1955 Caribbean Series

The VII edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1955. It was held from February 10 through February 15 with the champions teams from Cuba, Almendares; Panama, Carta Vieja; 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 UCV Stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, which boosted capacity to 35.000 seats, and the 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 in route for a third straight championship. The Cangrejeros club was managed by Herman Franks and led by 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, and Zimmer was selected the Series Most Valuable Player. Puerto Rico also had veteran OF Luis Rodríguez Olmo in addition to Tite Arroyo (P) and George Crowe (1B). Interestingly the fact that 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 .462 average (12-for-26) and leading the Series in RBI.

The Venezuelan team finished in second place with a 4-2 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 extrainning 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) 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) and Ramón Monzant (0-1, 3.27).

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 HR, 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 P Conrado Marrero, 3B Héctor Rodríguez, and OF Román Mejías, Carlos Paula 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. P 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. Also were in the roster Milt Graff and Spider Jorgensen (3B).