1953 Caribbean Series

1953 Caribbean Series
Tournament details
CountryCuba
CityHavana
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Dates20–25 February
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsPuerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce (2nd title)
Runner-upCuba Leones del Habana
Tournament statistics
MVPUnited States Willard Brown
← 1952
1954 →

The fifth 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

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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.

Participating teams

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Team Manager
Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce United States Buster Clarkson
Panama Chesterfield Smokers United States Stanford Graham
Venezuela Leones del Caracas Cuba Martín Dihigo
Cuba Leones del Habana Cuba Mike González

Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L RF RA RD PCT GB
1 Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 6 6 0 50 23 +27 1.000
2 Cuba Leones del Habana (H) 6 3 3 33 26 +7 .500 3
3 Panama Chesterfield Smokers 6 2 4 18 39 −21 .333 4
4 Venezuela Leones del Caracas 6 1 5 22 35 −13 .167 5
Source: CBPC
(H) Hosts

Scoreboards

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Game 1, February 20

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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

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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

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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

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cuba 1 0 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Statistics leaders

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Statistic Player Team Total
Batting average Cuba Pedro Formental Cuba Leones del Habana .560
Home runs United States Willard Brown Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 4
Runs batted in United States Willard Brown Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 13
Runs United States Willard Brown Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 8
Hits Cuba Pedro Formental Cuba Leones del Habana 14
Doubles United States Willard Brown Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 3
Triples Cuba Pedro Formental Cuba Leones del Habana 2
Stolen bases Ten tied 1
Wins United States Bobo Holloman Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 2
Earned run average United States Charlie Bishop Venezuela Leones del Caracas 0.00
Strikeouts Panama Pat Scantlebury Panama Chesterfield Smokers 11
Saves United States Cot Deal Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 1
Panama Pat Scantlebury Panama Chesterfield Smokers
Innings pitched United States Bobo Holloman Puerto Rico Cangrejeros de Santurce 17.0

Awards

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Posiciones de los Equipos". seriedelcaribe.net (in Spanish). Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Anuario oficial Serie Del Caribe 2022" (in Spanish). Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe. p. 26. Retrieved 13 June 2023. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

Sources

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  • 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.
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