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 (.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, , 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).

Final standings[]


Country	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB	Managers
Puerto Rico	Cangrejeros de Santurce	5	1	.833	–	George Scales
Cuba	Leones del Habana	4	2	.667	1.0	Mike González
Venezuela	Navegantes del Magallanes	2	4	.333	3.0	Lázaro Salazar
Panama	Spur Cola Colonites	1	5	.167	5.0	León Kellman

Individual leaders
Player/Club	Statistic
Lorenzo Cabrera/CUB	Batting average	.615
Luis Rodríguez Olmo/PUR	Home runs	3
René González/VEN	Runs batted in	11
/PUR	Runs	8
Lorenzo Cabrera/CUB	Hits	13
/PUR	Doubles	4
Sandy Amorós/CUB Jim Gilliam/PUR Bob Thurman/PUR	Triples	1
/PAN	Stolen bases	3
Rubén Gómez/PUR José Santiago/PUR Adrián Zabala/CUB	Wins	2
Awards
Luis Rodríguez Olmo/PUR	Most Valuable Player
George Scales/PUR	Manager

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: (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: (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: (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)

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.

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Years	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Circuits	Colombian Professional Baseball League Cuban National Series Dominican Professional Baseball League Mexican Pacific League Panamanian Professional Baseball League Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
Related articles	Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame Caribbean Series Most Valuable Player Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame List of players who have played in the Series Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame
1961 to 1969 - The Series was not held during these years following the dissolution of Cuba's professional league. 1981 - The Series was not held due to a Venezuelan player's strike.