![]() ![]() 262 with 152 home runs, 699 RBIs and 1137 hits. In his 14 seasons in the minor leagues, he hit. He returned to the minors and played until 1976. He had 10 hits, three of which were doubles, scored 3 runs and had 5 RBIs. That hitting spree left him with a career slash line of. He was excellent in limited opportunities, with a. He was leading the Southern League in home runs and RBIs prior to his promotion. Velázquez, now in his age 35 season, was brought up for his second cup of coffee in the big leagues. He stayed in the Braves minor-league system until catcher Johnny Oates was injured in 1973. Velázquez bounced around the minors, playing briefly in the Expos organization before getting picked up by the Braves. Freddie just sits there in the bullpen, warming up pitche rs, and he never gets into a game and just looks sad. “Gary (Bell ) has come up with a good nickname for Freddie Velázquez. In his book Ball Four, pitcher Jim Bouton refers to him briefly. In fact, Velázquez spent most of hit time in the majors waiting for something to happen. He was then re-acquired by the A’s at the end of May and sent back to the minor leagues in June without ever making an appearance with the team. He appeared in 6 Pilots’ games and hit 2 doubles in 16 at-bats, driving in 2 runs. He made a brief appearance in the majors in 1969 as a 31-year-old rookie. The Padres acquired Velázquez in the winter of 1968, but he was officially with the team for about two months before he was picked up by the expansion Pilots on December 2. He hit fairly well in limited action he appeared in more than 100 games three times in those five years, but he hit fairly well and hit as many as 16 home runs in a season. He stayed with the A’s until 1968, playing mainly in A-ball. Velázquez stayed in the Dominican League until he was signed by the Kansas City Athletics prior to the 1964 season. 223/.255/.294 and was released by the Giants after the season. He played just one season for the Giants organization, appearing in 102 games for the Panama City Fliers, a Class-D team in the Alabama-Florida League. The scout who signed him, Horacio Martínez, had also signed Juan Marichal, Manny Mota and the Alou brothers. Velázquez was first signed to a minor-league contract by the San Francisco Giants in 1958. You work and study maybe 15 years and that’s all the money.” “Unless you come from a rich family, there isn’t any money in medicine in my country. “I mean it,” he told Atlanta Constitution writer Frank Hyland. He said in a 1973 profile that he could have been a doctor, but he decided that there was no money in it. Velázquez almost didn’t play baseball at all. He was induced into the Dominican Sports Hall of Fame (el Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Dominicano) in 1993. According to his obituary on, Velázquez is fourth all-time on the team’s history in games played (422), fourth in at-bats (1,358), sixth in hits (339), fifth in home runs (20) and seventh in runs (162). He played with the Leones from 1957-78, with five seasons with the Tigres del Licey (1973-77) in between. He broke in with La Liga de Béisbol Profesional de República Dominicana (Lidom) in 1957 and spent 19 seasons playing in the Dominican Winter League. In the majors, Velázquez played for the Seattle Pilots (1969) and Atlanta Braves (1973).įrederico Antonio Velázquez was born in Santo Domingo on December 6, 1937. Velázquez was a part of four of their championship teams (1957-8, 1959-60, 1960-9), and his uniform #20 is retired by the team. His death was originally reported by the Leones del Escogido, a professional baseball team from Santo Domingo. RIP to Freddie Velázquez, the first Dominican catcher to play in the major leagues.
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