Alejandro Oms

Alejandro Oms
(Alex, El Caballero, Walla Walla, Papa)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 6", Weight 155 lb.

• Debut 1923
• Final Game 1935
• Born March 13, 1896 in Santa Clara, Villa Clara Cuba
• Died November 5, 1946 in Havana Cuba

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Biographical Information

Alejandro Oms was known as a superb defensive outfielder who could also hit very well and run the bases effectively. Behind only Cristobal Torriente, he is considered the second-greatest Cuban outfielders in the first half of the 20th century. Oms debuted in the USA with the 1917 Cuban Stars, batting just .114. Oms did not return again to play in the USA until he was 27 years old, in 1922. He hit .436 in the Cuban Winter League in 1921-22. The next year he batted .381, third in the league and joined with Champion Mesa and Oscar Charleston to form a superb outfield. In 1923, Alejandro hit .367 in the Eastern Colored League, fourth in the circuit behind three Hall-of-Famers (Biz Mackey, Pop Lloyd and Jud Wilson).

In 1923-1924, he led the CWL in average (.393), beating out 5 Hall-of-Famers. He slipped to .281 for the 1924 Cuban Stars (East). The 1924-1925 winter league season saw Oms at .324, then he batted .376 in the 1925 ECL. He was third in the Eastern Colored League with 14 homers and fifth with 18 doubles. After a .366 winter in Cuba, El Caballero batted .321 in the ECL. In the 1926-1927 Cuban Winter League, he hit .328, then in the US he posted a .287 mark. He won the Cuban Winter League batting championship again in 1927-1928 with a .432 mark and slugged .619; runner-up Agustin Bejerano was 54 points behind. Oms hit .362 for the '28 Cuban Stars (East) and was tied for fourth in the ECL with 11 doubles.

In 1929-1930, Oms won his third CWL batting title (.380) and slugged .572. He did not play in the US, being suspended by the Stars after not reporting on time. He missed the 1930-1931 Cuban Winter League season and in 1931 rejoined the eastern Cuban Stars but only hit .118 at age 37. He again led the CWL in average for the fourth and final time in 1931-1932 (.389) and also stole the most bases (14). Oms would appear a few more times in Cuba (.311 in 1935-1936 and .315 in 1937-1938) and would play again in the US in 1935 with the New York Cubans, having one last great year at age 41. He hit .396 (third in the Negro National League) with 13 doubles (second in the league). After that, Alejandro would finish his career playing in Venezuela in the 1940s.

In the Negro Leagues, Oms' career average was .330. In Cuba, he hit .351 overall. A four-tool player (his arm was not great), Alejandro had a very good baseball career altogether.

Notable Achievements

• NNL All-Star (1935)

Sources:

• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley

Related Sites

• Alejandro Oms at the SABR Bio Project