1955 Caribbean Series

Tournament details
Country	Venezuela
City	Caracas
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	10–15 February
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	Cangrejeros de Santurce (3rd title)
Runner-up	Navegantes del Magallanes
Tournament statistics
MVP	Don Zimmer

The seventh edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1955. It was held from February 10 through February 15, featuring the champion baseball teams from Cuba, Alacranes de Almendares; Panama, Carta Vieja Yankees; 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 Estadio Universitario in Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, which boosted capacity to 22,690 seats, while the ceremonial 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 en route for a third straight championship. The Cangrejeros club was managed by Herman Franks and led by the dynamic 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, while Zimmer claimed Most Valuable Player honors. Puerto Rico also had veteran OF Luis Rodríguez Olmo in addition to Tite Arroyo (P) and George Crowe (1B). 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 second-best average of .462 (12-for-26) and leading the series in RBI.

The Venezuelan team finished in second place with a 4–2 record 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 extra-inning 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), 3B Luis García (6-for-21, two runs, two RBI) 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), Ramón Monzant (0–1, 3.27) and reliever Bill Kennedy (1–0), 0.00). Also in the roster were outfielders Bob Lennon (5-for-19) and Dalmiro Finol (2-for-13).

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 HRs, 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 Ps Lino Donoso, Al Lyons and Conrado Marrero; IFs Willy Miranda, Héctor Rodríguez and José Valdivielso, as well as OFs Román Mejías, Carlos Paula, Earl Rapp 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. SP 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. Other players included Milt Graff (IF), John Fitzgerald (P), Fred Marolewski (IF) and Spider Wilhelm (IF)

Participating teams

Team	Manager
Alacranes del Almendares	Bobby Bragan
Cangrejeros de Santurce	Herman Franks
Carta Vieja Yankees	Al Kubski
Navegantes del Magallanes	Lázaro Salazar

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB
1	Cangrejeros de Santurce	6	5	1	32	21	+11	.833	—
2	Navegantes del Magallanes (H)	6	4	2	30	12	+18	.667	1
3	Alacranes del Almendares	6	2	4	18	24	−6	.333	3
4	Carta Vieja Yankees	6	1	5	10	33	−23	.167	4

Scoreboards

Statistics leaders

Statistic	Player	Team	Total
Batting average	Rocky Nelson	Alacranes del Almendares	.471
Home runs	Don Zimmer	Cangrejeros de Santurce	3
Runs batted in	Willie Mays	Cangrejeros de Santurce	9
Runs	Roberto Clemente	Cangrejeros de Santurce	8
Hits	Willie Mays	Cangrejeros de Santurce	11
Doubles	Don Zimmer	Cangrejeros de Santurce	3
Triples	Pablo García	Navegantes del Magallanes	2
	George Wilson	Navegantes del Magallanes
Stolen bases	Jack Lohrke	Navegantes del Magallanes	2
Wins	Bill Greason	Cangrejeros de Santurce	2
Earned run average	José Bracho	Navegantes del Magallanes	0.69
Strikeouts	Joe Hatten	Alacranes del Almendares	12
Saves	Ray Dabek	Carta Vieja Yankees	1
Innings pitched	Emilio Cueche	Navegantes del Magallanes	18.0
	Bill Greason	Cangrejeros de Santurce

Awards

Tournament Awards[1] Award Player Team MVP Don Zimmer Cangrejeros de Santurce Best manager Herman Franks Cangrejeros de Santurce

All Star Team[2] Position Player Team First base Rocky Nelson Alacranes del Almendares Second base Jack Lohrke Navegantes del Magallanes Third base Buster Clarkson Cangrejeros de Santurce Shortstop Don Zimmer Cangrejeros de Santurce Left field Guilford Dickens Carta Vieja Yankees Center field Willie Mays Cangrejeros de Santurce Right field George Wilson Navegantes del Magallanes Catcher Harry Chiti Cangrejeros de Santurce Pitcher Bill Greason Cangrejeros de Santurce

See also

• Ballplayers who have played in the Series

References

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)