1959 Caribbean Series
The XI edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1959. It was held from February 10 through February 15 with the champions teams from Cuba (Almendares), Panama (Coclé), Puerto Rico (Santurce) and Venezuela (Oriente). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at UCV Stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, which boosted capacity to 35.000 seats, and the first pitch was thrown by Edgar Sanabria, by then the President of Venezuela.
Summary
Cuba won the Series with a 5-1 record for a fourth straight championship. The Almendares club won for the second time guided by manager Sungo Carrera and led by 1B Rocky Nelson (.320 BA, six RBI), LF Carlos Paula (.462), 2B Tony Taylor (.346, .462 SLG) and RF Sandy Amorós (.333). The pitching staff included starters Camilo Pascual (2-0, 16 strikeouts, 1.50 ERA, 18 innings), Orlando Peña (1-1, 17⅔ innings) Art Fowler (1-0, 1.00, nine innings) and reliever Mike Cuellar (1-0, 0.00). Other players for Cuba included pitchers Tommy Lasorda, Cholly Naranjo and Carlos Pascual in addition to Bob Allison (OF), Jim Baxes (3B), Dick Brown (C), Enrique Izquierdo (C) and Willy Miranda (SS).
Venezuela, with a low-profile team, finished an honourable second place after going 4-2. Managed by Kerby Farrell, the offense was anchored by RF/1B and Series MVP Norman Cash, who finished with a .360 BA (9-for-25), 11 RBI and a .680 SLG. Oriente also received a considerable support from 3B Luis García and LF Jesús Mora, who tied for first place in the batting race with a .417 average (10-for-24). García added six runs, three doubles and slugged .625, while Mora collected four runs and a .583 SLG. Werner Birrer was the top pitcher with a 2-0 record, including a 13-inning victory, a 1.25 ERA and 18 SO in 21⅔ innings. He also set a Series record with 13 innings pitched in a single game (#2), while Cash set a new mark with six RBI in a single game (#8). Other players included Elio Chacón (SS), Jim Owens (P), Ramón Monzant (P) and Jerry Snyder (2B).
Puerto Rico, managed by Ramón Concepción, disappointed with a 3-3 mark to finish in third place. C Valmy Thomas (.381) and 1B Orlando Cepeda (.333) led the attack, while Marion Fricano and Julio Navarro each pitched 1–0 shutouts. Santurce also featured Luis Arroyo (P), Joe Black (P), Jackie Brandt (CF), Orlando Cepeda (1B), Rubén Gómez (P), Victor Pellot Power (2B), José Pagán (3B), José Santiago (P) and Pete Wojey (P).
Panama finished in last place with a 0-6 record, to become the first winless team in Series history. The Coclé club was managed by Lester Peden and benefited from a solid effort by RF Ken Hunt, who hit .304 with five RBI, home run, triple and a .609 SLG. Other players included P Bud Black, IF Owen Friend, SS Pumpsie Green, OF Gail Henley and IF/OF Joe Tuminelli, among others.
| Final standings | |||||
| Club | W | L | W/L % | GB | |
 |
Cuba | 5 | 1 | .833 | – |
 |
Venezuela | 4 | 2 | .667 | 1.0 |
 |
Puerto Rico | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2.0 |
 |
Panama | 0 | 6 | .000 | 5.0 |
| Individual leaders | |||||
| Player/Club | Statistic | ||||
| Luis García / VEN Jesús Mora / VEN |
Batting average | .417 | |||
| Norman Cash / VEN | Home runs | 2 | |||
| Norman Cash / VEN | Runs batted in | 11 | |||
| Luis García / VEN | Runs | 6 | |||
| Luis García / VEN Jesús Mora / VEN |
Hits | 10 | |||
| Luis García / VEN | Doubles | 3 | |||
| Seven tied | Triples | 1 | |||
| Tony Taylor / CUB | Stolen bases | 3 | |||
| Werner Birrer / VEN Camilo Pascual / CUB |
Wins | 2 | |||
| Werner Birrer / VEN | Strikeouts | 18 | |||
| Werner Birrer / VEN | Earned run average | 1.25 | |||
| Ramón Monzant / VEN | Saves | 1 | |||
| Werner Birrer / VEN | Innings pitched | 21⅔ | |||
| Awards | |||||
| Norman Cash / VEN | Most Valuable Player | ||||
| Sungo Carrera / CUB | Manager | ||||
| All-Star Team | |||||
| Name/Club | Position | ||||
| Valmy Thomas / PRI | catcher | ||||
| Rocky Nelson / CUB | first baseman | ||||
| Tony Taylor / CUB | second baseman | ||||
| Luis García / VEN | third baseman | ||||
| Willy Miranda / CUB | shortstop | ||||
| Jesús Mora / VEN | left fielder | ||||
| Jackie Brandt / PRI | center fielder | ||||
| Norman Cash / VEN | right fielder | ||||
| Werner Birrer / VEN Camilo Pascual / CUB |
pitchers | ||||
| Sungo Carrera / CUB | manager | ||||
Scoreboards
Game 1, February 10
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Rubén Gómez (1-0) LP: Orlando Peña (0-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 2, February 10
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | R | H | E | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | |||||||
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 1 | |||||||
| WP: Werner Birrer (1-0) LP: Stanley Arthur Wall (0-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 3, February 11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Panama | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||||
| WP: Camilo Pascual (1-0) LP: Bud Black (0-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 4, February 11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Venezuela | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Marcelino Sánchez (1-0) LP: Pete Wojey (0-1) Home runs: PRI: Orlando Cepeda (1) VEN: Norman Cash 2 (2) |
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Game 5, February 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | |||||||||||
| WP: Marion Fricano (1-0) LP: Alberto Osorio (0-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 6, February 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| WP: Art Fowler (1-0) LP: Ramón Monzant (0-1) Home runs: CUB: Tony Taylor (1) VEN: None |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 7, February 13
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Cuba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Orlando Peña (1-0) LP: Lloyd Merritt (0-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 8, February 13
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuela | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 22 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Panama | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Dave Hoskins (1-0) LP: Richard Donnelly (0-1) Home runs: VEN: None PAN: Ken Hunt (1) |
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Game 9, February 14
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Cuba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 5 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: Mike Cuellar (1-0) LP: Pete Meza (0-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 10, February 14
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuela | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | |||||||||||
| WP: Werner Birrer (2-0) LP: Rubén Gómez (1-1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Game 11, February 15
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Cuba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | X | 8 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Camilo Pascual (2-0) LP: Jim Owens (0-1) Notes: It was the fourth win by Pascual in his Series career, surpassing the previous record of three wins set by Agapito Mayor in 1949. |
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Game 12, February 15
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||
| WP: Julio Navarro (1-0) LP: Bud Black (0-2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
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.
