| Putsy Caballero | |
|---|---|
 Caballero at age 16 in 1944 | |
| Third baseman /Second baseman | |
| Born:(1927-11-05)November 5, 1927 New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Died: December 8, 2016(2016-12-08) (aged 89) Lakeview, New Orleans,Louisiana | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 14, 1944, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 1952, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .228 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 40 |
| Games played | 322 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Ralph Joseph "Putsy" Caballero (November 5, 1927 – December 8, 2016) was an American professionalbaseballinfielder who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) in parts of eight seasons, all for thePhiladelphia Phillies, during theWhiz Kids era. He holds the record as the youngest person in MLB history to appear atthird base. After graduating fromJesuit High School inNew Orleans at age 16,[1] the Phillies signed Caballero to a contract worth $10,000. Following a few short stints at the major league level and playing parts of three seasons in theminor leagues, Caballero was named the Phillies starter at third base in 1948. In his only season as an everyday player, Caballero batted .245 in 380plate appearances at age 20.[2] After another stint in the minors in 1949, he was a backup infielder,pinch hitter, andpinch runner for the 1950 Phillies, and continued in that role through 1952. Following three more years in the minors, Caballero retired from baseball after the 1955 season. After his baseball career ended, Caballero worked as anexterminator. His Louisiana home was destroyed in 2005 duringHurricane Katrina, whereupon he then lived inLakeview, New Orleans.
Caballero attendedJesuit High School inNew Orleans, Louisiana, where he played baseball during the 1943 and 1944 seasons.[3] During his first season, the Jesuit High team won both the city championship and theAmerican Legion championship.[4] ThePhiladelphia Phillies signed Caballero as an amateur free agent on September 9, 1944,[1] the same year that fellowWhiz Kid shortstopGranny Hamner joined the organization.[5]
Caballero planned on attendingLouisiana State University, where he had been offered a scholarship to play baseball andbasketball.Mel Ott, a scout for theNew York Giants and former outfielder, wanted Caballero to sign with the Giants, but counseled him to sign with"'whoever offers you the most money'".[6] The Phillies offered Caballero a $10,000 signing bonus ($224,000 today), and his father advised him to sign the contract offered by general managerHerb Pennock and ownerBob Carpenter.[6]
At 16 years and 314 days old, Caballero appeared in four games for the1944 Phillies, getting fourat-bats without reaching base.[7] In so doing, Caballero became the youngestthird baseman ever to play inMajor League Baseball, a record he still held at his death.[8]
For the 1945 season, the Phillies sent Caballero to the Class-AUtica Blue Sox of theEastern League, where he played in 130 games at third base,batting .272 with 132hits, 9doubles, and 10triples. While there, he was managed byEddie Sawyer, and played with Hamner andRichie Ashburn,[9] with whom he lived for two seasons.[10] Caballero appeared in nine games with the Phillies in 1945, scoring his first major leaguerun andbatting in a run as well.[11]
In 1946, Caballero lost playing time as he and Hamner were both summoned to military service;[12] however, he did play in 76 games with theTerre Haute Phillies in the Class-BThree-I League and one game with the Blue Sox. That year, Caballero hit the first twohome runs of his minor league career with Terre Haute, along with nine doubles and four triples.[13] Most of Caballero's 1947 season was played at Utica as well, where he posted a .287 batting average, 114 hits, and 13 doubles while splitting time with Hamner at second base.[14] His lastcup of coffee with the Phillies came at the end of 1947,[15] when he notched his first major league hit and first walk in eight at-bats.[16]
1948 was Caballero's first full season in the major leagues, playing 79 games during the year at third base, where he was the regular starter overWillie "Puddin' Head" Jones, and also made 23 appearances atsecond base.[17] At the plate, Caballero had a .245 batting average, the second-lowest among the team's starters that season—higher only than catcherAndy Seminick.[17] He posted 86 hits (13 forextra bases) in 380 plate appearances. In the field, Caballero played 102 games, making 18errors in 363 chances for a .950fielding percentage.[17] He started atriple play in a game against Cincinnati whenVirgil Stallcup hit a sharpline drive to third base; Caballero forcedTed Kluszewski out at second base with a throw to Hamner andDanny Litwhiler was picked off first trying to return to complete the third out.[18] Additionally, Caballero notched the team's only hit in a one-hit pitching performance byBrooklyn Dodgers starting pitcherRex Barney.[19]
In the middle of the season, the Phillies promoted Caballero's former Utica manager Sawyer from theirTriple-A farm team, theToronto Maple Leafs of theInternational League, to replaceBen Chapman at the helm. TeammateRobin Roberts described Caballero, as well as Hamner, Ashburn, and catcherStan Lopata, as having "the highest respect for [Sawyer]"[20]—all having played under his tutelage at Utica;[20] Caballero himself gave Sawyer the credit for his development, along with that of several other Whiz Kids.[21]
