Chico Carrasquel

• Uncle of Cris Colon
• Nephew of Alex Carrasquel

[edit] Biography

Venezuelan born shortstop Chico Carrasquel was best known for his defensive skills. He was the uncle of Cris Colón.

He was originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 but was later sold to the Chicago White Sox. As a rookie in 1950, he succeeded popular Hall of Famer Luke Appling as the Sox starting shortstop and put together a 24-game hitting streak. The next year, he became the first Latin player to appear in the All-Star Game and a national hero in his home country.

When he joined the White Sox, they were a below-average team, but from 1951-1955 they were always over .500. Key teammates included Nellie Fox, Minnie Minoso, and Billy Pierce.

In 1955, Carrasquel was traded to the Cleveland Indians to clear the way in the Sox lineup for another great Venezuelan shortstop, Luis Aparicio.

Carrasquel's best year as a hitter was in 1957, when he posted numbers of .276/.351/.378. While Carrasquel's lifetime batting average and slugging percentage were very similar to those of Luis Aparicio, Carrasquel drew more walks and thus had an on-base percentage 20 points higher.

After his playing career ended, he worked in the Chicago White Sox front office and did Spanish-language radio broadcasts of Sox games for many years.

In 2003, he was injured during a carjacking in his native Venezuela. On May 26, 2005, Carrasquel died in his homeland of cardiac arrest.

Chico was a huge star in his native Venezuela, and numerous Spanish-language writers have eulogized him.

[edit] Statistics

<stats> Player=Chico Carrasquel Type=Batting </stats>

[edit] Batting

Year Ag Tm  Lg  G   AB    R    H   2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG *OPS+  TB   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP 
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 1950 22 CHW AL 141  524   72  148  21  5   4   46   0  2  66  46  .282  .368  .365   90  191   8           5  16 MVP-12,RoY-3
 1951 23 CHW AL 147  538   41  142  22  4   2   58  14  4  46  39  .264  .325  .331   79  178   8           3  13 AS
 1952 24 CHW AL 100  359   36   89   7  4   1   42   2  2  33  27  .248  .315  .298   70  107   3           2   5
 1953 25 CHW AL 149  552   72  154  30  4   2   47   5  3  38  47  .279  .330  .359   84  198  10           4  15 MVP-26,AS
 1954 26 CHW AL 155  620  106  158  28  3  12   62   7  6  85  67  .255  .348  .368   95  228   6   2       5   9 AS
 1955 27 CHW AL 145  523   83  134  11  2  11   52   1  1  61  59  .256  .335  .348   82  182   4   6   0   4  10 AS
 1956 28 CLE AL 141  474   60  115  15  1   7   48   0  4  52  61  .243  .323  .323   70  153   9   3   0   6   9
 1957 29 CLE AL 125  392   37  108  14  1   8   57   0  2  41  53  .276  .351  .378  101  148   7   6   2   8  15
 1958 30 TOT AL 108  316   33   74  11  1   4   34   0  1  35  27  .234  .311  .313   73   99   4   0   1   0   7
         CLE AL  49  156   14   40   6  0   2   21   0  0  14  12  .256  .318  .333   82   52   3   0   1   0   4
         KCA AL  59  160   19   34   5  1   2   13   0  1  21  15  .213  .304  .294   65   47   1   0   0   0   3
 1959 31 BAL AL 114  346   28   77  13  0   4   28   2  3  34  41  .223  .292  .295   64  102   8   2   1   1  10
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 10 Seasons    1325 4644  568 1199 172 25  55  474  31 28 491 467  .258  .333  .342   82 1586  67  19   4  38 109
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
 162 Game Avg        568   69  147  21  3   7   58   4  3  60  57  .258  .333  .342   82  194   8   2   0   5  13
 Career High    155  620  106  158  30  5  12   62  14  6  85  67  .282  .368  .378  101  228  10   6   2   8  16

[edit] References

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