1941 Amateur World Series

1941 AWS poster.jpg 150px Poster commissioned by Radio Havana Cuba; IBF president Jaime Mariné is on the cover 27 September – 22 October 9 1 1 Cuba Venezuela 1930 1 Cuba Mexico 1934 Panama 36 VEN 1930 José Casanova 1940 1942 The 1941 Amateur World Series was the fourth edition of the Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation. The tournament took place, for the third consecutive time, in Cuba. It was contested by nine national teams playing eight games each from September 27 through October 22 at the Estadio La Tropical in Havana.Bjarkman Peter A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 2007 McFarland 0786428295 Venezuela won its first major international baseball title, defeating defending champions Cuba in a tie-breaker championship game. The victory is cited as the catalyst for baseball's exploding popularity in Venezuela, and the championship team was hailed as "Los Héroes del '41" ("Heroes of '41").A guide to Venezuela's baseball tradition https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/venezuela-baseball-history MLB.com 13 July 2024On the ball: 80 years of the heroes of 41 and 80 years of "Últimas Noticias https://en.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/deportes/en-la-pelota-80-anos-de-los-heroes-del-41-y-80-anos-de-ultimas-noticias/ 13 July 2024 Últimas Noticias March 29, 2021 Participants and format All teams participated in a single-match round-robin, resulting in eight games for each team. In case of a tie for best record at the end of the round-robin, a single playoff game would be held to determine the overall winner. The tournament saw the return of all of the new members that had been invited to the 1940 edition, with the exception of Hawaii. Three new national teams were added: El Salvador, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The appearance of the Panamanian and Dominican teams in particular raised the level of competition in the tournament, according to Roberto González Echevarría.Echevarria Roberto González Roberto González Echevarría The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball 1999 Oxford University Press 232–34 With the departure of Hawaii, the Amateur World Series would consist exclusively of national teams from the Americas going forward, until Italy and the Netherlands were added for the 1970 edition. Tournament summary thumb|150px|Tony Ordeñana led the tournament in runs The Cuban national team, which had won the last two tournament, was anchored by a strong pitching staff that was the best of the amateur circuit. Several of these players would go on to professional careers with Major League Baseball, including Rogelio Martínez (who went 2-0 in the tournament with a 0.00 ERA) and Julio Moreno (1-1, 1.29 ERA), who both played with the Washington Senators in the early 1950s.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martiro01.shtml Rogelio Martínez Baseball-Reference.com 21 March 2013https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morenju01.shtml Julio Moreno Baseball-Reference.com 21 March 2013 The ace of the staff was Conrado Marrero, who went 3-0 during round-robin play with a very effective 0.46 ERA, though he would suffer the loss in the playoff game. Cuba's batters included Bernardo Cuervo, who hit .400 and led the tournament with 10 runs batted in; Andrés Fleitas (.378), the brother of Senators shortstop Ángel Fleitas; Napoleón Reyes, hitting .343; Clemente González (.395), whop had the most hits in the tournament with 17; and Tony Ordeñana (.256), who led the tournament with 14 runs scored, and would also go on to play a single major league game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1943.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ordento01.shtml Tony Ordenana Baseball-Reference.com 21 March 2013 The team was managed by Joaquín Viego, of the Hershey club. thumb|200px|The "Heroes of '41" The Venezuelan team was largely made up of veterans who had played in the previous series: chief among them Héctor Benítez, who collected at least one hit in each of his nine games and led the series with three triples; José Pérez Colmenares, who drove in five runs and scored 11 times in the nine contests, and Daniel Canónico, who went 4–0 with a 1.69 ERA as the most dominant pitcher in the series. José Antonio Casanova earned the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament. Other players included outfielder Chucho Ramos (a future Cincinnati Red), Dalmiro Finol, who would hit both the first home run in Venezuelan professional baseball (1946) and the first in Caribbean Series history (1949), and Julio Bracho. Most of the players would go on to successful careers in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Another unexpectedly strong team was Mexico, piloted by Chile Gómez. Mexico's Victor Manuel Canales, who would go on to play for several years in the minor leagues, hit five doubles to lead the tournament. Guillermo Prieto led the tournament in average, going 12-for-22 at the plate and hitting .545, the highest imark to that point in Amateur World Series history.Historia de la Copa Mundial/World Cup History I-X (1938-1948) http://www.baseballdecuba.com/WCup2011/History.html Baseball de Cuba