1944 Amateur World Series

1944 Amateur World Series
Tournament details
Host country  Venezuela
Dates 12 October 18 November
Teams 8 (from 2 continents)
Venue 1 (in 1 host city)
Defending champions  Cuba (1943)
Final positions
Champions
 Venezuela (2nd title)
Runner-up
 Mexico
Third place
 Cuba
Fourth place  Panama
Tournament statistics
Games played 40*
1943
1945

The 1944 Amateur World Series was the seventh Amateur World Series, presently known as the Baseball World Cup. It was contested by four different teams playing twelve games each from September 25 through October 19 in Caracas, Venezuela, who won a controversial second title.

Controversy surrounded the tournament with umpiring decisions. The Dominican Republic led Venezuela going into the 9th. In the top of the inning, Venezuela rallied to take the lead. In the bottom of the inning, the umpire called the game early due to bad light, reverting the 9th inning and making the Dominican Republic the winner.

More controversial umpiring played a role in a CubaVenezuela game in the final phase of the event. After a Venezuelan errored the ball during a close play at first, a photographer came over and threw the ball to one of the Venezuelan players, which led to an out. The Cuban manager protested the call and was told by the umpires that photographers were allowed to intervene in play. Due to this, Cuba withdrew from the Cup and their remaining game was forfeited; they were credited with a third-place finish nonetheless.

Cuba's withdrawal was closely followed by that of Mexico, who also withdrew from the tournament after more controversial umpiring decisions in favour of Venezuela, forfeiting the final round and finishing second.

Standings

First round

Team W L
 Mexico 6 1
 Panama 5 2
 Venezuela 5 2
 Cuba 4 3
 Dominican Republic   4 3
 Colombia 2 5
 Puerto Rico 1 6
 Nicaragua 1 6

Second round

Team W L
 Cuba 2 1
 Mexico 2 1
 Venezuela   2 1
 Panama 0 3

Final round

Team W L
 Venezuela *  2 0
 Mexico 0 2

 * Venezuela won by forfeit.

Statistics

Individual leaders
PlayerClub Statistic
Leonard Roberts PAN Batting average .478
Guillermo Vento VEN Runs    14
Antonio Briñez VEN Hits      7
J. Diaz
Adolfredo González
B. López
MEX
VEN
MEX
Home runs      2
Dalmiro Finol VEN RBI    15
José Araujo VEN Stolen bases      4
F. Alcaraz
Luis Castro
Luis Zuloaga
MEX
DOM
VEN
Wins      3
Julio Moreno CUB Strikeouts    23
Luis Zuloaga VEN ERA 0.94

References