A while back I had posted a column on Dan Bankhead, the first African-American pitcher in MLB. I knew the answer to that trivia question. To this one I did not know the answer. Namely, who was the first Puerto Rican player to play at the MLB level with the Dodgers? He was not the first to play MLB coming in second but was the first position player from Puerto Rico to make it to the top.
The first player from Puerto Rico to play MLB was right-hander Hiram Bithorn who made his debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1942 and was an 18-game winner in 1943. Tragically his life ended suddenly at the age of 35 in December, 1951, when he was shot during an altercation with Mexican police.
Back to the question of the day. Who was the first Puerto Rican player to play for the Dodgers? He was Luis Francisco Rodriguez Olmo who was born in Santruce, PR on March 18, 1916. He was a bit of a legend in his home country known for his baseball skills and earned a nickname of El Jíbaro , perhaps similar to “Country Boy” or “Hillbilly” in our part of the world. His nickname was not one meant to tease him but to show respect for his personal qualities than included pride in his home rural area and his humility.
Luis Olmo was a multi-talented athlete as a youngster playing basketball, soccer, participating in track and field but baseball was his first love. As a 19-year-old he played in the 1938-39 inaugural season of the Puerto Rican Winter League with Caquas Criollos signing his first ever contract for seven dollars a week. He quickly attracted attention with his play in the PRWL that year.
He made his way to the United States in 1939 and the Dodgers were on him early. José Seda, a Puerto Rican baseball man who scouted for Brooklyn, wired Branch Rickey, Jr., the farm director for the Dodgers advising them to get Olmo immediately.
Olmo was later described by Tim Cohane in an October 1943 issue of The Sporting News as,
“a strongly built youngster who can run like a Western Conference halfback, throw like a DiMaggio and meet the ball solidly and with extra-base power.”
It turns out the Dodgers were a bit too late and the young right-handed hitting outfielder was signed by an independent league team in Richmond. He spent the 1941 and 1942 seasons with Richmond only adding to interest in him with his all-out play. The Dodgers were able to purchase his contract from Richmond at the end of the 1942 season.
Olmo debuted with the Dodgers on July 18 in 1943 recording one hit in two at bats. In 57 games in 1943 he batted .303 with four home runs and 37 RBI. He gained regular status in the next season, batting .258 with nine home runs and 85 RBI in 136 games.
His best year in MLB came in 1945, a season in which 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). On May 18 Olmo added another distinction to his resume. He became the second player in Major League history to hit a bases-loaded triple and a bases-loaded home run in the same game. He added a single for good measure, only failing to hit a double to complete the cycle.
Luis Olmo credited Jackie Robinson with helping to pave the road for Latin American players to MLB. While that is certainly true, Olmo himself was a trail blazer perhaps helping at least to lay down the path for Jackie who followed him to Montreal and then to Brooklyn. He was the first non-white to be idolized by the faithful in Brooklyn, perhaps smoothing that path for Jackie. He had one advantage other players from Puerto Rico did not have.
In spring training in 1943, he had told Hy Turkin of the New York Daily News,
“The only reason you haven’t heard of many Puerto Ricans in the majors is that our best players are colored.” Olmo’s complexion was more of a tan color and his facial features were more “European-looking” rather than “African-looking.”
He drew facial comparisons to Tony Lazzeri, whose parents were both born in Italy.
Jesús Colón, a Puerto Rican writer at that time, drew attention to Olmo viewing him,
“not only in terms of the visibility of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. public eye but also as a step toward the eventual breaking of the color line. “
The writer called on Puerto Ricans to fill Ebbets Field whenever Luis Olmo played and invited them to write letters to the Dodgers organization urging it toward desegregation.” Part of the irony in the situation was that Jesus Colon wrote for a communist newspaper
The 1945 season was the highlight of Luis Olmo’s MLB career, a season in which he ranked 17th in MVP voting. He was aware of his baseball skills and how they should translate into higher pay as he progressed, considerably higher. Confident in his ball-playing abilities, he insisted on being paid on par with his Dodger teammates. He attempted to negotiate with Branch Rickey and was reputedly offered $8,000. Rickey refused to budge so Olmo and others left to play in Mexico in a fully integrated league where he signed a 3-year deal for$40,000.
The MLB response was quick and harsh. Rickey and many in the sporting press derided Luis Olmo and the other major- and minor-league players who left for Mexico as “jumpers.” Major League Baseball openly portrayed them as traitors and Commissioner Happy Chandler imposed a five-year suspension for their defections that was later shortened.
