Rafael D. Almeida was a Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 third baseman

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 from 1911 to 1913 with the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

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Almeida and Armando Marsans

Armando Marsans

Armando Marsans was a Major League Baseball outfielder from 1911 to 1918. He played in three different major leagues in his career: with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League , with the St. Louis Terriers in the Federal League , and with the St...

 debuted together with the Reds on July 4, 1911. They are sometimes named the first major league players born in Cuba, which is disputable because Cuban-born Steve Bellán

Steve Bellán

Estevan Enrique "Steve" Bellán , also known as Esteban, was a Cuban professional baseball player who played as a third baseman for six seasons in the United States , three in the National Association of Base Ball Players from 1868 to , and three in the National Association of Professional Base...

 played from 1871 to 1873 in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players

The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...

 (NA), a league whose status as a major league is disputed.

Six years before Cincinnati, Almeida and Marsans both played "Negro baseball" in the United States as 1905 members of the integrated All Cubans

All Cubans

The All Cubans were a team of Cuban professional baseball players that toured the United States during 1899 and 1902-05, playing against white semiprofessional and Negro league teams. The team was the first Latin American professional baseball team to tour the United States...

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Almeida played winter baseball in the Cuban League

Cuban League

The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside of the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961...

 from 1904 to 1925 and was one of ten players elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame

Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame

The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honors eminent baseball players from the pre-revolution Cuban League. Established in 1939, by 1961 it had honored 68 players whose names are shown on a marble plaque at Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano...

in its 1939 inaugural class.