Louis Almada

LOUIS J. ALMADA. BORN: September 7, 1907. PASSED AWAY: September 16, 2005. Known to all his friends and family as "Papa Lou," Louis Joseph Almada passed away at his home in Del Mesa, Carmel on September 16, 2005, having just celebrated his 98th birthday the previous week. At his side were his wife of 73 years, Ligia Davila Almada, and his daughter, Cristina Biegel. Papa Lou was born on September 7, 1907 in El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico. He came to Los Angeles at the age of seven with his parents, Baldomero and Amelia Almada. The senior Mr. Almada was in the Foreign Service for the Country of Mexico and posted to Los Angeles. Within his first few days of coming to California, "Louie," as he was then known, discovered the game of baseball and, in order to join in a game at the local playground, he learned English in about a week. Louie Almada attended Los Angeles High School where he starred for the "Romans" on both the baseball and football fields. In the 1960's, in a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times, he was voted the all-time most outstanding quarterback in "Roman" football history. At his graduation, he received college scholarship offers from both U.S.C. and Notre Dame to play football. However, Louie Almada's first love was baseball. He was a terrific pitcher and power hitter, under the tutelage of his mentor and inspirational force, Coach Herb White. His statistics in both baseball and football were so impressive that he was voted the Outstanding High School Athlete in the State of California for 1927, a list later joined by Ted Williams, John Elway andGreg Louganis, to name a few. In a memorable exhibition staged at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles in 1927, Louie Almada struck out Babe Ruth and it became the rage of the Los Angeles newspapers. Turning down the football scholarships, Mr. Almada signed a $5,000 contract to play baseball for the New York Giants, then managed by the legendary John McGraw, a team which included future Hall of Famers, Mel Ott, Rogers Hornsby, Burleigh Grimes, Bill Terry, Freddie Lindstrom, and Ed Roush. In Spring Training camp at Sarasota, Florida in 1927, he made the major league roster and was labeled "The Caballero from California." Slated to be the first major league player born in Mexico, Louie got hurt as the team barnstormed up the eastern seaboard, and wound up never actually playing in a game at the venerable Polo Grounds. In two years, his younger brother, Mel, did become the first Mexican player to make it to the big leagues. Their careers were chronicled in an article entitled "Beisboleros: Latin Americans and Baseball in the Northwest, 1914-1937" which can be found on the Internet. (www.washingtonhistory.org/wshs/columbia/articles/0302-a1.htm). Mr. Almada played 11 years in the Pacific Coast league. His picture at bat will forever adorn the cover of that league's almanac of all the players to have played in the PCL since its founding in 1903. At age 98, he may have been the oldest living PCL player. In 1999, the Seattle Mariners honored Mr. Almada at the opening of their $500 million new ballpark, Safeco Field. At a ceremony before the game, nine "legends" of Seattle baseball, each wearing their retro uniforms, were introduced to the capacity crowd and their faces shown on the Jumbotron in center field. The announcer told the story of Mr. Almada's three years playing for the Seattle Indians between 1929 and 1932: He normally was a .300 plus hitter, but a sportswriter noted that on Thursdays, in the post Depression era, when ladies were let in for half price, he hit over .400. Thus, the sportswriter dubbed him, "Ladies Day Louie," and that is how he was introduced at the Safeco opening ceremony, the oldest of Seattle's legendary players at 91 years of age. Following the ceremony, a sportswriter asked him how he liked the new ballpark, and he was quoted in the Seattle newspapers as saying, "I think I could hit here, I'd just need someone to run for me.Ó After his baseball career ended, Mr. Almada went into the produce business in Central California, the Produce Market in Los Angeles, and later in Nogales, Arizona. He retired in 1977. He and his wife lived in San Marino, California for 50 years before moving to Carmel in 1999. Mr. Almada is survived by his wife, Ligia Davila Almada, his son Charles Almada of Seal Beach, and his daughter, Cristina Biegel of Carmel, along with grandchildren Anthony Almada of Laguna Beach, Andrew Almada of Redlands, Brandon Kirsch of Malibu, and Jacob Biegel of Woodland Hills, and a recently born great grandchild, Ava Almada. The family wishes to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and love provided to Papa Lou this past year by the two women who helped look after him, Mary Teresa Bravo and Berta Rios. A funeral mass for Mr. Almada will be celebrated at 8:30 A.M. on Saturday, September 24th at the San Carlos Cathedral in Monterey. Burial will take place at a family plot in Glendora, California. The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, any contributions in memory of Mr. Almada be made to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, c/o the American Red Cross. Mr. Almada had one final wish: To be known as "The Noblest Roman of Them All." That will be affixed to his headstone upon his burial.