[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  TRIBUTE TO VALMY THOMAS, THE VIRGIN ISLANDS ``FIRST MAJOR-LEAGUER''

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                       HON. DONNA MC CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 10, 2000

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate and pay tribute 
to my constituent, fellow Virgin Islander, the father of one of my 
Washington staff members and my friend, Valmy Thomas, on the occasion 
of his induction into the Puerto Rico Baseball Hall of Fame.
  Mr. Speaker, although Valmy Thomas was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico 
in 1925, he is a ``Crucian'' through and through. Valmy took to playing 
baseball as a youth even though the main sport of his father's 
generation was cricket. He remembers cutting his own bats in the brush 
and having to substitute a tennis ball for a baseball, because he 
wanted desperately to play ball.
  Valmy spent over seven years with the Navy, stationed in Puerto Rico, 
where he played baseball with a number of local teams. In 1950-51, he 
was Rookie of the Year with Santurce. In 1951 Valmy became another of 
the black players who went to Canada's Provincial League under a 
working agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates who owned his U.S. 
rights. He played one year for St. Jean, a Montreal suburb but even 
though he was doing well, he left the club for economic reasons, even 
though it held up his progress to the majors. He pretty much 
``voluntarily retired'' to protect his eligibility but played summers 
in the Dominican Republic from 1952 through 1954.
  Valmy's shot at the majors came courtesy of the friendly working 
relationship between New York Giants owner Horace Stonehman and Pedin 
Zorrilla. To make this happen, though, he had to go back and play the 
1955 season in St. Jean. The Giants organization was able to draft him 
from the Pirates.
  Valmy's first stop in the majors was in Minneapolis, where the frigid 
early-season weather disagreed with his Caribbean blood. When the 
Minneapolis GM told him he was jeopardizing his chances of going to the 
big leagues, he replied that he would be increasing his chance of 
catching pneumonia if he stayed. He wrangled an assignment to the 
desert climes of Albuquerque and on the strength of his .366 average 
there, the Giants wanted to call him up the fall of 1956. Because he 
didn't want to go up and sit on a cold bench, he waited until the next 
spring to go up to the majors.
  Valmy's first season with the New York Giants was his best. He also 
saw good action for the San Francisco team and the '59 Phillies who had 
obtained him in a trade. He spent most of 1960 and 1961 in the minors, 
though he did some time with the Orioles and Indians. He became the 
first black to play in Las Vegas, which was partly segregated. He is 
the only major-leaguer to play five years, each in a different city. He 
was also an innovator, wearing a light flexible chest protector inside 
his uniform even when he was at bat.
  Valmy won two more championships with the Cangrejeros in Puerto Rico 
in 1958-59 and again in 1961-62, brining his total to five before he 
wrapped up his Puerto Rican career in 1962-63. After his retirement 
from baseball, Valmy returned home to St. Croix where he served as a 
sports consultant with the Bureau of Recreation for six years, setting 
up many baseball events. These included a series between pro-am Virgin 
Islands teams and Puerto Rican Winter Leaguers, exhibition games 
between the Red Sox and Yankees in Frederiksted, St. Croix and baseball 
clinic with the likes of Hank Aaron and Lou Brock.
  Valmy also became Deputy Commissioner of the Virgin Islands 
Department of Conservation and Cultural Affairs on St. Croix where he 
oversaw all recreation programs on the island. For the past 41 years he 
has owned the United Sporting Goods Store in Christiansted, St. Croix.
  Congratulations, Valmy on your much deserved recognition. You have 
been a teacher and inspiration to many Virgin Islands youth. Your 
friends and family in your beloved Virgin Islands salutes you.

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