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 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.

Contents 1 Summary 1.1 Scoreboards 1.1.1 Game 1, February 20 1.1.2 Game 2, February 20 1.1.3 Game 3, February 21 1.1.4 Game 4, February 21 1.1.5 Game 5, February 22 1.1.6 Game 6, February 22 1.1.7 Game 7, February 23 1.1.8 Game 8, February 23 1.1.9 Game 9, February 24 1.1.10 Game 10, February 24 1.1.11 Game 11, February 25 1.1.12 Game 12, February 25 2 See also 3 Sources 4 External links

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

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

All-Star Team
Name/Club	Position
Joe Montalvo / PRI	catcher
Bert Haas / CUB	first baseman
Jim Gilliam / PRI	second baseman
Lou Klein / CUB	third baseman
Buster Clarkson / PRI	shortstop
Willard Brown / PRI	left fielder
Nat Peeples / PAN	center fielder
Pedro Formental / CUB	right fielder
Bobo Holloman / PRI	RH pitcher
Pat Scantlebury / PAN	LH pitcher
Buster Clarkson / PRI	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 PRI: 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: PRI: Willard Brown (1), Jim Gilliam (1) VEN: Dalmiro Finol (1)

Game 4, February 21

Team	1	2	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	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) PRI: 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 PRI: 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: PRI: 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)

   

Caribbean Series 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 1961 to 1969 - The Series was not held during these years following the dissolution of Cuba's professional league. 1981 - The Series was not held due to a Venezuelan player's strike.