Valmy Thomas
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| Valmy Thomas | |||||||||||||||
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| Catcher | |||||||||||||||
| Born: October 21, 1925 Santurce, Puerto Rico | |||||||||||||||
| Died: October 16, 2010 (aged 84) Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| April 16, 1957, for the New York Giants | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| October 1, 1961, for the Cleveland Indians | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .230 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 60 | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Valmy Thomas (October 21, 1925 – October 16, 2010)[1][2] was a Major League Baseball catcher. Thomas was the first Virgin Islander to play in the major leagues post-integration; born in Puerto Rico, he also represented the island in international competition. Thomas was listed as 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and 165 pounds (75 kg); he threw and batted right-handed.
Thomas was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, because of better medical care available there. The family returned to their native Saint Croix immediately after his birth.
In 1947, Thomas played in Puerto Rico's amateur league with the Parada 20 club as a pitcher; he led the league in earned run average with 0.99. After the season, he was named to the Puerto Rico national baseball team for the 1947 Amateur World Series, playing as a third baseman; the team won the silver medal, falling short to hosts Colombia in the final game.[3]