Former outfielder Sandy Valdespino died Sunday at the age of 84. He was a native of Cuba:

In an interview with the Society for American Baseball research, Valdespino said he went to work in an iron pipe factory in his hometown of San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba at age 9 after his father died.

“My brother worked as a shoemaker. My mother did washing. I went to school in the morning, worked in the afternoon, and played baseball after work,” he told SABR. “But I never felt bad about having to work. And my mother was always happy.”

StarTribune.com

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

He did not reach the majors until age 26, and was part of the Twins pennant winning team of 1965. He spent seven seasons in the majors, despite rather poor batting statistics. His strikeout percentage seems high for the era. He did go three for eleven with a double in the World Series, however.

He spent time in the minors with both Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat, who provide fond memories of their teammate in the article.