Freddie Velázquez

Freddie Velázquez
Catcher
Born: December 6, 1937 (1937-12-06) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 20, 1969 for the Seattle Pilots
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1973 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Batting average	.256
Home runs	0
Runs batted in	5
Teams
Seattle Pilots (1969) Atlanta Braves (1973)

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Velázquez and the second or maternal family name is Velásquez.

Federico Antonio Velázquez Velásquez (born December 6, 1937 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Seattle Pilots (1969) and Atlanta Braves (1973).

He was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent in 1958. On December 2, 1968, Velázquez was drafted by the Pilots from the San Diego Padres in the 1968 Rule 5 draft.

Velázquez played in a total of 21 major league games, and was a starter in 8 of his 16 appearances as a catcher. Defensively, he handled 66 out of 67 chances successfully for a fielding percentage of .985. At the plate, he was 10-for-39 (.256) with 5 runs batted in.

In addition, he was immortalized in the book Ball Four (see quote below).

Quote

• "Gary (Bell) has come up with a good nickname for Freddie Velázquez. Freddie just sits there in the bullpen, warming up pitchers, and he never gets into a game and just looks sad. So Gary calls him Poor Devil." -- Jim Bouton in Ball Four (May 1, 1969)

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Retrosheet