Simón Valdés

Simón Valdés

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Born ~1879 in Cuba

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Biographical Information

Simón Valdés played in Cuba and against top black competition in the US.

He debuted in the Cuban Winter League in 1900, hitting .300/.386/.300 for a 161 OPS+ for Cubano. Had he qualified, he would've been 4th in average. He was 0 for 4 against MLB players visiting Cuba that winter. He fell to .172/.274/.172 and fielded .784 at short in 1901. His 22 errors were third in the loop behind Luis Bustamante and Bernardo Carrillo.

Moving to Almendares for the 1901-1902 season, he batted .154/.333/.154 and fielded .939 as their main second sacker. He followed with a .179/.207/.179 campaign then moved to Habana for 1903-1904, forming a double play combo with another Valdés, Rogelio Valdés. He hit .194/.205/.194 there and fielded .862 at 2B. He split time with Valentín Gonzaléz in 1904-1905 and had a .189/.214/.211 batting line. He was 4-for-11 against visiting top black teams that winter.

When the All-Cubans played top black teams in the US in 1905, he hit .217/.250/.261 as their main second baseman. In 1905-1906, he hit .179/.179/.231; his four doubles were one shy of leader Julián Castillo. He again hit well against visiting black teams, going 6-for-17. In the US in 1906, he batted .231/.310/.346 for the Cuban X-Giants.

In the winter of 1906-1907, he hit .189/.250/.216, backing up Charlie Grant at 2B for Club Fé; Americans were beginning to play regularly in the CWL, cutting into time for less notable Cubans. He was 4-for-24 for Almendares against the Cuban X-Giants when they visited Cuba in late 1907. He eked out a .115/.156/.131 line for Fé in 1907-1908 then was with Habana versus visiting black teams, batting .214/.290/.214. Backing up Nate Harris in the winter of 1908-1909, he hit only .121/.134/.136; while this was the Deadball Era, his OPS+ was still only 5. He was 2-for-24 the next winter. That ended his CWL career. He was with the Cuban Stars of Havana in the US in 1911, hitting .216/.256/.270 as their main option at second.

Including the lesser Cuban summer leagues, he had batted .191/.242/.209 for a 61 OPS+ for his career, fielding .863 at 2B and .784 at SS.

Source: Seamheads