José Valdivielso, a Cuban-born infielder who later worked as a Spanish-language radio analyst in broadcast booths of the New York Yankees and Mets, died Tuesday. He was 90.RIP. A phenomenal human being. Last time we connected was at a charity function in 2019. In 1977, Martín Dihigo was inducted posthumously into the Baseball HOF. José was present and accepted the plaque on behalf of this Cuban, baseball legend.

During his five major league seasons (1955-61) with the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins, Valdivielso became a favorite of longtime Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard.

After his playing career ended, Valdivielso would settle down in New York and become a familiar voice to Yankees fans himself.

After working as an analyst on the Yankees’ Spanish-language radio broadcasts with play-by-play man Buck Canel on WADO, he joined the Mets’ Spanish-language radio broadcast team in 1974.

Canel became the first Spanish-language broadcaster to gain recognition from the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 1985.

Valdivielso was so prominent among the Cuban baseball fraternity that he accepted a plaque on behalf of famed Negro Leaguer Martin Dihigo, when the Cuban two-way star induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

Valdivielso joined the MLB Players Alumni Association’s Board of Directors in 1999 and served on the Board for decades. He was granted the lifetime title of MLBPAA Board Member Emeritus status in Jan. 2020.

Never much of a hitter, Valdivielso finished his major league career with a .219 average, but he managed to collect a single MVP vote as a rookie thanks to his strong glovework at shortstop.

Valdivielso was famous for being part of the only triple play in MLB history featuring entirely Cuban-born players, on July 23, 1960, along with Senators teammates Julio Becquer and Pedro Ramos.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton will return to New York for a third round of platelet-rich plasma injections in his ailing elbows on Monday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters.

Stanton was back at the Yankees’ spring training complex on Friday. Boone was quoted as saying the five-time All-Star is not likely to play in any exhibition games.

Stanton said on Feb. 17 after reporting to camp that he had not swung a bat in three or four weeks because of pain in both elbows. The Yankees said he had been in New York, where he received two rounds of PRP injections.

Stanton hit .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs while playing 114 games last year, his season interrupted by a strained left hamstring that sidelined him between June 22 and July 29. Stanton batted .273 with seven homers and 16 RBIs in the postseason.

He signed a then-record $325 million, 13-year contract with the Marlins ahead of the 2015 season and had 59 homers and 132 RBIs in 2017, winning the NL MVP award. He was acquired by the Yankees that December and hit 38 homers with 100 RBIs in his first season with New York.

He missed 266 of 708 games over the next five seasons because of a series of injuries that included strains of right biceps, right knee, left hamstring (twice) and left quadriceps along with right ankle inflammation and left Achilles tendinitis.

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