1951 Caribbean Series

Summary

The third edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1951. The Series inauguration on February 21 was delayed due to heavy rain and it was held from February 22 through February 26, including two double-headers on February 25, featuring the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Leones del Habana; Panama, Spur Cola Colonites; Puerto Rico, Cangrejeros de Santurce, and Venezuela, Navegantes del Magallanes. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice, and the games were played at Cervecería Caracas Stadium in Caracas, Venezuela.

1951 Caribbean Series
Tournament details
CountryVenezuela
CityCaracas
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Dates22–26 February
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsPuerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce (1st title)
Runner-upCuba Leones del Habana
Tournament statistics
MVPPuerto Rico Luis Olmo
← 1950
1952 →

Summary edit

The Puerto Rico team won the Series with a 5-1 record and was managed by George Scales. Their only defeat came from Cuba. The team was led by OF Luis Rodríguez Olmo, who was named Most Valuable Player after hitting .423 (11-for-26) with three home runs and nine RBI. Other contributions came from pitchers Pantalones Santiago (two complete-game wins), Rubén Gómez (two wins, one save), 1B George Crowe (.333, one grand slam, 7 RBI), and SS Stan Breard (.423, seven runs, 4 doubles, 8 RBI). Also in the Puerto Rican roster were Jim Gilliam (2B), Buster Clarkson (3B), Bob Thurman (OF) and Willard Brown (OF).

Managed by Mike González, Cuba finished in second place with a 4-2 mark. 1B Lorenzo Cabrera led the Series hitters with an astronomical .619 batting average (13-for-23), while the pitching staff was led by Adrián Zabala (2-0), Hoyt Wilhelm (1-1) and Bill Ayers (1 win, 1 save). Also included in the roster were Sandy Amorós (OF), Pedro Formental (OF), Bert Haas (3B), Spider Jorgensen (2B), Ed Mierkowicz (OF), Jiquí Moreno (P) and Carlos Pascual (P).

Venezuela was managed by Lázaro Salazar and finished 2-4, with both victories over Panama. The team was led by 1B René González, who hit .316 (6-for-19), including two doubles, two home runs and a Series-leading 11 RBI. Pitcher José Bracho posted a 1-0 record and a 0.71 ERA in 12⅔ IP, helping himself with the bat while hitting .500 (3-for-6) with a double, one run and four RBIs. Other significant players in the roster included Luis García (3B), Vidal López (LF), Jim Pendleton (SS), Chucho Ramos (1B) and Ken Staples (C), as well as pitchers Frank Biscan, Julio Bracho, Alex Carrasquel and Clem Labine.

Panama ended with a 1-5 mark and was managed by catcher León Kellman. The team's only victory came behind a strong pitching effort from starter Connie Johnson over the Cuban team, while 1B Archie Ware paced the offense in average (.348), hits (8) and RBI (4).

Participating teams edit

Team Manager
  Cangrejeros de Santurce   George Scales
  Leones del Habana   Mike González
  Navegantes del Magallanes   Lázaro Salazar
  Spur Cola Colonites   León Kellman

Final standings edit

Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB
1   Cangrejeros de Santurce 6 5 1 46 20 +26 .833
2   Leones del Habana 6 4 2 25 35 −10 .667 1
3   Navegantes del Magallanes (H) 6 2 4 40 34 +6 .333 3
4   Spur Cola Colonites 6 1 5 21 43 −22 .167 4
Source: CBPC
(H) Hosts

Scoreboards edit

Game 1, February 22 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 6 0 13 18 0
Cuba 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   1   9 1
WP: José Santiago (1-0)   LP: Hoyt Wilhelm (0-1)

Game 2, February 22 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Panama 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0   2 5 2
Venezuela 0 0 0 0 4 3 3 0 x 10 8 2
WP: Clem Labine (1-0)   LP: Webbo Clarke (0-1)
Home runs:
PAN: None
VEN: René González (1)

Game 3, February 23 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1   2   8 4
Panama 3 0 0 2 5 0 2 0 x 12 16 1
WP: Connie Johnson (1-0)   LP: Eddie Yuhas (0-1)
Home runs:
CUB: Gilberto Valdivia (1)
PAN: None

Game 4, February 23 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 2 8   5 3
Venezuela 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 1 2 7 11 2
WP: Roberto Vargas (1-0)   LP: Frank Biscan (0-1)   Sv: Rubén Gómez (1)
Home runs:
PUR: George Crowe (1)
VEN: René González (2)

Game 5, February 24 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Panama 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 7 3
Puerto Rico 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 8 3
WP: Rubén Gómez (1-0)   LP: Pat Scantlebury (0-1)

Game 6, February 24 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 3 9 10 0
Venezuela 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1   9 2
WP: Bill Ayers (1-0)   LP: Alex Carrasquel (0-1)
Home runs:
CUB: Pedro Formental (1)
VEN: Luis García (1)

Game 7, February 25 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4   7 0
Puerto Rico 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 10 1
WP: Adrián Zabala (1-0)   LP: Mike Clark (0-1)

Game 8, February 25 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 4 3 0 0 4 2 0 0 13 14 3
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0   2   5 2
WP: José Bracho (1-0)   LP: Gentry Jessup (0-1)
Home runs:
VEN: Eddie Knoblauch (1)
PAN: None
Notes: Bracho hurled a complete game and went 3-for-5 with a double, driving in four runs while scoring one more.

Game 9, February 25 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 0
Cuba 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 x 2 7 2
WP: Hoyt Wilhelm (1-1)   LP: Connie Johnson (1-1)
Home runs:
PAN: None
CUB: Spider Jorgensen (1)

Game 10, February 25 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 2
Puerto Rico 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 1 x 6 9 0
WP: José Santiago (2-0)   LP: Clem Labine (1-1)

Game 11, February 26 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 3 0 2 3 0 4 0 x x 12 8 0
Panama 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 x x   1 6 2
WP: Rubén Gómez (2-0)   LP: Webbo Clarke (0-2)
Home runs:
PUR: None
PAN: Luis Rodríguez Olmo 2 (3), Buster Clarkson (1), Willard Brown (1)

Game 12, February 26 edit

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 x x 5 6 1
Cuba 3 0 0 0 1 3 x x x 7 9 0
WP: Adrián Zabala (2-0)   LP: José Bracho (1-1)   Sv: Bill Ayers (1)

Statistics leaders edit

Statistic Player Team Total
Batting average   Lorenzo Cabrera   Leones del Habana .615
Home runs   Luis Olmo   Cangrejeros de Santurce 3
Runs batted in   René González   Navegantes del Magallanes 11
Runs   Stan Breard   Cangrejeros de Santurce 8
Hits   Lorenzo Cabrera   Leones del Habana 13
Doubles   Stan Breard   Cangrejeros de Santurce 4
Triples   Sandy Amorós   Leones del Habana 1
  Jim Gilliam   Cangrejeros de Santurce
  Bob Thurman   Cangrejeros de Santurce
Stolen bases   Charles Douglas   Spur Cola Colonites 3
Wins   Rubén Gómez   Cangrejeros de Santurce 2
  José Santiago   Cangrejeros de Santurce
  Adrián Zabala   Leones del Habana

Awards edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Posiciones de los Equipos". seriedelcaribe.net (in Spanish). Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Anuario oficial Serie Del Caribe 2022" (in Spanish). Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. p. 26. Retrieved 28 December 2022. {{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)