Martin Dihigo

In the history of baseball, only one player has been - or will likely ever be - inducted into all of the following baseball Hall of Fames: the National Baseball Hall of Fame (in Cooperstown), the Salon de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de Mexico (Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame), and the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame.
(Wikipedia lists him as also inducted into Venezuelan and Dominican Republic Halls, but I could not confirm this information - but I did locate him within the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and read that he is featured within the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum) .
Dihigo grew up playing baseball in pre-Castro Cuba. He first became a professional player in the U.S. with the Cuban Stars in 1923 and played in the Negro Leagues through 1936. He continued returning home to play winter baseball in Cuba throughout his career, and also played in winter leagues in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. It is obvious from the range of places and positions he played that he must have had a true love for the game.
Wikipedia stats: 218 wins - 106 losses, .302 career batting average overall, Negro Leagues; .307 average, .511 slugging percentage, 61 doubles, 17 triples, 64 home runs, 227 RBIs, and 41 stolen bases in 1404 AB & 26 wins Â19 losses, 2.92 ERA,176 strikeouts and 80 walks in 354 innings pitched.
MLB profile: "hit higher than .300 in at least 11 seasons and tacked on a .400 clip in at least three more", "league in home runs in 1926 and tied for the lead in 1927", "won a batting title in 1935-36, hitting .358, playing a different position on days he didn't pitch", & "same records show Dihigo throwing no-hitters in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico".
National Baseball Hall of Fame lists this phenomenal stat: "Playing in the Mexican League in 1938, he went 18-2 and led the league with a 0.90 ERA, while also winning the batting crown with a .387 mark."
It also quotes Negro League legend Buck Leonard as saying "He was the greatest all-around player I know. I say he was the best player of all-time, black or white. He could do it all." This is even more impressive given that Leonard played with Josh Gibson and saw Babe Ruth play.
NLBPA (Negro League Baseball Players Association) quotes Hall of Fame MLB player Johnny Mize: "He was the only guy I ever saw, who could play all nine positions, manage, run and switch-hit."
All sources indicate Dihigo played all nine positions and played them all very well. I played all nine positions in a Babe Ruth League game one time, but could not imagine the skill to be able to come close to that on a professional level. I know it's been done within a game four times im MLB (Bert Campaneris for the A's on September 8, 1965, Cesar Tovar for the Twins on September 22, 1968, Scott Sheldon for the Rangers on September 6, 2000, & Shane Halter for the Tigers on October 1, 2000) and usually the flexibility is applied as a gimmick rather than a reflection of talent (none of the four aforementioned players pitched on a regular or even semi-regular basis). Dihigo appears to have had great talent for the sport in every regard. It's amazing to me that I had not heard of him before last week.
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