen.
Life’s Work
Almada had a .311 batting average his rookie season and was called up by the Boston Red Sox in September, 1933. He played fourteen games with the Red Sox that season, batting .341 with three runs batted in. He was the first Mexican-born player in Major League Baseball. On October 1, 1933, the New York Yankees played the Boston Red Sox. It was the last game that Babe Ruth pitched. He gave up twelve hits, three of them to Almada.
During the offseason, Almada returned to California to stay with his parents. While there, he played a number of exhibition games with various all-star and local teams. Almada’s batting average dropped to .233 in 1934 with the Red Sox. However, he played much of the season with the Kansas City Blues, part of the American Association. The following year, the Red Sox made Almada their starting center fielder. He continued to play in Boston until the 1937 season, when he was traded to the Washington Senators. While with the Senators, he reportedly played in a string band with teammates Rick and Wes Ferrell. Almada was a media star with both the English-language and Spanish-language press. The Spanish press called him a Mexican national hero. In the English media, Almada was initially and commonly described as being of Italian decent, because he was fairer-complected, taller, and broader than most Mexicans. On July 25, the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns played a double-header. Almada scored five runs in the first game, tying a league record. In the second game, he scored four runs, setting the record for most runs scored in a double-header by a single player.
Early in the 1938 season, Almada was traded to the St. Louis Browns. He improved during the season, setting career highs for batting average, runs, hits, and doubles. He slumped again at the beginning of the 1939 season, and his contract was sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers used Almada as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter. He played his last major league game October 1, 1939, then returned to the Pacific Coast League and, in 1941, was a player-manager for a Mexican League team. In 1944, Almada joined the United States Army. After completing basic training in Texas, he was assigned to the medical corps at Fort Sam Houston for the duration of World War II. While in the Army, Almada played baseball in the San Antonio Service League. During the 1950’s, he managed a Mexican League team. In 1972, he was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.
Almada had four children: Miguel, Eduardo, Lydia, and Cecilia. He died in Caborca, Mexico, on August 13, 1988, of heart problems.
Significance
Unlike Jackie Robinson, who became a civil rights icon when he broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947, Almada is not well-known to the average American. Nonetheless, he was an important figure in baseball history as the major leagues’ first Mexican-born player. Almada retired from playing professional ball in 1939, but continued to be involved with the game until late in his life. In an interview in the early 1980’s, Almada said he never faced discrimination in baseball. Mexico’s Pacific League still honors its rookie of the year with a Baldomero Melo Almada trophy.
Bibliography
Alamillo, José M. “Peloteros in Paradise: Mexican American Baseball and Oppositional Politics in Southern California, 1930 to 1950.” In Mexican Americans and Sports: A Reader on Athletics and Barrio Life, edited by Jorge Iber and Samuel Regalado. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2007. Describes the political climate in which Almada spent his baseball career.
Alexander, Charles. Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. Extensively researched and detailed, this history includes discussion of Almada’s career.
Burgos, Adrian Jr. Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. A history of Latinos in baseball from 1880 through the present. Including the players’ struggles against discrimination in both the major leagues and Negro Leagues.