1955 Caribbean Series

1955 baseball tournament Caribbean Series 1955 Caracas Venezuela 10–15 February 4 PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 3 VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes 1 1 USA 1912 Don Zimmer 1954 1956 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 CUB Alacranes del Almendares USA 1912 Bobby Bragan PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce USA 1912 Herman Franks PAN Carta Vieja Yankees USA 1912 Al Kubski VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes CUB Lázaro Salazar Final standings main WL runs perc true complete CBPC PUR, VEN, CUB, PAN W 2 4 18 24 1 5 10 33 5 1 32 21 4 2 30 12 H CUB Alacranes del Almendares PAN Carta Vieja Yankees PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes gold Scoreboards Game 1, February 10 Puerto Rico PUR 0 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 6 8 2 Cuba CUB 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 1 Rubén Gómez (1-0) Red Munger (0-1) Don Zimmer (1) Game 2, February 10 Panama PAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   7 3 Venezuela VEN 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 X 9 14 2 José Bracho (1-0) Bill Harris (0-1) RoadHR Bob Skinner (1), George Wilson (1) Bracho hurled a complete game shutout. Game 3, February 11 Panama PAN 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 3 Puerto Rico PUR 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 2 5 2 Bill Greason (1-0) Ernie Lawrence (0-1) Don Zimmer (2), Bill Greason (1) Game 4, February 11 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Cuba CUB 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 1 2 2 Joe Hatten (1-0) Emilio Cueche (0-1) RoadHR Both pitchers went all the way despite a 45-minute delay in the top of the 7th inning. Game 5, February 12 Panama PAN 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 9 2 Cuba CUB 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 2 Humberto Robinson (1-0) Lino Donoso (0-1) Ray Dabek (1) RoadHR Guilford Dickens (1) Game 6, February 12 Venezuela VEN 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2   3 0 Puerto Rico PUR 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 10 1 Sad Sam Jones (1-0) Ramón Monzant (0-1) Roberto Clemente (1), Willie Mays (1) Both pitchers went all the way. The two-run, walk off homer by Mays, was his first hit in 14 Series at bat. Game 7, February 13 Cuba CUB 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 6   9 1 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 3 7 13 1 Jorge Sackie (1-0) Roger Bowman (0-1) RoadHR Don Zimmer (3) Game 8, February 13 Venezuela VEN 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 11 0 Panama PAN 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1   7 1 Bill Kennedy (1-0) Alberto Osorio (0-1) RoadHR Bracho allowed an earned run in four-plus innings and Kennedy earned the victory in 5⅔ scoreless innings of relief. Game 9, February 14 Puerto Rico PUR 0 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 11 16 1 Panama PAN 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0   3   4 1 Bill Greason (2-0) Bill Harris (0-2) Harry Chiti (1) Greason threw his second complete win in the Series. Game 10, February 14 Cuba CUB 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 4   9 2 Venezuela VEN 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 X 6 11 1 Emilio Cueche (1-1) Joe Hatten (1-1) Gus Triandos (1) Cueche completed his second start of the Series. Game 11, February 15 Cuba CUB 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 0 Panama PAN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 11 1 Cholly Naranjo (1-0) Ernie Lawrence (0-2) Gus Triandos (2) Game 12, February 15 Puerto Rico PUR 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2   9 2 Venezuela VEN 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 X 7 10 0 Joe Margoneri (1-0) Jorge Sackle (1-1) Willie Mays (2) Statistics leaders Statistic Player Team Total Batting average USA 1912 Rocky Nelson CUB Alacranes del Almendares .471 Home runs USA 1912 Don Zimmer PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 3 Runs batted in USA 1912 Willie Mays PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 9 Runs PUR 1952 Roberto Clemente PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 8 Hits USA 1912 Willie Mays PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 11 Doubles USA 1912 Don Zimmer PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 3 TriplesCUB Pablo García VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes 2 USA 1912 George Wilson VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes Stolen bases USA 1912 Jack Lohrke VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes 2 Wins USA 1912 Bill Greason PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 2 Earned run average VEN 1954 José Bracho VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes 0.69 Strikeouts USA 1912 Joe Hatten CUB Alacranes del Almendares 12 Saves USA 1912 Ray Dabek PAN Carta Vieja Yankees 1 Innings pitched VEN 1954 Emilio Cueche VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes 18.0 USA 1912 Bill Greason PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce 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 Don Zimmer PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Best manager USA 1912 Herman Franks 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 Rocky Nelson CUB Alacranes del Almendares Second base USA 1912 Jack Lohrke VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes Third base USA 1912 Buster Clarkson PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Shortstop USA 1912 Don Zimmer PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Left field USA 1912 Guilford Dickens PAN Carta Vieja Yankees Center field USA 1912 Willie Mays PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Right field USA 1912 George Wilson VEN 1954 Navegantes del Magallanes Catcher USA 1912 Harry Chiti PUR 1952 Cangrejeros de Santurce Pitcher USA 1912 Bill Greason 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 Venezuela Category:Sport in Caracas Category:1955 in Venezuelan sport Category:1955 in Caribbean sport Category:20th century in Caracas Caribbean Series