Juan Armenteros

Juan Francis Armenteros

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Born June 24, 1928 in Havana Cuba
• Died October 8, 2003 in Miami, FL USA

BR Minors page

Juan Armenteros played in the Negro Leagues, minor leagues and Cuban Winter League.

Armenteros debuted with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1953, while the Negro Leagues were dying. In the 1953 East-West Game, he backed up veteran Pepper Bassett as the West catcher and went 0 for 1 in a 5-1 win. He was the little-used third-stringer catcher for Almendares in Cuba in both 1953-1954 (2 for 7; Ray Orteig was the starter) and 1954-1955 (0 for 2; Gus Triandos started). Those were his only seasons in Cuba's top loop.

Signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, he hit .313 with 33 doubles, 17 homers and a .537 slugging for the 1956 El Paso Texans in the high-offense Southwestern League. In 1957, he put up a .251/.334/.387 line for the Winnipeg Goldeyes and his .989 fielding percentage led Northern League backstops. After playing for a team with Gold in its name in '57, he kept up the color trends with the 1958 Winston-Salem Red Birds (.263/?/.423 in 66 G) and York White Roses (20 for 80, 4 2B, HR) to end his career.

After baseball, Juan worked in the roofing and siding business.

Sources

• Baseball in Living Color
• NLBPA
• Black Baseball's National Showcase by Larry Lester
• 1958 Baseball Guide