1953 Caribbean Series

Summary

The fifth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1953. It was held from February 20 through February 25, featuring the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Leones de la Habana; Panama, Chesterfield Smokers; Puerto Rico, Cangrejeros de Santurce, and Venezuela, Leones del Caracas. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio del Cerro in Havana, the Cuban capital.

1953 Caribbean Series
Tournament details
CountryCuba
CityHavana
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Dates20–25 February
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsPuerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce (2nd title)
Runner-upCuba Leones del Habana
Tournament statistics
MVPUnited States Willard Brown
← 1952
1954 →

Summary edit

Puerto Rico finished undefeated and won the title by going 6-0, outscoring their opponents 50 to 23. The Santurce club, who hit a collective .367 batting average and committed only two errors, was led by right fielder and Series MVP Willard Brown, who enjoyed one of the most productive offensive in tournament's history. Brown led the hitters in home runs (4), RBI (13), runs (8), doubles (3) and SLG (1,042), while hitting .417 (10-for-24). The pitching staff was anchored by Bobo Holloman (2-0), Cot Deal (2-0, one save) and Rubén Gómez (1-0, one save). In addition to Brown, shortstop/manager Buster Clarkson (.467 BA), 2B Jim Gilliam (.545, two HR), RF Bob Thurman (.474, .684 SLG) and 3B Víctor Pellot Power (.385, one HR) also contributed to the attack. Other players for Puerto Rico included CF Luis (Canena) Márquez, P José (Pantalones) Santiago and catchers Joe Montalvo and Valmy Thomas.

The Cuban team, who many considered a favorite before the start of the event, wasted home-field advantage and a solid lineup managed by Mike González to end in second place with a 3-3 record. The Habana team was led by RF Pedro Formental, who posted a .560 mark to clinch the batting title. Other contributions came from 1B Bert Haas (.360, two HR, .600 SLG) and 3B Lou Klein (.316, one HR, .579 SLG). Pitchers Bob Alexander and Mario Picone collected wins, while Carlos (Patato) Pascual dropped two of three decisions. Cuba included LF Sandy Amorós, 2B Spider Jorgensen, CF Bob Usher, P Adrián Zabala, and catchers Andrés Fleitas and Dick Rand, between others.

Panama was managed by Stanford Graham and finished 2-4 in third place. The Panamanian squad got fine work of CF Nat Peeples (.400, .733 SLG), as well as pitchers Humberto Robinson (1-0) and Pat Scantlebury (1-1, 11 strikeouts in three games). The team also featured players as IFs Frank Austin and Joe Tuminelli, C León Kellman, and OFs Bobby Prescott and Dave Roberts. Collectively, Chesterfield scored the fewest runs (18) and committed the most errors (10) in the Series.

Venezuela, with Martín Dihigo at the helm, finished in last place with a 1-5 record. The Caracas lone victory came from Charlie Bishop, who pitched a one-hit shutout in Game 5. Among others were Ps Jay Heard, Dick Starr, Lenny Yochim and Luis Zuloaga; C Guillermo Vento; IFs Chico Carrasquel, Pompeyo Davalillo, Piper Davis and Hank Schenz, as well as OFs Dalmiro Finol, Lloyd Gearhart, Milt Nielsen and Gale Wade.

Participating teams edit

Team Manager
  Cangrejeros de Santurce   Buster Clarkson
  Chesterfield Smokers   Stanford Graham
  Leones del Caracas   Martín Dihigo
  Leones del Habana   Mike González

Final standings edit

Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB
1   Cangrejeros de Santurce 6 6 0 50 23 +27 1.000
2   Leones del Habana (H) 6 3 3 33 26 +7 .500 3
3   Chesterfield Smokers 6 2 4 18 39 −21 .333 4
4   Leones del Caracas 6 1 5 22 35 −13 .167 5
Source: CBPC
(H) Hosts

Scoreboards edit

Game 1, February 20 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Panama 0 1 0 1 0 2 2   6   7 0
Puerto Rico 1 4 3 4 3 0 0 15 14 0
WP: Rubén Gómez (1-0)   LP: Hisel Patrick (0-1)
Home runs:
PAN: None
PUR: Victor Pellot (1), Rubén Gómez (1)
* Game was called after seven innings due to time limit.

