Alfredo Edmead

Francisco Alfredo Edmead (1956 – August 22, 1974) was a minor league baseball player who was killed in a freak on-field accident in 1974.[1]

Alfredo Edmead
Outfielder
Born: 1956
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Died: August 22, 1974(1974-08-22) (aged 17)
Salem, Virginia
Batted: Left Threw: Left

A native of the Dominican Republic and one of eleven children, Alfredo Edmead joined the Salem Pirates of the Carolina League as a 17-year-old in 1974. Edmead immediately showed promise, batting .314 with 61 stolen bases and seven homers in 119 games with Salem, a farm club of the MLB Pittsburgh Pirates.[2]

Edmead spoke little English, but improved quickly. "I was afraid I’d be withdrawn," he told a reporter early in the season. Salem manager John Lipon was impressed, describing Edmead as "so very smart".[3]

Death

On August 22, 1974, the Pirates were playing the Rocky Mount Phillies at Salem's Municipal Stadium. Opposing pitcher Murray Gage-Cole hit a fly ball to short right field. Edmead gave chase, while teammate, second baseman Pablo Cruz drifted back for the play. Edmead collided with Cruz—who, coincidentally, had signed Edmead to his first pro contract as a part-time scout for the Pirates—striking his head on Cruz's knee, knocking Edmead unconscious.

Phillies pitcher Jim Meerpohl related the incident in an interview in the Sporting News: "Cruz was seated on the ground, rolling up his pant leg, still very much in pain, but then we saw he had a knee brace, the old-fashioned kind with steel braces on each side. That damned steel had been like an axe to Edmead's head, with his left side of his skull from the frontal lobe across the top to the back of his skull sliced open about three-quarters of an inch and the bleeding was horrific."[4]

Edmead died an hour later from massive brain trauma and loss of blood at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem. At the age of 17, Edmead remains the youngest death of any professional baseball player in history.

See also

References
  1. "Doughty: 1974 death of Alfredo Edmead still haunts". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  2. "Alfredo Edmead Register Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  3. "ALFREDO EDMEAD – Dominican Diamond Death". 27 September 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  4. "Alfredo Edmead - BR Bullpen". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
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