1955 Caribbean Series Explained

Tourney Name:Caribbean Series
Year:1955
City:Caracas
Country:Venezuela
Dates:10–15 February
Num Teams:4
Champion Other: Cangrejeros de Santurce
Num Championships:3
Second Other: Navegantes del Magallanes
Venues:1
Cities:1
Mvp: Don Zimmer
Prevseason:1954
Nextseason:1956

The seventh edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1955. It was held from February 10 through February 15, featuring the champion baseball teams from Cuba, Alacranes de Almendares; Panama, Carta Vieja Yankees; Puerto Rico, Cangrejeros de Santurce, and Venezuela, Navegantes del Magallanes. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio Universitario in Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, which boosted capacity to 22,690 seats, while the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Marcos Pérez Jiménez, by then the President of Venezuela.

Summary

Puerto Rico won the Series with a 5–1 record en route for a third straight championship. The Cangrejeros club was managed by Herman Franks and led by the dynamic shortstop Don Zimmer, who posted a .400 batting average (8-for-20) with a .950 slugging and led the hitters with three home runs. Santurce also received a considerable support from outfielders Willie Mays (two HR, nine RBI, six runs, 885 SLG), Roberto Clemente (one HR, .577 SLG, seven runs) and Bob Thurman (.318). Also helping out were catcher Harry Chiti (.333, one HR, .667 SLG) and third baseman Buster Clarkson (.313). Bill Greason (2–0, 2.00 ERA), Sad Sam Jones (1–0, 1.50) and Rubén Gómez (1–0) led the pitching staff, while Zimmer claimed Most Valuable Player honors. Puerto Rico also had veteran OF Luis Rodríguez Olmo in addition to Tite Arroyo (P) and George Crowe (1B). Mays, after going 0-for-13 in the Series, hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning of Game 6. Then, he went 11-for-13 in the next three games to finish with a second-best average of .462 (12-for-26) and leading the series in RBI.

The Venezuelan team finished in second place with a 4–2 record and was managed by Lázaro Salazar. Magallanes was responsible for the only defeat suffered by Santurce, 7–2 in the closing game, and previously had been beaten by Cuba 1–0 in a pitching duel and by Puerto Rico, 4–2 in an extra-inning game. It was the best performance by a Venezuelan team to that point. The offensive was led by part-time OF Pablo García, who hit .500 (6-for-12), including three runs, six RBI and a .917 SLG. Other contributions came from 2B Jack Lohrke (.348, four runs, .478 SLG), 1B Bob Skinner (.280. two HR, four RBI), RF George Wilson (.381, five RBI, .762 SLG), 3B Luis García (6-for-21, two runs, two RBI) and Chico Carrasquel (five runs, four RBI). José Bracho (2–0, 0.53 ERA) led a pitching staff that included Emilio Cueche (1–1, 2.00), Joe Margoneri (1–0, 2.00), Ramón Monzant (0–1, 3.27) and reliever Bill Kennedy (1–0), 0.00). Also in the roster were outfielders Bob Lennon (5-for-19) and Dalmiro Finol (2-for-13).

Guided by Bobby Bragan, Almendares finished 2–4 for the worst record ever by a Cuban team in the Series. A one-man offensive attack, 1B Rocky Nelson led the Series hitters with a .471 average (8-for-18) and collected a .647 SLG. Other support came from C Gus Triandos (.263, two HRs, seven RBI, .579 SLG). The starting staff was composed by Cholly Naranjo (1–0, 2.00 ERA), Joe Hatten (1–1, 3.00), Red Munger (0–1, 7.50) and Roger Bowman (0–1, 5.00). Other players for Cuba included Ps Lino Donoso, Al Lyons and Conrado Marrero; IFs Willy Miranda, Héctor Rodríguez and José Valdivielso, as well as OFs Román Mejías, Carlos Paula, Earl Rapp and Lee Walls.

For last place Panama, managed by Al Kubski, the top player was LF Guilford Dickens, who batted .364 with a .682 SLG and hit both of the team's home runs. SP Humberto Robinson (1–0, 12 SO, 1.64 ERA) recorded the only victory for Carta Vieja, while Bill Harris and Ernie Lawrence both finished 0–2. Other players included Milt Graff (IF), John Fitzgerald (P), Fred Marolewski (IF) and Spider Wilhelm (IF)

Participating teams

TeamManager
Bobby Bragan
Herman Franks
Al Kubski
Lázaro Salazar

Scoreboards

Game 12, February 15

Statistics leaders

StatisticPlayerTeamTotal
Batting average.471
Home runsalign=center 3
Runs batted inalign=center 9
Runsalign=center 8
Hits11
Doublesalign=center 3
Triplesalign=center rowspan=22
Navegantes del Magallanes
Stolen bases2
Wins2
Earned run average0.69
Strikeouts12
Savesalign=center 1
Innings pitchedalign=center rowspan=218.0
Cangrejeros de Santurce

Awards

Tournament Awards[1] ! Award ! Player ! Team
MVP Cangrejeros de Santurce
Best manager Cangrejeros de Santurce
All Star Team[2] ! Position ! Player! Team
First base Alacranes del Almendares
Second base Navegantes del Magallanes
Third base Cangrejeros de Santurce
Shortstop Cangrejeros de Santurce
Left field Carta Vieja Yankees
Center field Cangrejeros de Santurce
Right field Navegantes del Magallanes
Catcher Cangrejeros de Santurce
Pitcher Cangrejeros de Santurce

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Posiciones de los Equipos. seriedelcaribe.net. Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. 13 June 2023. es.
  2. Anuario oficial Serie Del Caribe 2022. Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. 26. 13 June 2023. es.