# 1957 Caribbean Series

The ninth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1957. It was held from February 9 through February 14, featuring the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Tigres de Marianao; Panama, Cerveza Balboa; Puerto Rico, Indios de Mayagüez, and Venezuela, Leones del Caracas. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio del Cerro in Havana, the Cuban capital. The first pitch was thrown by Ford Frick, by then the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

## Summary

The Cuban team was managed by Napoleón Reyes and finished with a 5–1 mark, with their only loss coming to Puerto Rico. Marianao offensive was clearly guided by Series MVP outfielder Solly Drake, who won the batting title with a .500 batting average and also led in runs (9), hits (11) and stolen bases (4). Supporting him were fellow OF Minnie Miñoso (.391, seven RBI, five runs) and catcher Hal Smith (.273, seven RBI). Pitcher Jim Bunning got two wins with a 0.61 ERA, including a seven-hit, one-run game and 5+2⁄3 scoreless innings of relief. Behind him were Mike Fornieles (1–0, 3.00), Bill Werle (1–1, 3.94) and Conrado Marrero (0–0, 2.70). Also in the roster were reliever Enrique Maroto and infielders Julio Bécquer, Harold Bevan and José Valdivielso.
Panama, managed by catcher León Kellman, posted a 3–3 record for a surprising second-place finish. Balboa most prominent player was Winston Brown, who pitched a six-hit, one run complete game and a four-hit shutout, in both cases against Venezuela. Another gem game from George Brunet (1–1, 17 SO, 1.76 ERA), who pitched the first shutout for a Panamanian team in Series history, and also hit one of the club's two homers. 1B Harold Gordon led the attack with a .412 BA. Other roster members included 2B Héctor López and P Dutch Romberger.
Puerto Rico tied with Venezuela for third place with a 2–4 mark. The Mayagüez team was piloted by Mickey Owen, while RF Canena Márquez provided the support attack (375, three HR, five runs, .792 SLG). The other major contributors were 1B Bob Speake (.391, one HR, five RBI, .652 SLG) and P José Santiago, who handed Marianao their only lost, throwing a three-hit shutout. Puerto Rico also featured 2B Bob Aspromonte, OF Bob Smith, and pitchers Herb Plews and Pete Wojey, among others.
Venezuela, guided by Clay Bryant, included C John Roseboro (.376 BA, .556 SLG); IFs Rudy Regalado (.292 BA), Pompeyo Davalillo (.381, three SB, four runs), Chico Carrasquel (.292, HR, .458 SLG) and Luis García (2-for-13, 2B, RBI), as well as OFs Tom Burgess (4-for-24) and Bob Wilson (4-for-22). Caracas pitchers Babe Birrer (1–1, 2.60) and Julián Ladera (1–0, 2.25) collected the only wins for the team in complete-game efforts. Emilio Cueche took a complete-game loss after giving up two unearned runs in Game 5, and later hurled two scoreless innings of relief for a perfect 0.00 ERA, the best for the Series.

## Participating teams

| Team | Manager |
| Cerveza Balboa | León Kellman |
| Indios de Mayagüez | Mickey Owen |
| Leones del Caracas | Clay Bryant |
| Tigres de Marianao | Napoleón Reyes |

## Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB |
| 1 | Tigres de Marianao (H) | 6 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 16 | +11 | .833 | — |
| 2 | Cerveza Balboa | 6 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 15 | −1 | .500 | 2 |
| 3 | Indios de Mayagüez | 6 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 31 | −9 | .333 | 3 |
| 4 | Leones del Caracas | 6 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 24 | −1 | .333 | 3 |

### Scoreboards
#### Game 1, February 9

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 2 | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Venezuela | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 10 | 14 | 3 |
| WP: Babe Birrer (1-0) LP: Bob Smith (0-1) Home runs: PRI: Luis Márquez (1) VEN: John Roseboro (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 2, February 9

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| WP: Jim Bunning (1-0) LP: Ronald Scheetz (0-1) Home runs: PAN: John Gleen (1) CUB: None |||||||||||||

#### Game 3, February 10

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| WP: Pete Wojey (1-0) LP: George Brunet (0-1) Home runs: PRI: Pete Wojey (1) PAN: None |||||||||||||

#### Game 4, February 10

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cuba | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| Venezuela | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| WP: Mike Fornieles (1-0) LP: Bob Blaylock (0-1) Home runs: CUB: None VEN: Chico Carrasquel (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 5, February 11

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Panama | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| WP: Winston Brown (1-0) LP: Emilio Cueche (0-1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 6, February 11

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 1 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| WP: José Santiago (1-0) LP: Bill Werle (0-1) Home runs: PRI: Luis Márquez (2) CUB: None |||||||||||||

#### Game 7, February 12

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Venezuela | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| WP: Julián Ladera (1-0) LP: Duke Maas (0-1) Home runs: VEN: None PRI: Bob Speake (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 8, February 12

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cuba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| WP: Jim Bunning (2-0) LP: Ronald Scheetz (0-2) |||||||||||||

#### Game 9, February 13

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| WP: George Brunet (1-1) LP: Bob Smith (0-2) |||||||||||||

#### Game 10, February 13

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Venezuela | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| WP: Vicente López (1-0) LP: Babe Birrer (1-1) Home runs: VEN: Bob Wilson (1) CUB: None |||||||||||||

#### Game 11, February 14

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Panama | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| WP: Winston Brown (2-0) LP: John Jancse (0-1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 12, February 14

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cuba | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 3 |
| WP: Bill Werle (1-1) LP: Pete Wojey (1-1) Home runs: CUB: Julio Bécquer (1) PRI: None |||||||||||||

## Statistics leaders

| Statistic | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Solly Drake | Tigres de Marianao | .500 |
| Home runs | Luis Márquez | Indios de Mayagüez | 2 |
| Runs batted in | Minnie Miñoso | Tigres de Marianao | 7 |
| Runs batted in | Hal R. Smith | Tigres de Marianao | 7 |
| Runs | Solly Drake | Tigres de Marianao | 9 |
| Hits | Solly Drake | Tigres de Marianao | 11 |
| Doubles | John Roseboro | Leones del Caracas | 2 |
| Triples | Five tied | Five tied | 1 |
| Stolen bases | Solly Drake | Tigres de Marianao | 4 |
| Wins | Winston Brown | Cerveza Balboa | 2 |
| Wins | Jim Bunning | Tigres de Marianao | 2 |
| Earned run average | Emilio Cueche | Leones del Caracas | 0.00 |
| Strikeouts | George Brunet | Cerveza Balboa | 17 |
| Innings pitched | Winston Brown | Cerveza Balboa | 18.0 |

## Awards

Tournament Awards :
| Award | Player | Team |
| MVP | Solly Drake | Tigres de Marianao |
| Best manager | Napoléon Reyes | Tigres de Marianao |
All Star Team :
| Position | Player | Team |
| First base | Bob Speake | Indios de Mayagüez |
| Second base | Pompeyo Davalillo | Leones del Caracas |
| Third base | Clyde Parris | Cerveza Balboa |
| Shortstop | José Valdivielso | Tigres de Marianao |
| Left field | Minnie Miñoso | Tigres de Marianao |
| Center field | Solly Drake | Tigres de Marianao |
| Right field | Luis Márquez | Indios de Mayagüez |
| Catcher | Hal R. Smith | Tigres de Marianao |
| Pitcher | Winston Brown | Cerveza Balboa |