1939 Amateur World Series

12–26 August 3 1 1 Great Britain Cuba 1 Nicaragua 1908 United States 1912 9 CUB Cocoliso Torres 1938 1940 The 1939 Amateur World Series was the second Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 1988 tournament). Great Britain did not defend the AWS title it had won in the inaugural event the previous year. The tournament took place, for the first time, in Cuba. It was contested by the national teams of Cuba, Nicaragua and the United States, playing six games each from August 12 through August 26. Cuba won its first AWS titlethe first of what would be a record 26 titles by the time the series ended in 2011, 22 more titles than the next closest nation. Participants The second Amateur World Series was announced on June 11, 1939. In addition to the United States and Great Britain, which had participated in the inaugural tournament held the previous year, the International Baseball Federation (IBF) hope to increase the visibility of the tournament by inviting thirteen other countries, all of them in the Western Hemisphere. However, only two federations accepted, those of Cuba and Nicaragua; Great Britain, the defending champions, declined for the sake of their domestic league, which began in August of that year.Echevarria Roberto González Roberto González Echevarría The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball 1999 Oxford University Press 228–29 IBF president Leslie Mann was particularly disappointed by Britain's exit from the tournament; they would not return until the 2009 Baseball World Cup.Riccardo Schiroli The Game We Love 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation https://static.wbsc.org/assets/files/2019_WBSC_The_Game_We_Love_SMALL.pdf 30 Invited teams Caribbean (1) CUB (hosts) PRI 1895 (did not attend) HAI 1859 (did not attend) JAM 1906 (did not attend) Europe (0) GBR (did not attend) North America (2) USA 1912 NIC 1908 MEX 1916 (did not attend) PAN (did not attend) HON 1866 (did not attend) SLV (did not attend) GUA (did not attend) South America (0) VEN 1930 (did not attend) COL (did not attend) PER 1884 (did not attend) Though only three federations participated in the 1939 edition, most of the invitees would participate in future tournaments, starting with the following year's edition.Jamaica, Haiti, and Peru never participated in an Amateur World Series or Baseball World Cup. Venue Havana, CubaCuba 500 center Cuba 23.107251 -82.412918 right La Tropical Gran Stadium Cervecería Tropical Capacity: 15,000 250px Tournament summary The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Colonel Jaime Mariné, the director of the Cuban sports ministry and a close associate of Fulgencio Batista, who had helped organize the tournament. The United States was badly outmatched against the Cuban and Nicaraguan pitching staffs — which, unlike the amateur leagues in the U.S., included some of the best pitchers from their countries.Leslie Mann Leslie Mann (athlete) Baseball Around the World 1940 42 International Amateur Baseball Federation https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15370coll2/id/20987/hawa In a report on the 1939 series, Mann concluded that the United States "has the youngsters with the ability to compete with the other countries around the world but it is going to take enthusiastic cooperation on part of those amateur players... The U.S.A. should lead in baseball but first they will have to prove it to England, Japan, and Central America which at this time hold upper berths on this challenge." Results main WL runs perc true complete yes yes yes CUB, NCA, USA W S B 6 0 28 11 H 3 3 14 10 0 6 9 30 CUB USA NCA 1908 gold silver #cc9965 Baseball.ch (archived) August 12, 1939 NIC 1908 José "Chino" Meléndez 3–4 10 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00388/images/5 CUB Pedro "Natilla" Jiménez Gran Stadium La Tropical August 13, 1939 USA 1912 J. B. Williams 3–13 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00389/images/8 CUB Conrado Marrero Gran Stadium La Tropical August 15, 1939 USA 1912 Fred Webb 0–3 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00390/images/8 NIC 1908 Alfredo “Chiquirín” García Gran Stadium La Tropical August 17, 1939 NIC 1908 Alfredo “Chiquirín” García 2–3 10 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00392/images/8 