Guillermo Pérez Miranda

Cuban baseball player who played shortstop. Considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the annals of the Major Leagues. Elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, in the city of Miami.

He was born on May 24, 1926 in the municipality of Velazco, in the province of Las Tunas. He stood 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 152 pounds, batted switch and threw right-handed.

Never were there, according to the chroniclers of those times, more firm or more reliable hands than those of Willy Miranda. He could do very strange things with them; in fact, some were left embarrassed trying to do what for Willy was routine. Among Cuban shortstops there have been few like him in that regard.

It did not matter that his bat did not help him; with the glove he had enough to make legend. For 12 years he always wore the blue uniform of Almendares (except in the final months of the 1959-60 season when he was transferred to Habana). But certainly with the Scorpions he obtained the award for Best Rookie in 1948-49 and with them he shared and enjoyed the last five championship titles that the renowned baseball institution could win before disappearing forever from the history of Cuban baseball.

Lifetime Statistics

Seasons AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB K AVE
12 2214 224 523 57 26 3 145 15 - - 236

Season-by-Season Statistics
Year Club AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB K AVE
1948-49 Almendares 41 7 9 1 0 0 2 1 - - 220
1949-50 Almendares 97 15 25 3 2 0 7 4 - - 258
1950-51 Almendares 279 40 82 9 4 1 16 4 - - 294
1951-52 Almendares 268 22 62 2 5 1 12 2 - - 231
1952-53 Almendares 215 25 44 4 2 0 22 0 - - 205
1953-54 Almendares 194 22 59 10 1 0 16 0 - - 304
1954-55 Almendares 177 15 40 3 3 0 13 0 - - 226
1955-56 Almendares 225 25 49 5 3 0 16 1 - - 218
1956-57 Almendares 143 11 22 2 0 0 6 4 - - 154
1957-58 Almendares 199 16 49 8 4 0 13 0 - - 246
1958-59 Almendares 223 16 55 7 2 1 15 0 - - 247
1959-60 Almendares 153 10 27 3 0 0 7 2 - - 176
Includes only performances in the Cuban Professional League.

They say that his father, according to his own words, was so concerned with teaching him to field on the grounds of Central Velasco, that he was never able to learn to hit the ball squarely, therefore, his merit is even greater because he remained for nine seasons in the Major Leagues, solely because of his great fielding abilities. In this regard, when he was interviewed by comedian Joe E. Brown, for a radio program and explained how his father gave him a glove to teach him to catch balls, Brown asked him: "And your father never gave you a bat?"

For many like Tom Lasorda, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Gene Mauch former manager of several Major League teams, including the California Angels, Willie has been THE BEST OF ALL DEFENSIVE SHORTSTOPS in the annals of the Major Leagues. However, in a recent televised presentation, Lasorda expressed his doubts about whom to choose between Miranda and Ozzie Smith, of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Guillermo began playing baseball in 1940 with the Youth Club of José Martí Park in Havana, doing so the following year with the Marist brothers. From 1942 to 1947 he participated in amateur tournaments with the Telephones Club in the National Amateur League of Cuba. He entered organized baseball in 1948 with Sherman of the Big State League, a town less than 100 miles from Dallas. The fans of the place could not believe their eyes when they saw Miranda field and came to the conclusion that he was in a class by himself.

In 1949 he was with Chattanooga of the Southern League. That same year he made his debut in Cuba with Almendares, being selected as Rookie of the Year.

He began in the American League in 1951 with the Washington Senators and remained in the Major Leagues until 1959, wearing the uniforms of the Senators, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. In those 9 years he participated in 821 games and batted 1914 times, connecting for 413 hits, accompanied by 50 doubles, 14 triples, 6 home runs, 132 runs batted in, 13 stolen bases and a batting average of .221. And above all he made tremendous outs taking out runners who hit the ball through the hole between third base and shortstop displaying his arm and incomparable skill at releasing the ball with the speed of lightning.

In this regard, during a televised interview, Paul Richards, who was the Baltimore manager, declared: "When Baltimore acquired the franchise of the St. Louis Browns in 1954, we really had nothing with which to interest the fans. But luck favored us and we acquired Miranda from the Yankees in 1955, whom the Manhattan Mules had the luxury of paying a salary to play the final games for Phil Rizzuto, extending his career in the major circuits. Willie did not bat, but WHAT A WAY HE HAD TO FIELD!!!. His catches were spectacular, he covered enormous territory, he possessed a privileged arm and took the ball out of his glove faster than a magician pulls a card from his jacket sleeve."

"The fans went to the park to see him catch balls," Richards continues explaining. "And I can assure you without any fear whatsoever, that Willie helped ensure that the franchise change was not a complete failure." Miranda led all shortstops that year in all defensive categories.

On another occasion, Richards assured that Rizzuto and Luis Aparicio were more complete players, but that Miranda did on the baseball field with his glove and arm what they could not.

After his retirement, Willie stated that the best of his era included Rizzuto, who was his idol and whom he admired for being so small and doing such wonderful work at the shortstop position at Yankee Stadium. He equally praised Mark Balanger, who in his good days made all plays look easy, as well as Roy McMillian and Venezuelan Aparicio. He fondly remembered his double play combination with Bob Young, adding that no one hit harder at his position than Gus Zernial, Elmer Valo and Al Rosen.

Willie played 12 years in Cuba with Almendares, with the exception of his last campaign in 1959-60, which he divided wearing the uniforms of the Azules and the Rojos of Habana. In total he batted for an average of .237 in Cuban tournaments, the product of 524 hits in 2,214 at-bats, accompanied by 224 runs scored, 145 runs batted in, 57 doubles, 21 triples, 3 home runs and 14 stolen bases. His best seasons in the Cuban League were 1953-54 with a .304 average and 1950-51 where he hit the ball at a pace of .294. He played in three Caribbean Series with the Scorpions. In 1954 and 1955 under the direction of Bobby Bragan and in 1959 under Oscar Rodríguez.

Miranda has not only been the best Cuban defensive shortstop of all time, but many believe he deserves equal recognition in the Major Leagues (perhaps with the exception of Ozzie Smith), where he did not achieve greater recognition due to his poor batting and the fact that in his era it took much more work to get Latin American talent recognized.

Willie was "CAPTAIN" of the Azules of Almendares in Cuban winter championships and "GENERAL" on any field when it came to fielding the ball.

Willie died on Saturday, September 7, 1996, in Baltimore, from pulmonary emphysema, perhaps because ten years earlier, he saved the lives of four of his neighbors from a fire and as a consequence had to be admitted to a hospital due to smoke inhalation.