https://web.archive.org/web/20111212001843/http://www.baseballdecuba.com/WCup2011/History.html 12 December 2011 es The Dominican team was managed by the legendary Burrulote Rodríguez and included José St. Claire. Panama's León Kellman hit the only home run of the series and would go on to a career in the Negro leagues and Mexican League, while Pat Scantlebury pitched for the team and would go on to have a long Negro leagues career as well as a short stint with the Cincinnati Reds.July 2022 The United States was mostly represented by players of the Pennsylvania Athletic Club of Philadelphia, managed by Ira F. Thomas; the team included two future major leaguers, pitcher Tal Abernathy and catcher Benny Culp, who would both debut the following year with the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies, respectively.Philadelphians Carry U.S. Baseball Hopes Against 8 Nations https://www.newspapers.com/image/868099019/ 27 August 2025 The Evening Star 16 September 1941 Newspapers.comBITS About Sports https://www.newspapers.com/image/992254490/ 27 August 2025 The Reporter 16 September 1941 Newspapers.com Beryl Follet, who had previously enjoyed a brief playing career in the National Football League, also made up part of the U.S. pitching staff.Phillips with Penn A.C. on Havana Trip https://www.newspapers.com/image/528849203/ 27 August 2025 The Tribune 22 September 1941 Cuba and Venezuela finished the tournament with identical 7–1 records; Cuba's only defeat was to Venezuela, while Venezuela's only defeat was to the Dominican Republic. Though the Venezuelan federation was reportedly satisfied with being crowned co-champions with Cuba, Cuban organizers pushed for a playoff game, allowing Venezuela's squad an extra few days rest for their ace Canonico. In the tie-breaking championship game on October 22, Canonico went up against Marrero. Venezuela quickly scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, and Marrero was relieved by Pedro "Natilla" Jiménez. Canonico pitched a scoreless game until the top of the ninth, but the late Cuban rally was not enough to prevent Venezuela from winning the title. Venue Havana, CubaCuba 500 center Cuba 23.107251 -82.412918 right La Tropical Gran Stadium Cervecería Tropical Capacity: 15,000 250px Group stage main WL runs perc true complete VEN, CUB, MEX, PAN, DOM, USA, NIC, PRI, SLV Q Q B 7 1 60 11 H 7 1 56 13 6 2 48 40 5 3 34 27 5 3 39 21 2 6 34 52 2 6 17 34 1 7 19 69 1 7 21 61 VEN CUB MEX 1934 PAN DOM USA 1912 NIC 1908 PRI 1895 SLV green1 #cc9965 y FBR grey 1–4 11–1 9–0 4–2 5–4 7–0 7–0 16–0 4–1 5–2 7–2 2–4 12–1 6–0 12–1 8–2 1–11 2–5 4–1 6–4 12–8 3–2 4–3 16–6 0–9 2–7 1–4 2–1 4–1 4–1 14–2 7–2 2–4 4–2 1–2 4–6 6–3 6–0 10–4 6–0 4–5 1–12 1–4 3–6 8–12 3–2 14–2 0–9 0–7 0–6 1–4 0–6 2–3 2–3 7–4 5–1 0–7 1–12 2–14 4–10 2–14 4–7 3–4 3–1 0–16 2–8 2–7 0–6 9–0 1–5 1–3 6–16 Núñez and Méndez, p. 110 Gold medal game October 22, 1941 Estadio La Tropical in Havana, Cuba CUB CUB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 8 2 VEN VEN 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 6 0 Daniel Canónico (4–4) Conrado Marrero (3–1) Núñez and Méndez, p. 105 Final standings Final StandingsNumeritos de la Serie M. https://dloc.com/AA00022089/01372/images/8 14 July 2024 Noticias de Hoy 21 October 1941 Digital Library of the Caribbean es Pos. Position in final standings Team W Wins L Losses RS Runs scored RA Runs allowed 1 Venezuela 1930 8 1 61 2 Cuba 7 2 63 Eliminated in group stage 3 Mexico 1934 6 2 51 4Though formally tied in the standings, Panama defeated the Dominican Republic Panama 5 3 34 Dominican Republic 5 3 39 6Though formally tied in the standings, the United States defeated Nicaragua United States 1912 2 6 35 Nicaragua 1908 2 6 23 8Though formally tied in the standings, Puerto Rico defeated El Salvador Puerto Rico 1895 1 7 19 El Salvador 1 7 12 Playoffs Playoff Game Venezuela 1930 3 Cuba 1 October 22, 1941 14:30 EDT (UTC−4) Gran Stadium La Tropical in Havana, Cuba CUB CUB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 2 VEN 1930 VEN 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 6 1 Daniel Canónico (5–0) Conrado Marrero (3–1) https://dloc.com/AA00022089/01374/zoom/5 Honors and awards Statistical leaders + Batting leadersNúñez and Méndez, p. 111-12StatisticNameTotalBatting average MEX Guillermo Prieto .545Hits CUB Clemente González 17Runs CUB Mosquito Ordeñana 14Home runs PAN León Kellman 1Runs batted in CUB Bernardo Cuervo 10Stolen bases NIC 1908 Carlos Navas 6 +Pitching leadersStatisticNameTotalWins VEN 1930 Daniel Canónico 4Earned run average CUB Rogelio Martínez 0.00 CUB Pedro JiménezInnings pitched VEN 1930 Daniel Canónico 32Strikeouts USA Edward Yuengling 13 Awards Award Player Ref. Most Valuable Player VEN 1930 José Antonio Casanova References Bibliography José Antero Núñez Alfredo Méndez Oro y Glorias del Beisbol Venezolano 1991 JAN Editor Caracas https://archive.org/details/oroygloriasdelb00ante/mode/2up External links Historia de la Copa Mundial (1938-1948) (Spanish) IV Serie Mundial de Béisbol Amateur – 1941 (Spanish) Amateur World Series, 1941 Category:Baseball World Cup 1941 Category:1941 in Cuban sport Category:September 1941 sports events in North America Category:October 1941 sports events in North America Category:Baseball competitions in Havana Category:20th century in Havana