# Rafael Almeida (baseball)

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For the Brazilian actor, see [Rafael Almeida (actor)](/source/Rafael_Almeida_(actor)).

**Rafael D. Almeida** (July 30, 1887 – March 19, 1968) was a [Cuban](/source/Cuba) professional [baseball](/source/Baseball) [third baseman](/source/Third_baseman) from 1911 to 1913 with the [Cincinnati Reds](/source/Cincinnati_Reds) of [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) (MLB). Along with [Armando Marsans](/source/Armando_Marsans), he was one of the first Cuban nationals to play in the [National League](/source/National_League_(baseball)) when the two debuted with the Reds on July 4, 1911.[1][a]

Six years before debuting with Cincinnati, Almeida and Marsans both played [Negro league baseball](/source/Negro_league_baseball) in the United States as members of the integrated [All Cubans](/source/All_Cubans) in 1905.[2] He also played [winter league baseball](/source/Winter_league_baseball) in the [Cuban League](/source/Cuban_League) from 1904 to 1925.[3]

After his professional career, Almeida managed the [Vedado Tennis Club](/source/Vedado_Tennis_Club) to several pennant victories in the [Cuban Amateur League](/source/Cuban_Amateur_League). He also acted as manager of the champion [Cuba national baseball team](/source/Cuba_national_baseball_team) at the [1930 Central American Games](/source/Baseball_at_the_1930_Central_American_and_Caribbean_Games) in Havana.[4] Almeida was one of ten players elected to the [Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame](/source/Cuban_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame) in its 1939 inaugural class.[5]

## Notes

1. Almeida and Marsansa were not [the first National League players born in Cuba](/source/List_of_countries_with_their_first_Major_League_Baseball_player), as Havana-born [Chick Pedroes](/source/Chick_Pedroes) played in the National League in 1902, though historian [Peter C. Bjarkman](/source/Peter_C._Bjarkman) noted that Pedroes immigrated to the United States at a young age and likely did not learn the game in Cuba.[6] In addition, Cuban-born [Steve Bellán](/source/Steve_Bell%C3%A1n) played from 1871 to 1873 in the [National Association of Professional Base Ball Players](/source/National_Association_of_Professional_Base_Ball_Players) (NA), a league whose [status as a major league is disputed](/source/NA_as_a_major_league).

## References

1. [Players Born in Cuba - Baseball-Reference.com](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Cuba_born.shtml)

1. Riley, 33

1. Figueredo 2003, pp. 484, 508.

1. ["Rafael Almeida"](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/rafael-almeida/). *SABR*. Society for American Baseball Research.

1. Figueredo 2003, pp. 484, 508.

1. Bjarkman, Peter C. (26 August 2007). ["The Mysterious Case of "Cuban" Chick Pedroes"](https://mlblogsbjarkmanlatinobaseball.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/the-mysterious-case-of-cuban-chick-pedroes/). *Bjarkman's Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page*. Retrieved 12 March 2025.

## Bibliography

- Figueredo, Jorge S. (2003), *Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878–1961*, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, ISBN 0-7864-1250-X.
- Riley, James A. (2002). *The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues.* 2nd edition. New York: Carroll & Graf Publ. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rafael Almeida (baseball)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Almeida_(baseball)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Almeida_(baseball)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.