He did have some regrets about leaving for the Mexican League although he did not talk about derailing his MLB career. In February 1947, as he prepared to return to Mexico, Olmo told Tommy Holmes of the Brooklyn Eagle, “If I have made a mistake, I do not know it yet.” Yet he also expressed regret, feeling that the Dodgers would have won the pennant if he had been with them.
Luis Olmo returned to the Dodgers in 1949, after three years in the Mexican League, so did get to play with Jackie Robinson but his MLB career had been seriously sidetracked. He played for three seasons, his last two with the Boston Braves, accumulating only 315 at bats over 128 games. He retired following 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.
He appeared with the Dodgers in the 1949 World Series against the Yankees and 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.
It is thought Olmo paved the way for young Puerto Rican stars such as Roberto Clemente who credits him with mastering the basket catch.
“No, I don’t learn the basket catch from Mays,” Roberto protested in his marked Puerto Rican accent. “It was Luis Olmo and Herman Franks who teach me when I in Dodger chain. That back in 1954 Winter league. Before that, I miss fly ball many time ’cause I try to catch too high. But now no drop one ball since I use basket catch.” Clemente said Olmo and Franks instructed him to catch the ball about chest high instead of holding his hands outstretched. Later, he said, it became more natural for him to drop his hands even lower, below his waistline. “It work good for me and I just keep doing it,” he said. “It make it more easy for me to throw too, after I make catch.”
Luis Francisco Rodriguez Olmo died at age 97 on April 28, 2017. At that time he was the oldest living Dodger and the last remaining player from the 1938-39 inaugural season of the Puerto Rican Winter League.
Discussion (54)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I almost always stay out of political debates and conspiracy theories. However, I would not want to live an an area where we could not trust our government or our news outlets in the midst of a situation such as this. In our province we have had 1,058 positive tests. As of today we have no known active cases, I believe because we have followed our government’s directives. Some folks got their drawers in a knot because they felt their civil liberties were being infringed upon as if they had no need to help protect others. You mean we can’t knuckle under for four months?
Our government set up a committee from all three political parties to take on suggestions and to disseminate information so all three parties knew before it was announced what would be announced on a given day. The idea of an all party committee came from an opposition party and was adopted by the governing party.
We have had 61 deaths, many in a long care facility with the virus brought in by an asymptomatic pastor. That is the reason we must continue to be vigilant for the foreseeable future as things open up, which they must.
Personally I don’t believe this is a hoax with almost 7,000,000 cases worldwide and almost 400,000 deaths and the world is far from out of the woods. What has happened with the flu has no bearing on this situation as it is new with scientists learning something new about it regularly. Because the first glimpse was seen in a certain way and now things are different does not mean we were misled in the beginning. We were simply given the scientific information that was available at the time and because it was so new we most likely did underestimate it. Hence we were a bit slow out of the blocks. However, it is always easy to solve everything in hindsight.
Baseball related:
Recall Ferris Buehler’s Day Off? They went to a Cubs game, where Ferris caught a foul ball. That wasn’t just a scene on a set. That was an actual Braves Cubs game, 35 years ago today.
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/12877/wezen-ball-ferris-buellers-day-off-at-wrigley-field/#:~:text=Ferris%20Bueller%20and%20his%20pals,top%20of%20the%2011th%20inning.&text=Washington%20would%20end%20his%20at,flyball%20to%20leftfielder%20Davey%20Lopes.
No surprise, but it appears the official announcement about canceling the MiLB season may come today. Got a text from a friend in the Angels org. “Pack it up”.
My son and I typically go to 30-40 minor league games per year in the CA League. Really is a shame. I certainly hope MLB and the Player’s Union stop whining and just get something done. Losing a year of ALL baseball is the last thing the sport needs. NBA and NFL aren’t going to let it happen. More young fans will continue to gravitate towards other sports.
https://www.insidehook.com/article/sports/mlb-is-killing-baseball-superstar
Badger, quit with the nonsense, you quoted “cases” only, not what you were looking at on CDC pages. I have and do look at the stats on those pages. Don’t cherry pick your stats, that is called manipulation.
Right on Mark. As you mentioned about Nursing Home deaths, in the county I live in about 60% of the deaths came from 2, yes TWO facilities that happened to be owned by the same company, yeah go figure. If you back those deaths out it starts to give you a much better picture of the reality of this thing.
Badger, you really aren’t an honest person when it comes to anything political, or so it seems. Hey the Truth Hurts
Interesting article about the numerous minor league cuts administered by most MLB teams in The Athletic today
https://theathletic.com/1852600/2020/06/05/i-just-wanted-the-chance-to-fail-inside-last-weeks-mass-minor-league-cuts/
I have read that the D-Backs have cut the most players (58 as I recall). I haven’t read that the Dodgers have cut anyone yet.
