1953 Caribbean Series

Tournament details
Country	Cuba
City	Havana
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	20–25 February
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	Cangrejeros de Santurce(2nd title)
Runners-up	Leones del Habana
Awards
MVP	Willard Brown
← 1952 1954 →

The fifth edition of theCaribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in1953. It was held from February 20 through February 25, featuring the champion baseball teams ofCuba,Leones de la Habana;Panama,Chesterfield Smokers;Puerto Rico,Cangrejeros de Santurce, andVenezuela,Leones del Caracas. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played atEstadio del Cerro inHavana, the Cuban capital.

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 .367batting average and committed only twoerrors, was led by right fielder and Series MVPWillard Brown, who enjoyed one of the most productive offensive in tournament's history. Brown led the hitters inhome runs (4),RBI (13),runs (8),doubles (3) andSLG (1,042), while hitting .417 (10-for-24). The pitching staff was anchored byBobo Holloman (2-0),Cot Deal (2-0, onesave) andRubén Gómez (1-0, one save). In addition to Brown, shortstop/managerBuster Clarkson (.467 BA), 2BJim Gilliam (.545, two HR), RFBob Thurman (.474, .684 SLG) and 3BVíctor Pellot Power (.385, one HR) also contributed to the attack. Other players for Puerto Rico included CFLuis (Canena) Márquez, PJosé (Pantalones) Santiago and catchersJoe Montalvo andValmy Thomas.

The Cuban team, who many considered a favorite before the start of the event, wasted home-field advantage and a solid lineup managed byMike González to end in second place with a 3-3 record. The Habana team was led by RFPedro Formental, who posted a .560 mark to clinch the batting title. Other contributions came from 1BBert Haas (.360, two HR, .600 SLG) and 3BLou Klein (.316, one HR, .579 SLG). PitchersBob Alexander andMario Picone collected wins, whileCarlos (Patato) Pascual dropped two of three decisions. Cuba included LFSandy Amorós, 2BSpider Jorgensen, CFBob Usher, PAdrián Zabala, and catchersAndrés Fleitas andDick Rand, between others.

Panama was managed byStanford Graham and finished 2-4 in third place. The Panamanian squad got fine work of CFNat Peeples (.400, .733 SLG), as well as pitchersHumberto Robinson (1-0) andPat Scantlebury (1-1, 11strikeouts in three games). The team also featured players as IFsFrank Austin andJoe Tuminelli, CLeón Kellman, and OFsBobby Prescott andDave Roberts. Collectively, Chesterfield scored the fewest runs (18) and committed the most errors (10) in the Series.

Venezuela, withMartín Dihigo at the helm, finished in last place with a 1-5 record. The Caracas lone victory came fromCharlie Bishop, who pitched a one-hitshutout in Game 5. Among others were PsJay Heard,Dick Starr,Lenny Yochim andLuis Zuloaga; CGuillermo Vento; IFsChico Carrasquel,Pompeyo Davalillo,Piper Davis andHank Schenz, as well as OFsDalmiro Finol,Lloyd Gearhart,Milt Nielsen andGale Wade.

Team	Manager
Cangrejeros de Santurce	Buster Clarkson
Chesterfield Smokers	Stanford Graham
Leones del Caracas	Martín Dihigo
Leones del Habana	Mike González

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB
1	Cangrejeros de Santurce	6	6	0	50	23	+27	1.000	—
2	Leones del Habana(H)	6	3	3	33	26	+7	.500	3
3	Chesterfield Smokers	6	2	4	18	39	−21	.333	4
4	Leones del Caracas	6	1	5	22	35	−13	.167	5

Statistic	Player	Team	Total
Batting average	Pedro Formental	Leones del Habana	.560
Home runs	Willard Brown	Cangrejeros de Santurce	4
Runs batted in	Willard Brown	Cangrejeros de Santurce	13
Runs	Willard Brown	Cangrejeros de Santurce	8
Hits	Pedro Formental	Leones del Habana	14
Doubles	Willard Brown	Cangrejeros de Santurce	3
Triples	Pedro Formental	Leones del Habana	2
Stolen bases	Ten tied		1
Wins	Bobo Holloman	Cangrejeros de Santurce	2
Earned run average	Charlie Bishop	Leones del Caracas	0.00
Strikeouts	Pat Scantlebury	Chesterfield Smokers	11
Saves	Cot Deal	Cangrejeros de Santurce	1
	Pat Scantlebury	Chesterfield Smokers
Innings pitched	Bobo Holloman	Cangrejeros de Santurce	17.0

Tournament Awards[1] Award Player Team MVP Willard Brown Cangrejeros de Santurce Best manager Buster Clarkson Cangrejeros de Santurce

All Star Team[2] Position Player Team First base Bert Haas Leones del Habana Second base Jim Gilliam Cangrejeros de Santurce Third base Lou Klein Leones del Habana Shortstop Buster Clarkson Cangrejeros de Santurce Left field Willard Brown Cangrejeros de Santurce Center field Nat Peeples Chesterfield Smokers Right field Pedro Formental Leones del Habana Catcher Joe Montalvo Cangrejeros de Santurce Pitcher Bobo Holloman Cangrejeros de Santurce

• Ballplayers who have played in the Series

• 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.

• Official site
• Latino Baseball
• Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish)

• 1953 in baseball
• Caribbean Series
• International baseball competitions hosted by Cuba
• Baseball competitions in Havana
• 1953 in Cuban sport
• 1953 in Caribbean sport
• 20th century in Havana
• February 1953 sports events in North America

• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata