Born: June 26, 1915 in Shreveport, Louisiana
Died: August 4, 1996 in Houston, Texas
Position: 2b/Rf
Bats: Right Throws: Right
HT: 5-11 WT: 200 lb.
Only player to win two triple crowns (1947-48 and 1949-50), three batting titles : 1946-47 (.390), 1947-48 (.432) y 1949-50 (.353), led the league in home runs three years in a row: 1947-48 (27), 1948-49 (18) y 1949-50 (16), led the league in runs batted in for times: 1946-47 (50), 1947-48 (86), 1949-50 (97) y 1950-51 (76)…only player to win the batting title en led the league in runs batted in three times: 1946-47, 1947-48 y 1949-50…only player to led the league in batting average, home runs, runs batted in and runs in the same season (1947-48)…led the league in runs in 1947-48 (79)…first in slugging in 1947-48 (.906) and 1949-50 (.598)… one of three (the others are Joshua Gibson and Orlando Cepeda) to led the league in slugging and home runs twice (1947-48 y 1949-50)…named MVP in 1949-50…leader in hits in 1946-47 (99) and 1949-50 (117)…lifetime he has the best home run ratio with 19.21 (1940/101=19.21) and in a single season with 8.67 (234/27=8.67)…also, he has the best lifetime rbi ratio with 4.10 (1940/473=4.10) and in a single season with 2.72 (234/86=2.72)…one of two players (the other one is Perucho Cepeda) to batted .400+ in two positions: second base and outfield…one of four to bat .400+ twice… only player to hit 15+ home runs three season in a row and one of four with 10+ home runs four seasons in a row, along with Bob Thurman, Candy Maldonado and Danny Walton…lifetime he is first in average (.350) and slugging (.604) and fifth in home runs (101)…named to the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 1996, Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and Santurce Sports Hall of Fame in 2014…in 2014 he was selected one of the best 75 players of the Puerto Rico Professional League.
Photo colorization: Joe Torres