The article observes that with the draft and the post-draft signings ($20K guys) that there will need to be cuts to make room for the new draftees/signees. But the teams have cut more than that.
Nearly 1200 cuts league wide.
Interesting development for MLB to leave it up to local authorities as to whether or not fans can attend games. That leaves the Dodgers at two disadvantages, because L.A. will be one of the very last to allow it and probably won’t allow it at all this season.
1) Fans in the stands are a definite advantage for a team in terms of the players’ ability to feed off the energy of their hometown fans. Looks like Houston will screw us again on this one.
2) The teams who have fans attend the games will have the advantage of that income stream which might enable them to spend more in free agency than those who don’t have that ability. Of course, in all fairness, I suppose I should point out that the Dodgers tv contract is huge compared to some of the other teams and I never whine about that advantage.
A very sad story today, again involving former Rays, Red Sox, Dodgers OF, Carl Crawford. It was last month that it was reported that a woman and a child both drowned in Crawford’s back yard pool.
Today, TMZ Sports is reporting that Crawford has been placed under arrest for domestic violence in Texas. The details surrounding the arrest and whether or not they relate to the drownings are still not clear.
The jail records obtained by TMZ show that Crawford was charged with “assault fam/house mem impede breath/circulate”. They speculated that this terminology often means there was some sort of choking involved. The former Dodgers’ outfielder had his bail set at $10,000 and is being held with the Harris County Sheriff.
I refuse to speculate, but it is just so sad.
During this Pandemic and Demonstration and Rioting Time (you can’t say one without the other), I have never been so disappointed in people and I have never been so encouraged by people. The only question is: “Who wins – the doom and gloomers or the bold new spirits?”
I have no clue….
For those who are desperate for any type of baseball activity, MLBTR is conducting a mock expansion draft that started about 15 minutes ago. They had their readers vote as to which players off each roster would be marked as ineligible and the rest are up for grabs.
So far, 4 players have been picked, none of them Dodgers.
Anyway, it’s something to break up your Thursday if you have any interest.
Dustin has been running OOTP 21 (Out Of The Park) baseball game simulator since the beginning of the season. His simulator announces trades and injuries. Every once in a while I will peek in and look at the box scores. The simulator is clear that the Dodgers are an offensive juggernaut, but have no pitching, especially relief pitching (surprise, surprise). Gavin Lux is running away with ROY and will be in on the MVP discussion, as will Corey Seager.
I am betting that Dustin will get a kick out of some believing that there was a trade. If you do a Cole Tucker search, the “trade” is highly previewed in Google. If you look at the box score for that simulated game, Rich Rodriguez struck out the only batter he faced on 4 pitches.
I agree with STB that Zach McKinstry is exactly who AF loves. He is more defensively diverse than either Beaty or Rios. So his being LH is not as much of a deterrence as some might believe. Zach has played 2B (153 games), 3B (102 games), SS (78 games), LF (11 games), RF (3 games), CF (2 games). He does not have the pop that Rios has and probably not Beaty. But he showed more last year, so there may be some swing change in the works.
That being said, I do believe that a trade of Zach McKinstry for Cole Tucker and Rich Rodriguez is a fair trade. I am a fan of Zach McKinstry (albeit not as much as Harold is). But I try not to focus on who is leaving as much as who is being returned. I have been an advocate for Cole Tucker since he was drafted by Pittsburgh. At the time he reminded of a RHH Corey Seager (hopeful to be sure). He is now a switch hitter. He is a defense first player that has undergone a swing change for more launch. Seems perfect for LAD. He is considered to have plus range and a plus arm and is a pure SS. He is also more than 1 year younger than Zach McKinstry. Rich Rodriguez is a bounce back RHRP. A change of scenery candidate. IMO it would not be the Dodgers who would walk away from this trade, but Pittsburgh.
I enjoyed Where Is Olmo on Sesame Street.
Checked all of the transaction pages and the Dodgers web site. No mention of the trade anywhere, and the last transactions, other than minor leaguers being released, were back in March. So Nostler pulled the wool over all eyes again. How can you guys be Dodger fans and never have heard of Luis Olmo? I had his card back in the early 60’s. I also get Dodger media guides and they list all of the players who ever played for the Dodgers, even if it was for one game.
I think we’ll all be happy that Nosler was just having some fun and that the trade wasn’t real at some point during the next season (whenever that might be).
