John H. Merida (May 1879 – May 13, 1911), nicknamed "Snowball", was an American Negro league catcher and second baseman between 1907 and 1911.
| John Merida | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: May 1879 Spiceland, Indiana | |
| Died: May 13, 1911 Kansas City, Missouri | |
Threw: Right | |
| Negro league baseball debut | |
| 1907, for the Indianapolis ABCs | |
| Last appearance | |
| 1911, for the Kansas City Royal Giants | |
| Teams | |
|
A native of Spiceland, Indiana, Merida suited up for the Spiceland Academy (a local high school) until 1903. He was the only African American on the team during his tenure. He played semiprofessionally around East Central Indiana through 1906 (even catching former major leaguer Jot Goar on multiple occasions). A lone exception during this time was a stint Merida spent playing for Black baseball legend Bud Fowler's Cincinnati Black Tourists in 1905.
He made his Negro leagues debut in 1907 with the Indianapolis ABCs. He played three seasons with the ABCs. He was named captain and on-field manager for the ABCs during their 1908 season.
After a stint with the Minneapolis Keystones in 1910, Merida finished his career in 1911 with the Kansas City Royal Giants.[1][2][3] Merida died of spinal meningitis[4] in Kansas City, Missouri in 1911 at age 32.
References
edit- ^ "John Merida". seamheads.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
- ^ "John Merida". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
- ^ Darrel Radford (February 13, 2021). "Historically Speaking: Remembering a Spiceland star". The Courier-Times. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ Missouri State Archives (1 Aug 2024). "Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1973" (PDF).
External links
edit- Negro league baseball statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Negro leagues) and Seamheads
.jpg){kind=small} | This Negro league baseball biography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |