1951 Caribbean Series
# 1951 Caribbean Series

The third edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1951. The Series inauguration on February 21 was delayed due to heavy rain and it was held from February 22 through February 26, including two double-headers on February 25, featuring the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Leones del Habana; Panama, Spur Cola Colonites; Puerto Rico, Cangrejeros de Santurce, and Venezuela, Navegantes del Magallanes. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice, and the games were played at Cervecería Caracas Stadium in Caracas, Venezuela.

## Summary

The Puerto Rico team won the Series with a 5-1 record and was managed by George Scales. Their only defeat came from Cuba. The team was led by OF Luis Rodríguez Olmo, who was named Most Valuable Player after hitting .423 (11-for-26) with three home runs and nine RBI. Other contributions came from pitchers Pantalones Santiago (two complete-game wins), Rubén Gómez (two wins, one save), 1B George Crowe (.333, one grand slam, 7 RBI), and SS Stan Breard (.423, seven runs, 4 doubles, 8 RBI). Also in the Puerto Rican roster were Jim Gilliam (2B), Buster Clarkson (3B), Bob Thurman (OF) and Willard Brown (OF).

Managed by Mike González, Cuba finished in second place with a 4-2 mark. 1B Lorenzo Cabrera led the Series hitters with an astronomical .619 batting average (13-for-23), while the pitching staff was led by Adrián Zabala (2-0), Hoyt Wilhelm (1-1) and Bill Ayers (1 win, 1 save). Also included in the roster were Sandy Amorós (OF), Pedro Formental (OF), Bert Haas (3B), Spider Jorgensen (2B), Ed Mierkowicz (OF), Jiquí Moreno (P) and Carlos Pascual (P).

Venezuela was managed by Lázaro Salazar and finished 2-4, with both victories over Panama. The team was led by 1B René González, who hit .316 (6-for-19), including two doubles, two home runs and a Series-leading 11 RBI. Pitcher José Bracho posted a 1-0 record and a 0.71 ERA in 12⅔ IP, helping himself with the bat while hitting .500 (3-for-6) with a double, one run and four RBIs. Other significant players in the roster included Luis García (3B), Vidal López (LF), Jim Pendleton (SS), Chucho Ramos (1B) and Ken Staples (C), as well as pitchers Frank Biscan, Julio Bracho, Alex Carrasquel and Clem Labine.

Panama ended with a 1-5 mark and was managed by catcher León Kellman. The team's only victory came behind a strong pitching effort from starter Connie Johnson over the Cuban team, while 1B Archie Ware paced the offense in average (.348), hits (8) and RBI (4).

## Participating teams

| Team | Manager |
| - | - |
| Cangrejeros de Santurce | George Scales |
| Leones del Habana | Mike González |
| Navegantes del Magallanes | Lázaro Salazar |
| Spur Cola Colonites | León Kellman |

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 6 | 5 | 1 | 46 | 20 | +26 | .833 | — |
| 2 | Leones del Habana | 6 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 35 | −10 | .667 | 1 |
| 3 | Navegantes del Magallanes (H) | 6 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 34 | +6 | .333 | 3 |
| 4 | Spur Cola Colonites | 6 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 43 | −22 | .167 | 4 |

### Scoreboards

**Game 1, February 22**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 18 | 0 |
| Cuba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| WP: José Santiago (1-0) LP: Hoyt Wilhelm (0-1) |||||||||||||

**Game 2, February 22**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | x | 10 | 8 | 2 |
| WP: Clem Labine (1-0) LP: Webbo Clarke (0-1) Home runs: PAN: None VEN: René González (1) |||||||||||||

**Game 3, February 23**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| Panama | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 12 | 16 | 1 |
| WP: Connie Johnson (1-0) LP: Eddie Yuhas (0-1) Home runs: CUB: Gilberto Valdivia (1) PAN: None |||||||||||||

**Game 4, February 23**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| WP: Roberto Vargas (1-0) LP: Frank Biscan (0-1) Sv: Rubén Gómez (1) Home runs: PUR: George Crowe (1) VEN: René González (2) |||||||||||||

**Game 5, February 24**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Puerto Rico | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| WP: Rubén Gómez (1-0) LP: Pat Scantlebury (0-1) |||||||||||||

**Game 6, February 24**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| WP: Bill Ayers (1-0) LP: Alex Carrasquel (0-1) Home runs: CUB: Pedro Formental (1) VEN: Luis García (1) |||||||||||||

**Game 7, February 25**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cuba | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| WP: Adrián Zabala (1-0) LP: Mike Clark (0-1) |||||||||||||

**Game 8, February 25**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Venezuela | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 3 |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| WP: José Bracho (1-0) LP: Gentry Jessup (0-1) Home runs: VEN: Eddie Knoblauch (1) PAN: None Notes: Bracho hurled a complete game and went 3-for-5 with a double, driving in four runs while scoring one more. |||||||||||||

**Game 9, February 25**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Cuba | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| WP: Hoyt Wilhelm (1-1) LP: Connie Johnson (1-1) Home runs: PAN: None CUB: Spider Jorgensen (1) |||||||||||||

**Game 10, February 25**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Venezuela | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | x | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| WP: José Santiago (2-0) LP: Clem Labine (1-1) |||||||||||||

**Game 11, February 26**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Puerto Rico | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | x | x | 12 | 8 | 0 |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | x | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| WP: Rubén Gómez (2-0) LP: Webbo Clarke (0-2) Home runs: PUR: None PAN: Luis Rodríguez Olmo 2 (3), Buster Clarkson (1), Willard Brown (1) |||||||||||||

**Game 12, February 26**

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | x | x | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| Cuba | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | x | x | x | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| WP: Adrián Zabala (2-0) LP: José Bracho (1-1) Sv: Bill Ayers (1) |||||||||||||

## Statistics leaders

| Statistic | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Batting average | Lorenzo Cabrera | Leones del Habana | .615 |
| Home runs | Luis Olmo | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 3 |
| Runs batted in | René González | Navegantes del Magallanes | 11 |
| Runs | Stan Breard | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 8 |
| Hits | Lorenzo Cabrera | Leones del Habana | 13 |
| Doubles | Stan Breard | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 4 |
| Triples | Sandy Amorós | Leones del Habana | 1 |
| Triples | Jim Gilliam | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 1 |
| Triples | Bob Thurman | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 1 |
| Stolen bases | Charles Douglas | Spur Cola Colonites | 3 |
| Wins | Rubén Gómez | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 2 |
| Wins | José Santiago | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 2 |
| Wins | Adrián Zabala | Leones del Habana | 2 |

## Awards

Tournament Awards :

| Award | Player | Team |
| - | - | - |
| MVP | Luis Olmo | Cangrejeros de Santurce |
| Best manager | George Scales | Cangrejeros de Santurce |

All Star Team :

| Position | Player | Team |
| - | - | - |
| First base | Lorenzo Cabrera | Leones del Habana |
| Second base | Spook Jacobs | Spur Cola Colonites |
| Third base | Jimmy Dicks | Navegantes del Magallanes |
| Shortstop | Stan Breard | Cangrejeros de Santurce |
| Left field | Pedro Formental | Leones del Habana |
| Center field | Luis Olmo | Cangrejeros de Santurce |
| Right field | Bob Thurman | Cangrejeros de Santurce |
| Catcher | Güigüí Lucas | Cangrejeros de Santurce |
| Pitcher | José Santiago | Cangrejeros de Santurce |
