| Leo Posada | |
|---|---|
 Posada in 1961 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born:(1934-04-01)April 1, 1934 Havana,Cuba | |
| Died: June 23, 2022(2022-06-23) (aged 88) Miami, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 21, 1960, for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 20, 1962, for the Kansas City Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .256 |
| Home runs | 8 |
| Runs batted in | 58 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Leopoldo Jesús Posada Hernández (April 1, 1934 – June 23, 2022) was a Cuban baseball player. He played for theKansas City Athletics ofMajor League Baseball from 1960 through 1962. After his retirement as a player, Posada served as amanager inMinor League Baseball.
Posada was born on April 1, 1934, inHavana, Cuba. He was not, as is commonly believed,Jorge Posada's uncle. They were at most distant kin (Leo had just one sister; Jorge Posada Sr. was not his brother).[1]
He attended high school in Havana, and played baseball and volleyball.[2] Posada was acyclist before beginning hisprofessional baseball career. He was a national champion and represented Cuba incycling at the 1951 Pan American Games and the1954 Central American and Caribbean Games.[2][3][4]
Posada was signed as an amateur free agent by theMilwaukee Braves ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) in 1954.[3] He began the 1954 season with theOdessa Oilers of theClass CLonghorn League[5] and also played for theLake Charles Lakers of the Class CEvangeline League. Posada played for theCorpus Christi Clippers of theClass BBig State League in 1955 and 1956.[2][6] After the 1956 season, theColumbia Gems of theClass ASouth Atlantic League selected Posada from Corpus Christi in the minor league phase of theRule 5 draft.[7] Posada started the season with Columbia and promoted to theLittle Rock Travelers of theClass AASouthern Association,[8] and then sent down to theAbilene Blue Sox of the Big State League during the season.[9] He played for theRochester A's of the Class BIllinois–Indiana–Iowa League in 1958[10] and theShreveport Sports of the Southern Association in 1959. Posada attendedspring training with theKansas City Athletics of MLB before the 1960 season, but was sent back to Shreveport for the start of the season.[11] He batted .314 with 18home runs and 122runs batted in (RBIs) for Shreveport in 1960.[12]
Posada made his MLB debut with the Athletics on September 21, 1960.[3] He played in 10 games for Kansas City in 1960, recording a .361batting average.[13] In 1961, AthleticsmanagerJoe Gordon chose to start Posada overHank Bauer in theOpening Day starting lineup.[14] Posada struggled to begin the season, batting .190, before he wasoptioned to Shreveport; Athleticsgeneral managerFrank Lane had intended to optionNorm Bass to the minor leagues, but team ownerCharlie O. Finley overruled Lane, who sent down Posada instead.[15] In 116 games for Kansas City in the 1961 season, Posada batted .253. He was returned to Shreveport for the 1962 season, but also played in 29 games for the Athletics, batting .196.[13] He played in his final MLB game on July 20, 1962. In MLB, Posada had a .256 batting average, eight home runs, and 58 RBIs in 426plate appearances, all for Kansas City.[3]
On August 3, 1962, the Athletics traded Posada,Dale Willis, andBill Kunkel along with cash considerations to theToronto Maple Leafs of theClass AAAInternational League forOrlando Peña.[16] Posada began the 1963 season with Toronto, but batted .235 for the Maple Leafs before he was optioned to theHawaii Islanders of thePacific Coast League (PCL) in May.[17] Posada played in 12 games for Hawaii, recording two hits in 14 at bats (.143), before the Islanders reassigned Posada to theSeattle Rainiers of the PCL.[18] He was released by Seattle[19] and finished the 1963 season with theSultanes de Monterrey of the Class AAMexican League.[20] He batted .267 for Monterrey. Before the 1964 season, Posada signed with theHouston Colt .45s (now theHouston Astros) of MLB, who assigned him to theSan Antonio Bullets of the Class AATexas League.[21] Posada batted .272 with 22 home runs for San Antonio.[22] Playing for theAmarillo Sonics of the Texas League in 1965, Posada was named to the league'sall-star game[23] and he won theTexas League Player of the Year Award.[24] Posada led the league with 26 home runs, 107 RBIs, and 266total bases.[25] He returned to Amarillo in 1966 and batted .317. Posada served as aplayer-coach for theOklahoma City 89ers of the PCL in 1967.[26][27]
In 1968, the Astros announced thatTony Pacheco would manage theCocoa Astros of the Class AFlorida State League (FSL) from April until June, at which point Pacheco would become the manager of theCovington Astros, in the short-seasonGulf Coast League, and Posada would take over as Cocoa's manager. Posada was aplayer-manager for Cocoa.[28][29] He batted .284 in 148 at bats for Cocoa in 1968 and returned to manage Cocoa in 1969.[30] He played in nine games for Cocoa in the 1969 season, the final season in which he appeared as a player.[13] He then served as ascout for the Astros.[31] Posada became the manager of theCedar Rapids Astros of theMidwest League for the 1973 season.[13]
After the 1974 season, executivesTal Smith andPat Gillick left the Astros for theNew York Yankees organization. In1975, Posada served as manager of theFort Lauderdale Yankees of the FSL.[31] He returned to the Astros organization as the manager of theColumbus Astros in 1976 and 1977 and theDaytona Beach Astros in 1978.[32] In 1979, he joined theLos Angeles Dodgers organization as their minor league hitting instructor.[33] Posada continued to work as ahitting coach for the Dodgers organization,[34] and he provided instruction toRaúl Mondesí.[35] He also served as a manager for theÁguilas del Zulia andCardenales de Lara of theVenezuelan Professional Baseball League and for theTigres del Licey of theDominican Professional Baseball League.[3]
Posada's father, mother, and sister left Cuba for the United States after theCuban Revolution.[36]
Posada settled inMiami,Florida, and he owned a bicycle store.[31] Posada died on June 23, 2022, in Miami, frompancreatic cancer.[3][37]