Luis Olmo (August 11, 1919 – April 28, 2017) was a major league baseball outfielder and right-handed batter. Olmo played in the majors with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(1943–45, 1949) and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(1950–51).

Early years

Olmo (birth name: Luis Francisco Rodríguez Olmo ) was born in

Arecibo, Puerto Rico 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, the ...

. He began his professional career in 1938 with the Criollos de Caguas of the

Puerto Rican Winter League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

. In 1939, Olmo signed with the

Richmond Colts The Richmond Colts were a minor league baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia that existed on-and-off from 1894 to 1953. They played in the Virginia League in 1894, and in another Virginia League in 1900, and another Virginia League from 19 ...

of the Piedmont League and was assigned to the Tarboro Goobers and later the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League. The Dodgers acquired Olmo from Richmond in 1942 and assigned him to the Montreal Royals after spring training.Luis Olmo, a Pioneering Puerto Rican Baseball Player, Dies at 97, New York Times
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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 A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, he batted .303 with four home runs and 37

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

. 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 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 to complete the

cycle Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

. 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 base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s (15) and games (141).

Mexican League

In 1946, Olmo was among a group of players enticed to play in the Mexican League with the promise of higher salaries; they were suspended by Baseball Commissioner

Happy Chandler Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also se ...

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, 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 Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, 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 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

title, and also played as a reinforcement for fourth-place Senadores de San Juan in

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 The Pabellón de la Fama del Caribe (In English, the ''Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame'') was established in 1996 by Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, commissioner of the Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe (''Caribbean Confederation of Profession ...

'' 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, which covered the early influences and contributions of Hispanics in the game. The City of Arecibo honored Olmo by naming a stadium after him. Olmo had been suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

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