Raised and educated in
California, Almada attended
Los Angeles High School and was a teammate of another future major leaguer,
Bud Bates, on that team. Almada was a fine outfielder with strength and accuracy in his throws. Basically a line-drive hitter with an outstanding speed, he was a respected
leadoff hitter for his great ability to see a significant number of pitches, being also able to successfully execute in a bunt situation at any time in the game. Almada was signed by the Boston Red Sox out of the
Pacific Coast League. He made his Major League debut with the Red Sox on September 8, 1933,
batting .344 in 14 game appearances. On October 1 of that season, Almada batted the last hit
Babe Ruth gave up as a
pitcher. Overall, he had three hits and two walks off Ruth. Almada then became an everyday player in 1935, appearing in 151 games and finishing with a .290 average and 20
stolen bases. In the 1937 midseason, Almada was traded by Boston along with the brothers
Rick and
Wes Ferrell to the Washington Senators in exchange for
Ben Chapman and
Bobo Newsom. At the time of the deal, Almada was hitting just .236, but he hit .309 the rest of the way, ending with a .296 average, 91
runs and 27
doubles. On July 25, during the first game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns, Almada scored five runs to tie a Major League record. When he added four runs in the second game, he set an 18-inning Major League record with nine runs scored in a double-header. After a poor .244 start in 1938, Almada was sent by Washington to the Browns in exchange for
All-Star outfielder
Sam West. Almada hit .342 with St. Louis, ending with .311, 101 runs, 197
hits and 29 doubles, all career-high numbers. That season, he also had a phenomenal stretch in which he had a base hit in 54-out-of-56 games from June 21 through Aug 19 (second game), meaning he fell just two hitless games short of
Joe DiMaggio's record
56-game hitting streak. But he slumped to .239 in 1939 and was sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers. With Brooklyn, he was used as a backup outfielder and
pinch-hitting specialist. He made his last Major League appearance on October 1, 1939. In a seven-season career, Almada posted a .284
batting average with 15
home runs and 197
RBI in 646 games. Almada returned to the Pacific Coast League for one season with the
Sacramento Solons in 1940. He later
managed in the
Mexican League. In 1972, he was inducted to the
Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame. ==Personal life==