Manuel Cueto García

Very versatile ballplayer. Elected to the Hall of Fame of professional baseball in 1950. Versatile as a player, he could play all infield positions, including catcher and outfield.

He was born in Guanajay, Artemisa. He batted and threw right-handed, weighed 157 pounds and was 5-5 in height.

He batted over .300 eleven times and won two batting titles. He started with Habana at third base and also played for the Red Sox, Cuba, Almendares (Baseball Team), Marianao and Santa Clara.

During his lengthy career, Cueto displayed a refined offensive arsenal that attracted the attention of the Saint Louis Terriers of the Federal League in 1914, and later the Cincinnati Reds of the National League.

He first played for the Jacksonville Tarpons of the South Atlantic League in the United States, then between 1914 and 1919 he played in the Major Leagues, first with the Saint Louis Terriers and then the Cincinnati Reds.

In Cuba he played between 1912 and 1939 for Almendares, Red Sox, Habana and Santa Clara.

Between 1912 and 1933 he played for 20 seasons in Cuba with the teams Almendares, Red Sox, Habana, Marianao and Santa Clara.

In the 1918-1919 season playing for Habana, he led in batting with a .344 average, an accomplishment he repeated in 1926-1927 this time with a .398 average, and led in hits with 41.

During his Cuban baseball seasons, Melo led the doubles category in 1917, 1921, 1927 and 1930. In the 1920-1921 campaign he led in runs scored with 19 and stolen bases with 12.

In 20 baseball series played, he participated in 401 games, with 1652 at-bats, connecting for 492 hits, of which 66 were doubles, 19 triples and eight home runs, for an average of .298, eleventh place in offensive average in Cuban professional baseball of all time.

In 1950 he was elected to the Hall of Fame of Cuban Baseball.

Minor Leagues
He started in 1911 at age 19 with the Jacksonville Tarpons of the South Atlantic League in the United States, a season in which he participated in 51 games, connecting for 53 hits in 152 at-bats for an average of .283.

In 1912 he also played with the Tarpons, now participating in 110 games, with 464 at-bats, 117 hits, 16 doubles, 4 triples and one home run, .304 average, the second best on the team.

He played between 1911 and 1938 in the Minor Leagues with the teams Jacksonville Tarpons, Portsmouth Truckers, Chattanooga Lookouts, Rochester Hustlers, Mobile Bears, Seattle Indians, Atlanta Crackers and Tampa Smokers.

In 18 seasons he achieved the following performance: he participated in 1670 games, with 5837 at-bats, 1745 hits, with 207 doubles, 38 triples and 19 home runs, for an offensive average of .299.

Major Leagues
He made his debut on June 25, 1914 with the Saint Louis Terriers of the Federal League, participating in 19 games, 53 at-bats, 4 hits and 2 RBIs, on defense he participated in 17 games, with 6 errors in 51 chances and an average of .882.

In 1916 he played for the Cincinnati Reds of the Major Leagues, participating in 56 games, 160 at-bats, 28 hits, 3 doubles, one home run, 11 RBIs and a .200 average, on defense, 49 games, 5 errors in 120 chances for a .958 average.

In the 1917-1918 season he continued with the Cincinnati Reds, the team with which he participated in 47 games, connecting for 32 hits in 134 at-bats, among them five doubles and one triple, scoring and driving in 14 runs, with an average of .296.

On defense he played in 44 games as an outfielder, infielder and catcher, with six errors in 108 chances and an average of .944.

In this season he made a phenomenal fielding play on a line drive by Fred Merkle of the Chicago Cubs and helped Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds achieve a no-hit, no-run game.

In 1919 also with Cincinnati, he participated in 29 games, with 22 hits in 105 at-bats, scoring 10 runs and driving in four, an average of .250. On defense he played in 26 games as an outfielder and third baseman, committing three errors in 116 chances for a .974 average.

In summary his work in the Major Leagues totaled four seasons, 151 games, 86 hits in 482 at-bats, of which 10 doubles, one triple and one home run, an average of .227.

In Other Leagues
In 1933 he became the first ex-Major League ballplayer to play in Nicaragua, doing so as a member and manager of a team of Cuban ballplayers, the Cueto Cubs, which faced Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and the local teams in a friendly series. In 1939 he played in the Panamanian League in the Canal Zone.

On defense, he participated in 1117 games with 254 errors in 5037 chances for a fielding average of .950.

Although his performance as a manager was brief, he compiled 5 wins in 18 games in that role, but instead secured second place for the Cuba team in the 1926-1927 championship.

He died on June 29, 1942, at age 50, in Regla, Havana.