Caballero regressed in 1949, playing in only 22 games with the Phillies, spending the majority of his season playing second base for the Maple Leafs in Triple-A. He played in 48 games, amassing a .318 batting average (the second-highest total on the team) and eight extra-base hits.[22]
Entering thePhillies' 1950 season at 22 years old, Caballero was described as having "great potential",[23] but the Phillies wantedMike Goliat to take over as the everyday second baseman.[23] Caballero went to the major league club's spring training as anon-roster invitee; his .379 average in theGrapefruit League won him a roster spot[24] and a utility infield role with the Phillies.[25] Media reports speculated that the Phillies would challenge the Dodgers for theNational League pennant,[26] and one of Caballero's most valuable roles as a utility player was as apinch runner off thebench.[27][28]
In the second game of a July 25doubleheader against theChicago Cubs atShibe Park, starting pitcher Roberts batted in the bottom of the ninth in a scoreless shutout. WithBob Rush on the mound for Chicago, Roberts managed awalk and was replaced on base by Caballero, who promptly took second base on ahit and run groundout by first basemanEddie Waitkus.[28] A single to center field by Richie Ashburn allowed the speedy Caballero to score from second and completed the doubleheader sweep for Philadelphia—Bubba Church having pitched a three-hit shutout in the first game earlier in the day.[28]
As apinch hitter, Caballero came through with hits in clutch situations, notably against theSt. Louis Cardinals on August 30. Behind 6–3 atSportsman's Park inSt. Louis, the Phillies sent Caballero to the plate to pinch hit in the top of the seventh inning. He led off the inning with a single, scoring the first run of a seesaw come-from-behind rally[29] that ended with a 9–8 Phillies victory,[30] closerJim Konstanty's 13th of the season.[31] Caballero displayed his running skills again in September, replacing Goliat in the ninth inning of another game against the Cardinals,[32] and scoring a late-inning run in place of Lopata against theCincinnati Reds several days later to tie a close game that the Phillies eventually lost in 18 innings.[33] On September 26, Caballero scored another crucial run against theBoston Braves when he pinch-ran for outfielderDick Sisler. Waiting on third base after advancing from first on aDel Ennis single to center field, Jones hit a high ground ball to Boston shortstopSibby Sisti, whobooted the ball and allowed Caballero to score the game-tying run;[34] the Phillies won, 8–7.[30]
In thefinal game of the season, in which the Phillies defeated the Dodgers, Caballero appeared as a pinch-runner, replacing catcherAndy Seminick in the ninth inning.[35] Philadelphia advanced to the1950 World Series to play theNew York Yankees, where they were defeated, four games to none.[36] In the series, Caballero made three appearances:[8] two as a pinch-runner—for Seminick in Game 2,[37] and for Goliat in Game 3[38]—and one as a pinch-hitter for Konstanty in Game 4, where he struck out.[39] For the season, Caballero appeared in 46 games and posted a .167 batting average.[16]
Caballero continued as a utility player after the Whiz Kids' defeat in the World Series, but those talented young players would never return to the Fall Classic with the Phillies.[40] He played mostly second base during the 1951 season, fielding the position in 54 games. He posted only a .186 batting average at the plate and hit his only major league home run, along with 3 doubles and 2 triples in 84 games played.[41] With 10 hits in 42 at-bats in what would be his final season in the major leagues, Caballero achieved a .238 average in the 1952 season, hitting three doubles.[42] On June 15, Caballero had a three-hit game against thePittsburgh Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader,[43] one of the top performances of his career.[44] He also batted in three runs in one game against the Giants on September 27.[45]
In 1953, Caballero played for the minor leagueBaltimore Orioles, where he batted .268 in 133 games, the most played in his professional career. He added 25 doubles, 2 triples, and 5 home runs to his total, but did not earn a promotion back to the major leagues.[13]
He returned to the Phillies system, playing for theSyracuse Chiefs. After batting .258 with 2 home runs and 41 runs batted in during the 1954 season and declining to a .225 average in 1955,[13] Caballero retired from baseball after that season.[25]
After retiring from baseball, Caballero returned to Louisiana, where he worked as a salesman for anexterminating company, partnering with E.J. D’Arensbourg in 1963.[46] Eventually, he opened his own company inMetairie, Louisiana.[25] Caballero lived inLakeview, New Orleans, where his home was destroyed byHurricane Katrina. He lost memorabilia signed byBabe Ruth,Eddie Mathews, andPete Rose in the flood, calling the hurricane damage "a catastrophe".[47]
Caballero lived with his wife, Clare, and they had seven children and nine grandchildren.[47] He rejoined some of his old teammates in 2008 to commemorate the Whiz Kids on an Alumni Weekend.[48] He was inducted into both the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame and the New Orleans Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.[49] He died on December 8, 2016, at the age of 89.[50]
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