Luis Olmo (August 11, 1919 – April 28, 2017) was a

major league baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

and right-handed batter. Olmo played in the majors with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1943–45, 1949) and Boston Braves (1950–51).

Early years

Olmo (birth name: Luis Francisco Rodríguez Olmo ) was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He began his professional career in 1938 with the Criollos de Caguas of the Puerto Rican Winter League. In 1939, Olmo signed with the Richmond Colts of the

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmont ...

and was assigned to the Tarboro Goobers and later the

Wilson Tobs The Wilson Tobs are an amateur baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League, an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, North Carolina Wilson is a city in and the ...

of the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 19 ...

. The Dodgers acquired Olmo from Richmond in 1942 and assigned him to the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...

after spring training.Luis Olmo, a Pioneering Puerto Rican Baseball Player, Dies at 97, New York Times
/ref>Luis Olmo Baseball Stats
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Major League career

Brooklyn called Olmo up to the major leagues in July 1943 and he debuted with the Dodgers on July 18, 1943. In 57 games, he batted .303 with four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 37 RBI. He gained regular status in the next season, batting .258 with nine home runs and 85 RBI in 136 games. On May 18, 1945, Olmo became the second player (

Del Bissonette Adelphia Louis Bissonette (September 6, 1899 – June 9, 1972) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers (then known as the Brooklyn Robins) from ...

on April 21, 1930, was the first) in Major League history to hit a bases-loaded triple and a bases-loaded home run (grand slam) in the same game. He added a single for good measure, only failing to hit a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

to complete the cycle. In that season, he led the league in triples (13) and reached career-high numbers in batting average (.313), home runs (10), RBI (110), doubles (27), stolen bases (15) and games (141).

Mexican League

In 1946, Olmo was among a group of players enticed to play in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

with the promise of higher salaries; they were suspended by Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler for jumping the major leagues. Two years later, Olmo was reinstated and he returned to the Dodgers, batting .305 in 1949 to help win the pennant.

1949 World Series

In the

1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th championship in team history. This victory would start a record ...

against the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, Olmo became the first Puerto Rican to play in a World Series, as well as hit a home run and get three hits in a Series game. After two seasons, he was dealt to the Braves. He retired at the end of the 1951 season. In a six-year career, Olmo batted .281 (458-for-1629) with 29 home runs, 208 runs, 65 doubles, 25 triples, and 33 stolen bases in 462 games.

Caribbean Series

Olmo earned Caribbean Series MVP honors, during the 1951 edition played in Caracas, after batting .416 and three homers, while powering the Cangrejeros de Santurce to the championship. Olmo returned to the Series with Santurce in its 1955 title, and also played as a reinforcement for fourth-place

Senadores de San Juan The (lit. San Juan Senators) was a professional baseball team based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Senadores club was founded in 1938 and played intermittently in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico, the predecessor to the current Li ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Overall, Olmo posted a .303 average with three home runs and 13 RBI in three Caribbean Series.

Later years

Olmo was elected to the '' Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame'' on February 6, 2004. His baseball career was featured in a 2008 American documentary titled "Beisbol", directed by Alan Swyer and narrated by

Esai Morales Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films '' Bad Boys'' with Sean Penn and '' La Bamba'' with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987). His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series '' ...

, which covered the early influences and contributions of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

s in the game. The City of

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...

honored Olmo by naming a stadium after him. Olmo had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for more than a year. Olmo, who suffered from the complications of double pneumonia, died on April 28, 2017, in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Murió el pelotero Luis Rodriguez Olmo, primer boricua en una serie mundial
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Notes

References

External links

Luis Olmo
at Baseballbiography.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olmo, Luis 1919 births 2017 deaths Águilas Cibaeñas players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Boston Braves players Brooklyn Dodgers players Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Caribbean Series managers Criollos de Caguas players Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente infielders Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente outfielders Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Milwaukee Braves scouts Milwaukee Brewers (AA) players Montreal Royals players Philadelphia Phillies scouts Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Canada Richmond Colts players People from Arecibo, Puerto Rico Senadores de San Juan players Wilson Tobs players