1953 Caribbean Series
The fifth edition of the Caribbean Series 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
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, RBI, runs, doubles and SLG, while hitting.417. The pitching staff was anchored by Bobo Holloman, Cot Deal and Rubén Gómez. In addition to Brown, shortstop/manager Buster Clarkson, 2B Jim Gilliam, RF Bob Thurman and 3B Víctor Pellot Power also contributed to the attack. Other players for Puerto Rico included CF Luis Márquez, P José 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 and 3B Lou Klein. Pitchers Bob Alexander and Mario Picone collected wins, while Carlos 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, as well as pitchers Humberto Robinson and Pat Scantlebury. 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 and committed the most errors 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.Final standings
Scoreboards
Game 1, February 20
Game 2, February 20
Game 4, February 21
Game 6, February 22
Game 8, February 23
Game 10, February 24
Game 11, February 25
Game 12, February 25