Game 2, February 20 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 1 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0   7   1
Cuba 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 X 10 12 2
WP: Carlos Pascual (1-0)   LP: Lenny Yochim (0-1)

Game 3, February 21 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 2 0 1 4 0 0 0 7 13 0
Venezuela 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 12 1
WP: Bobo Holloman (1-0)   LP: Dick Starr (0-1)   Sv: Cot Deal (1)
Home runs:
PUR: Willard Brown (1), Jim Gilliam (1)
VEN: Dalmiro Finol (1)

Game 4, February 21 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 6 10 1
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1   7 1
WP: Mario Picone (1-0)   LP: Pat Scantlebury (0-1)
Home runs:
CUB: Lou Klein (1)
Panama: None

Game 5, February 22 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 5 0
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
WP: Charlie Bishop (1-0)   LP: Peter Nicolis (0-1)

Game 6, February 22 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 5 13 0
Puerto Rico 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 12 0
WP: Cot Deal (1-0)   LP: Carlos Pascual (1-1)
Home runs:
CUB: Bert Haas (1)
PUR: Willard Brown (2)

Game 7, February 23 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 1 6 13 2
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 14 1
WP: Cot Deal (2-0)   LP: Alberto Osorio (0-1)

Game 8, February 23 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 6 14 0
Venezuela 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 4   5 1
WP: Bob Alexander (1-0)   LP: Lenny Yochim (0-2)

Game 9, February 24 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2   6 2
Puerto Rico 2 1 0 4 0 2 0 0 X 9 13 0
WP: Bobo Holloman (2-0)   LP: Jehosie Heard (0-1)
Home runs:
VEN: None
PUR: Willard Brown (3), Joe Montalvo (1)

Game 10, February 24 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Panama 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 5 10 0
Cuba 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 11 0
WP: Humberto Robinson (1-0)   LP: Carlos Pascual (1-2)   Sv: Pat Scantlebury (1)
Home runs:
PAN: Bobby Prescott (1)
CUB: None

Game 11, February 25 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Panama 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 0
Venezuela 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1
WP: Pat Scantlebury (1-1)   LP: José Bracho (0-1)
Home runs:
PAN: Arthur Peeples (1)
VEN: None

Game 12, February 25 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 16 0
Cuba 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 X 3   9 0
WP: Roberto Vargas (0-1)   LP: Jocko Thompson (0-1)
Home runs:
PUR: Jim Gilliam (2), Willard Brown (4)
CUB: None

Statistics leaders edit

Statistic Player Team Total
Batting average   Pedro Formental   Leones del Habana .560
Home runs   Willard Brown   Cangrejeros de Santurce 4
Runs batted in   Willard Brown   Cangrejeros de Santurce 13
Runs   Willard Brown   Cangrejeros de Santurce 8
Hits   Pedro Formental   Leones del Habana 14
Doubles   Willard Brown   Cangrejeros de Santurce 3
Triples   Pedro Formental   Leones del Habana 2
Stolen bases Ten tied 1
Wins   Bobo Holloman   Cangrejeros de Santurce 2
Earned run average   Charlie Bishop   Leones del Caracas 0.00
Strikeouts   Pat Scantlebury   Chesterfield Smokers 11
Saves   Cot Deal   Cangrejeros de Santurce 1
  Pat Scantlebury   Chesterfield Smokers
Innings pitched   Bobo Holloman   Cangrejeros de Santurce 17.0

Awards edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Posiciones de los Equipos". seriedelcaribe.net (in Spanish). Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Anuario oficial Serie Del Caribe 2022" (in Spanish). Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. p. 26. Retrieved 13 June 2023. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

Sources edit

  • Antero Núñez, José. Series del Caribe. Jefferson, Caracas, Venezuela: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987.
  • Gutiérrez, Daniel. Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela – 1895-2006 . Caracas, Venezuela: Impresión Arte, C.A., 2007.

External links edit

  • Official site
  • Latino Baseball
  • Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish)