1953 Caribbean Series

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The V edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1953. It was held from February 20 through February 25 with the champions teams from Cuba (Habana) Panama (Chesterfield) Puerto Rico (Santurce) and Venezuela (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.

[edit] Summary

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 Miguel Ángel 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 and P Adrián Zabala, 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). 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 Chico Carrasquel (SS), Lenny Yochim (P) and Pompeyo Davalillo (3B).

Final standings
	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB
	Puerto Rico	6	0	1.000	–
	Cuba	3	3	.500	3.0
	Panama	2	4	.333	4.0
	Venezuela	1	5	.167	5.0

[edit] Scoreboards

[edit] Game 1, February 20

WP: Rubén Gómez (1-0)  LP: Hisel Patrick (0-1)  
HRs:  PRI – Víctor Pellot (1), Rubén Gómez (1)
* Game was called after seven innings due to time limit.

[edit] Game 2, February 20

WP: Carlos Pascual (1-0)  LP: Lenny Yochim (0-1)  

[edit] Game 3, February 21

WP: Bobo Holloman (1-0)  LP: Dick Starr (0-1)  SV: Cot Deal (1)  
HRs:  PRI – Willard Brown (1), Jim Gilliam (1)  VEN – Dalmiro Finol (1)

[edit] Game 4, February 21

WP: Mario Picone (1-0)  LP: Pat Scantlebury (0-1)  
HRs:  CUB – Lou Klein (1)

[edit] Game 5, February 22

WP: Charlie Bishop (1-0)  LP: Peter Nicolis (0-1)  

[edit] Game 6, February 22

WP: Cot Deal (1-0)  LP: Carlos Pascual (1-1)  
HRs:  CUB – Bert Haas (1)  PRI – Willard Brown (2)

[edit] Game 7, February 23

WP: Cot Deal (2-0)  LP: Alberto Osorio (0-1)  

[edit] Game 8, February 23

WP: Bob Alexander (1-0)  LP: Lenny Yochim (0-2)  

[edit] Game 9, February 24

WP: Bobo Holloman (2-0)  LP: Jehosie Heard (0-1)  
HRs:  PRI – Willard Brown (3), Joe Montalvo (1)

[edit] Game 10, February 24

WP: Humberto Robinson (1-0)  LP: Carlos Pascual (1-2)  SV: Pat Scantlebury (1)  
HRs:  PAN – Bobby Prescott (1)

[edit] Game 11, February 25

WP: Pat Scantlebury (1-1)  LP: José Bracho (0-1)  
HRs:  PAN – Arthur Peeples (1)

[edit] Game 12, February 25

WP: Roberto Vargas (0-1)  LP: Jocko Thompson (0-1)  
HRs:  PRI – Jim Gilliam (2), Willard Brown (4)

[edit] See also

• Ballplayers who have played in the Series

[edit] Sources

• 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.

[edit] External links

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