CUB Wenceslao Gonzáles Gran Stadium La Tropical August 19, 1939 CUB Eliécer Álvarez 8–3 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00394/images/5 USA 1912 Walter Erickson Gran Stadium La Tropical August 20, 1939 NIC 1908 Alfredo “Chiquirín” García 7–3 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00395/images/6 USA 1912 J.B. Williams Gran Stadium La Tropical August 24, 1939 CUB Pedro "Natilla" Jiménez 9–1 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00398/images/8 NIC 1908 José "Chino" Meléndez Stanley Cayasso Gran Stadium La Tropical August 24, 1939 CUB Wenceslao Gonzáles 12–7 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00400/zoom/8 USA 1912 Fred Webb Gran Stadium La Tropical August 24, 1939 NIC 1908 Alfredo “Chiquirín” García Jonathan Robinson 7–2 https://dloc.com/AA00022089/00400/zoom/8 USA 1912 Robert Davis Gran Stadium La Tropical Rosters thumb|200px|Cuba won its first world championship in 1939 thumb|200px|The Nicaragua national team thumb|200px|The U.S. national team The Cuban team of 1939 was assembled on a somewhat "arbitrary" basis, according to Roberto González Echevarría. There were no professional players from the Cuban League, in keeping with the tournament's amateur basis (though Adolfo Luque, manager of Almendares and formerly of the Cincinnati Reds, acted as an English-language interpreter).Mann, p. 41 Instead, the team was made up of the top players from Cuba's amateur circuits, including the clubs of Regla, Fortuna, Circulo Militar, Cienfuegos, and Deportivo Cardenas. Notably, the Cuban team included two Black Cuban players, Clemente Gonzalez and Esteban Maciques, as part of Mariné's efforts to desegregate the amateur leagues.Bjarkman Peter A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 2007 McFarland 0786428295 161 Conrado Marrero, a future Washington Senators pitcher, was on the Cuban squad, as was future New York Giants farmhand Andrés Fleitas (C). Bernardo Cuervo (1B) hit .200, leading the tournament with two triples and six runs batted in, while Ernesto Estevez (2B) hit .389 with two doubles. Wenceslao Gonzales (P), a future cup of coffee player with the Washington Senators, hit .500 (3 for 6). Pedro "Natilla" Jiménez was the best pitcher in the tournament with a 2–0 record and a 0.95 earned run average. Esteban Maciques (RF) hit .250 with 7 runs (led tournament). Cocoliso Torres (CF) won the most valuable player award for the tournament despite a .174 batting average. Gerardo Toyo (LF) hit .333 (9 for 27), tied for lead in hits. Nicaragua's Stanley Cayasso (1B) hit one of only two home runs of the tournament plus two doubles to start a string of successful appearances in the tournament. Jonathan Robinson (RF) hit the other home run of the tournament, while Colbert Newell (LF) stole four bases to lead the tournament in that category Charles Forbes led the team in offensive performance with a .300 avera, going 6 for 20 with 3 walks and 3 runs. American second baseman Joe Justice would go on to become head baseball coach at Rollins College, leading them to the 1954 College World Series, while left fielder Tom Callahan would later play basketball for the Providence Steamrollers of the BAA Final standings Pos. Position in final standings Team Team W Wins L Losses CUB 6 0 NIC 1908 3 3 USA 1912 0 6 Honors and awards Statistical leaders + Batting leadersHistoria 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 esMemoria de los Campeonatos de Beisbol Aficionado 1971 Instituto Cuban del Libro Havana 35-41StatisticNameTotalBatting average NIC 1908 Sam Garth .500Hits NIC 1908 Sam GarthCUB Gerardo Toyo 9Runs CUB Esteban Maciques 6Home runs NIC 1908 Stanley CayassoNIC 1908 Jonathan Robinson 9Runs batted in CUB Bernardo Cuervo 6Stolen bases NIC 1908 Colbert Newell 4 +Pitching leadersStatisticNameTotalWins NIC 1908 Alfredo García 3Earned run average CUB Natilla Jiménez 0.95Strikeouts NIC 1908 Alfredo García 21Innings pitched NIC 1908 Alfredo García 31.2Walks NIC 1908 José Meléndez 13 Awards Award Player Ref. Most Valuable Player CUB Cocoliso Torres Notes References Bibliography Bjarkman, Peter. A History of Cuban Baseball Amateur World Series, 1939 Category:Baseball World Cup 1939 Category:1939 in Cuban sport Amateur World Series Category:Baseball competitions in Havana Amateur World Series, 1939