McKinstry is just the kind of player that AF loves. He’s not the same kind of player that Beaty, Rios or Raley are (even though all are left handed) and Kike will be gone next year and who knows what happens to CT3 the year after.
Delightful article Harold!! Like the others, I had never heard of Luis Olmo. Glad to have met his acquaintance. Thank you for introducing him to us.
The McKinstry trade is not real. Dodgers Digest has beeN running Daily posts on a fantasy season wherein they provide the “outcome” of the game actually scheduled for that day. I believe this trade is part of that endeavor. McKinstry is still ours I cannot find reference to the trade on any other Dodger site or MLBtraderumors.
Zach McKinstry was my favorite minor league player. I will still follow him closely but now have to have a new favorite Dodger minor leaguer. Zach is everything a young man should be. I liked him because he made himself into a player when the odds said he shouldn’t be ready for MLB. I like the trade as Zach will have a chance at more play time time in Pittsburgh and he will be closer to home.
https://www.mlb.com/news/a-look-back-at-dan-bankhead
I liked McKinstry, but he is LH and blocked by two LH middle infielders named Seager and Lux. The Dodgers also have Taylor and Hernandez on the MLB Roster, so McKinstry had a slight chance of making the roster and Estevez, Amaya, and Mann were ranked by BA as better prospects.
The link to Rich Rodriguez in the Dodgers ‘ Digest article is wrong. That guy is 57! YIKES! Actually, the real Rich Rodriguez put up a 3.72 ERA in 2019 in 72 games, and in 2018 he had a 2.47 ERA in 63 games. He was outstanding in 2018 as his whiff rate rivaled Hader’s. His fastball is about 93 but he has an elite spin rate.
This is a typical Friedman bullpen depth move. Cole Tucker was the Pirates #6 Prospect in 2018 and made the show in 2019, hitting .211. He is a switch-hitter and a project. Again, “organizational depth.”
Thank you Harold, I enjoyed reading about Luis Olmo.
Zach McKinstry was my favorite minor league player. I will still follow him closely but now have to have a new favorite Dodger minor leaguer. Zach is everything a young man should be.
The trade is a bit surprising. Not sure if Cole Tucker is a better bet than Zach.
https://www.mlb.com/news/a-look-back-at-dan-bankhead
Hmm, they traded McKinstry. I really thought he had a shot at being part of the expanded roster. For a relief pitcher that bad? Maybe the jewel is the minor leaguer they got. Oh well, we will see. As for Olmo, I actually have a baseball card of him. So he is not foreign to me.
He looks Italian.
Olmo Name Meaning:
Italian (mainly Tuscany and northern Italy) and Spanish: from olmo ‘elm’, Latin ulmus, topographic name for someone who lived by a conspicuous elm tree, or a habitational name from a place named Olmo, from the same word.
His take on his dealings with Rickey:
“I batted .313 in 1945, and I was making $6,000,” he told The New York Times at a 1983 event honoring the Dodgers. At the time, $6,000 was the major league minimum. “I asked Branch Rickey for $10,000. He offered me $6,500. I went to Mexico for $25,000 and expenses.”
To put that in perspective, with inflation factored in, those 1945 amounts come to this in 2017 dollars: $6,000, $80,000; $6,500, $86,500; $10,000, $133,000; and $25,000, $333,000.
The Commissioner of Baseball, Albert B. “Happy” Chandler, suspended all the “Mexican Jumping Beans” indefinitely. A court case against this was settled 2 years later, and the players were allowed to return.
And more:
“The only reason you haven’t heard of many Puerto Ricans in the majors is that our best players are colored.” Olmo’s complexion was tan, but his features were “European-looking” rather than “African-looking.” Allegedly, though, both he and Hiram Bithorn “were allowed to play after signing forms attesting that their ancestry was entirely Hispanic.” Luis drew facial comparisons to Tony Lazzeri, whose parents were both born in Italy.“
Great story H. Glad you brought it up.
http://dodgersdigest.com/2020/06/03/ootp-21-dodgers-pirates-hook-up-on-minor-3-player-trade/
I am so glad that Jeff, Harold, and Rob have continued on with this blog.
This is extraordinary, Harold!
I have never heard any of this!
Simply extraordinary!
Thanks for the informative article Harold. I too had never heard of Olmo.
The first Puerto Rican Dodger, taught the basket catch to Clemente and alive until the age of 97. Three impressive accomplishments.
Okay. Back to baseball. For how much longer, who knows?
Harold I admit, I have never come across Luis Olmo, but he is a fascinating player. Thank you once again for an exceptional expose’ on another past Dodger.