Andrés Fleitas

Catcher/First baseman

Born: November 8, 1916
Las Villas Province, Cuba

Died: December 18, 2011 (aged 95)
Miami, Florida

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

Professional debut

Cuban league: 1942

Minor league: 1943

Mexican league: 1945

Last Cuban league appearance

1955

Career highlights and awards

Amateur World Series MVP (1942)
Cuban league MVP (1946-47)
Two-time Cuban league all-star (1945-46, 1946-47)
First and only catcher to caught a no-hitter in Caribbean Series history (1951)
Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame induction (1971)
Cuban Sports Hall of Fame induction (2010)

Andrés Fleitas [flei'-tasz] (November 8, 1916 – December 18, 2011) was a professional Cuban baseball catcher and first baseman. Listed at 5' 11", 175 lb., he batted and threw right handed.

Born in Las Villas Province, Fleitas came from a baseball family, as his older brother, Ángel Fleitas, played briefly for the Washington Senators of the American League. Despite never reaching the Major Leagues as his brother did, Fleitas enjoyed a solid career in the Cuban Winter League and Minor League Baseball. A member of the Cuban national team and two-time Most Valuable Player, he had several .300 seasons, and holds the distinction of being the only catcher ever to have caught a no-hitter in Caribbean Series history.

Prior to his professional career in Cuba, Fleitas was a member of the Cuban National team that won two Amateur World Series in 1939 and 1942, earning MVP honors in the latter victory, after batting a top average of .405. He joined the Alacranes de Almendares during the 1942–43 campaign and stayed with them nine and a half seasons (1951-52[start]) before joining the Tigres de Marianao (1951-52[end]), Leones de la Habana (1952–53, 1953–54) and Elefantes de Cienfuegos (1954–55).

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Wikipedia