Mel Almada

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Baldomero Melo Almada Quiros

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.

High School Los Angeles High School

Debut September 8, 1933
Final Game October 1, 1939
Born February 7, 1913 in Huatabampo, Sonora Mexico
Died August 13, 1988 in Caborca, Sonora Mexico

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[edit] Biographical Information

Mel Almada, brother of Lou Almada, was the first "Mexican National" to reach the major league level and play. His brother Lou had made the New York Giants team but was injured in a pre-season caravan tour and was sent down to the minors never to return to the majors.

Mel Almada was born in Mexico where his father supervised a string of ranches. His father became Mexican Consul in Los Angeles and moved his family there when Mel was 2 years old. He grew up there and came to speak perfect English. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1932. His brother Lou was playing for the Seattle Indians in the Class AA Pacific Coast League at the time and took Mel with him. Mel was converted from pitcher to playing in the outfield, and his professional debut, he hit .311 at the age of 19, with a career-best 6 homers. In 1933 he collected 204 hits for Seattle and batted .323, earning him a call-up from the Boston Red Sox. He played his first major league game on September 8, 1933, and hit .341 for the BoSox. He spent the bulk of 1934 with Kansas City Blues, batting .328, before returning to Boston, where he hit .223.

He returned to Boston in '35 and finished third in the American League with 20 steals. In 1937 he was shipped to the Washington Senators. The low-power contact specialist led the AL with 158 singles in 1938, splitting the year between the Senators and Browns.

To this date Mel holds the record for scoring the most times in one day - he scored 9 times throughout a doubleheader played between the Washington Senators (Mel's club at the time) and the St. Louis Browns.

Almada played in a total of 646 games for the Red Sox, Senators, Browns and Dodgers through 1939. In 1940, he played for the Sacramento Solons of the PCL, and the next season, he played for the Torreon Cotton Dealers in the Mexican League. While he played just 26 games as the club's player-manager (hitting .343 in '41), he was elected to the Salon de la Fama in 1971.

After retiring from playing baseball, Almada began basic training in the Army Service Forces at Camp Barkeley, TX, in the Army Medical Corps at age 31, in May 1944.