1953 Caribbean Series

Regional baseball tournament Caribbean Series 1953 Havana Cuba 20–25 February 4 PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 2 CUB Leones del Habana 1 1 USA 1912 Willard Brown 1952 1954 The fifth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) 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 (4), RBI (13), runs (8), doubles (3) and SLG (1,042), while hitting .417 (10-for-24). The pitching staff was anchored by Bobo Holloman (2-0), Cot Deal (2-0, one save) and Rubén Gómez (1-0, one save). In addition to Brown, shortstop/manager Buster Clarkson (.467 BA), 2B Jim Gilliam (.545, two HR), RF Bob Thurman (.474, .684 SLG) and 3B Víctor Pellot Power (.385, one HR) also contributed to the attack. Other players for Puerto Rico included CF Luis (Canena) Márquez, P José (Pantalones) 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 (.360, two HR, .600 SLG) and 3B Lou Klein (.316, one HR, .579 SLG). Pitchers Bob Alexander and Mario Picone collected wins, while Carlos (Patato) 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 (.400, .733 SLG), as well as pitchers Humberto Robinson (1-0) and Pat Scantlebury (1-1, 11 strikeouts in three games). 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 (18) and committed the most errors (10) 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. Participating teams Team Manager PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce USA 1912 Buster Clarkson PAN Chesterfield Smokers USA 1912 Stanford Graham VEN 1930 Leones del Caracas CUB Martín Dihigo CUB Leones del Habana CUB Mike González Final standings main WL runs perc true complete CBPC SAN, HAB, CHE, CAR W 1 5 22 35 2 4 18 39 3 3 33 26 H 6 0 50 23 VEN 1930 Leones del Caracas PAN Chesterfield Smokers CUB Leones del Habana PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce gold Scoreboards Game 1, February 20 Panama PAN 0 1 0 1 0 2 2   6   7 0 Puerto Rico PUR 1 4 3 4 3 0 0 15 14 0 Rubén Gómez (1-0) Hisel Patrick (0-1) Victor Pellot (1), Rubén Gómez (1) * Game was called after seven innings due to time limit. Game 2, February 20 Venezuela VEN 1 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0   7   1 Cuba CUB 3 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 X 10 12 2 Carlos Pascual (1-0) Lenny Yochim (0-1) Game 3, February 21 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 2 0 1 4 0 0 0 7 13 0 Venezuela VEN 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 12 1 Bobo Holloman (1-0) Dick Starr (0-1) Cot Deal (1) Willard Brown (1), Jim Gilliam (1) Dalmiro Finol (1) Game 4, February 21 Cuba CUB 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 6 10 1 Panama Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1   7 1 Mario Picone (1-0) Pat Scantlebury (0-1) Lou Klein (1) Game 5, February 22 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 5 0 Panama PAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Charlie Bishop (1-0) Peter Nicolis (0-1) Game 6, February 22 Cuba CUB 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 5 13 0 Puerto Rico PUR 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 12 0 Cot Deal (1-0) Carlos Pascual (1-1) Bert Haas (1) Willard Brown (2) Game 7, February 23 Puerto Rico PURI\ 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 1 6 13 2 Panama PAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 14 1 Cot Deal (2-0) Alberto Osorio (0-1) Game 8, February 23 Cuba CUB 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 6 14 0 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 4   5 1 Bob Alexander (1-0) Lenny Yochim (0-2) Game 9, February 24 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2   6 2 Puerto Rico PUR 2 1 0 4 0 2 0 0 X 9 13 0 Bobo Holloman (2-0) Jehosie Heard (0-1) Willard Brown (3), Joe Montalvo (1) Game 10, February 24 Panama PAN 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 5 10 0 Cuba CUB 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 11 0 Humberto Robinson (1-0) Carlos Pascual (1-2) Pat Scantlebury (1) Bobby Prescott (1) Game 11, February 25 Panama PAN 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 0 Venezuela VEN 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1 Pat Scantlebury (1-1) José Bracho (0-1) Arthur Peeples (1) Game 12, February 25 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 16 0 Cuba CUB 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 X 3   9 0 Roberto Vargas (0-1) Jocko Thompson (0-1) Jim Gilliam (2), Willard Brown (4) Statistics leaders Statistic Player Team Total Batting average CUB Pedro Formental CUB Leones del Habana .560 Home runs USA 1912 Willard Brown PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 4 Runs batted in USA 1912 Willard Brown PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 13 Runs USA 1912 Willard Brown PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 8 Hits CUB Pedro Formental CUB Leones del Habana 14 Doubles USA 1912 Willard Brown PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 3 Triples CUB Pedro Formental CUB Leones del Habana 2 Stolen bases Ten tied 1 Wins USA 1912 Bobo Holloman PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 2 Earned run average USA 1912 Charlie Bishop VEN 1930 Leones del Caracas 0.00 Strikeouts PAN Pat Scantlebury PAN Chesterfield Smokers 11 Saves USA 1912 Cot Deal PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 1 PAN Pat Scantlebury PAN Chesterfield Smokers Innings pitched USA 1912 Bobo Holloman PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 17.0 Awards + Tournament AwardsPosiciones de los Equipos https://www.seriedelcaribe.net/articulos/posiciones-de-los-equipos/ seriedelcaribe.net Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe 13 June 2023 es Award Player Team MVP USA 1912 Willard Brown PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Best manager USA 1912 Buster Clarkson PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 1em + All Star TeamAnuario Serie del Caribe 2024 https://www.seriedelcaribe.net/storage/downloads/yearbook/4rHWBuj2yXcQswWyoV5QOHRtfcPjQjqGyi3XptEn.pdf 3 October 2025 Serie del Caribe Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe 28 es Position Player Team First base USA 1912 Bert Haas CUB Leones del Habana Second base USA 1912 Jim Gilliam PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Third base USA 1912 Lou Klein CUB Leones del Habana Shortstop USA 1912 Buster Clarkson PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Left field USA 1912 Willard Brown PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Center field USA 1912 Nat Peeples PAN Chesterfield Smokers Right field CUB Pedro Formental CUB Leones del Habana Catcher USA 1912 Joe Montalvo PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Pitcher USA 1912 Bobo Holloman PUR 1952 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)     collapsed Caribbean Category:Caribbean Series Category:International baseball competitions hosted by Cuba Category:Baseball competitions in Havana Category:1953 in Cuban sport Category:1953 in Caribbean sport Category:20th century in Havana Caribbean Series