1953 Caribbean Series

The V 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.

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 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.

Final standings

Country	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB	Managers
Puerto Rico	Cangrejeros de Santurce	6	0	1.000	–	Buster Clarkson
Cuba	Leones de la Habana	3	3	.500	3.0	Mike González
Panama	Chesterfield Smokers	2	4	.333	4.0	Stanford Graham
Venezuela	Leones del Caracas	1	5	.167	5.0	Martín Dihigo

Individual leaders
Player/Club	Statistic
Pedro Formental / CUB	Batting average	.560
Willard Brown / PUR	Home runs	4
Willard Brown / PUR	RBI	13
Willard Brown / PUR	Runs	8
Pedro Formental / CUB	Hits	14
Willard Brown / PUR	Doubles	3
Pedro Formental / CUB	Triples	2
Ten tied	Stolen bases	1
Bobo Holloman / PUR	Wins	2
Pat Scantlebury / PAN	Strikeouts	11
Charlie Bishop / VEN	ERA	0.00
Cot Deal / PUR Pat Scantlebury / PAN	Saves	1
Bobo Holloman / PUR	Innings pitched	17
Awards
Willard Brown / PUR	Most Valuable Player
Buster Clarkson / PUR	Manager

All-Star Team
Name/Club	Position
Joe Montalvo / PUR	catcher
Bert Haas / CUB	first baseman
Jim Gilliam / PUR	second baseman
Lou Klein / CUB	third baseman
Buster Clarkson / PUR	shortstop
Willard Brown / PUR	left fielder
Nat Peeples / PAN	center fielder
Pedro Formental / CUB	right fielder
Bobo Holloman / PUR	RH pitcher
Pat Scantlebury / PAN	LH pitcher
Buster Clarkson / PUR	manager

Scoreboards

Game 1, February 20

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

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

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cuba	1	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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

See also

• Ballplayers who have played in the Series

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.

External links

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