Zoilo Versalles

Full Name: Zoilo Casanova (Rodriguez) Versalles	Primary Position: SS
Height/Weight: 5' 10"/146	First Game: August 1, 1959
Birthdate: December 18, 1939	Final Game: September 28, 1971
Birthplace: Havana, Cuba	MLB Experience: 12 years
Died: June 9, 1995
Deathplace: Bloomington, Minnesota
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

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1 Biography
2 Statistics
- 2.1 Batting Stats
- 2.2 Fielding Stats
3 Transactions
4 Trivia
5 Video Gallery
6 Picture Gallery
7 See Also
8 Categories

[edit] Biography

Zoilo Casanova Versalles Rodriguez (December 18, 1939 - June 9, 1995) was a Cuban shortstop in Major League Baseball, considered to be a great fielder, solid leadoff man, and a brilliant baserunner. He was the sparkplug that led the 1965 Twins to their first World Series. He was voted the American League Most Valuable Player in 1965. He had a hard time adjusting to life in the U.S; he was eternally homesick for his native Cuba. In 1967 he was traded by Minnesota and that led to his decline as a major talent. He went from team to team until he formally retired in 1972. He was born in El Vedado, Cuba and died in 1995 in Bloomington, Minnesota.

He played for the Minnesota Twins from 1961-1967, the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968, the Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators in 1969, and the Atlanta Braves in 1971. He led the Twins to their first-ever World Series against the Dodgers and was the AL MVP in 1965. He led the American League in at-bats, runs scored, doubles and triples. He had a batting average of .252 during his six years with the Twins. Bill James points out that Versalles' MVP season makes him the player with the fewest career win shares (134) to win an MVP award.[1] He had 1,046 hits, scored 564 runs, had 86 homers, 401 RBI's, and stole 84 bases in a total of 1,065 games. He was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2006.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	IBB	GDP
1959	WAS	A	29	59	4	9	1	1	.153	.219	.203	0	0	4	15	1	0	1	0	0
1960	WAS	A	15	45	2	6	0	4	.133	.170	.267	2	2	2	5	0	0	0	0	0
1961	MIN	A	129	510	65	143	7	53	.280	.314	.390	25	5	25	61	1	4	16	2	8
1962	MIN	A	160	568	69	137	17	67	.241	.287	.373	18	3	37	71	2	10	5	8	13
1963	MIN	A	159	621	74	162	10	54	.261	.303	.401	31	13	33	66	5	7	7	2	11
1964	MIN	A	160	659	94	171	20	64	.259	.311	.431	33	10	42	88	8	7	14	1	5
1965	MIN	A	160	666	126	182	19	77	.273	.319	.462	45	12	41	122	7	6	27	3	7
1966	MIN	A	137	543	73	135	7	36	.249	.307	.346	20	6	40	85	7	3	10	2	11
1967	MIN	A	160	581	63	116	6	50	.200	.249	.282	16	7	33	113	6	3	5	2	15
1968	LA	N	122	403	29	79	2	24	.196	.244	.266	16	3	26	84	0	6	6	4	7
1969	WAS	A	31	75	9	20	0	6	.267	.304	.320	2	1	3	13	1	0	1	0	1
1969	CLE	A	72	217	21	49	1	13	.226	.298	.300	11	1	21	47	2	0	3	1	7
1969	TOT	A	103	292	30	69	1	19	.236	.299	.305	13	2	24	60	3	0	4	1	8
1971	ATL	N	66	194	21	37	5	22	.191	.233	.325	11	0	11	40	0	4	2	1	7
Total	NL		188	597	50	116	7	46	.194	.241	.285	27	3	37	124	0	10	8	5	14
Total	AL		1212	4544	600	1130	88	425	.249	.297	.378	203	60	281	686	40	40	89	21	78
Total			1400	5141	650	1246	95	471	.242	.290	.367	230	63	318	810	40	50	97	26	92

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	AVG
1959	WAS	A	SS	29	19	161.1	41	59	6	13	.943
1960	WAS	A	SS	15	15	117	30	42	5	6	.935
1961	MIN	A	SS	129	126	1091.2	229	371	30	74	.952
1962	MIN	A	SS	160	157	1400.1	335	501	26	127	.970
1963	MIN	A	SS	159	157	1410.1	301	448	30	87	.961
1964	MIN	A	SS	160	158	1424	271	427	31	89	.957
1965	MIN	A	SS	160	158	1406.1	248	487	39	105	.950
1966	MIN	A	SS	135	135	1176.2	195	377	35	69	.942
1967	MIN	A	SS	159	152	1348	229	454	30	81	.958
1968	LA	N	SS	119	116	1008.2	204	380	28	62	.954
1969	WAS	A	2B	6	4	32	9	11	0	1	1.000
1969	WAS	A	3B	5	2	32.1	1	10	2	1	.846
1969	WAS	A	SS	13	9	87	10	33	3	2	.935
1969	CLE	A	SS	3	2	22.2	1	6	0	1	1.000
1969	CLE	A	2B	47	37	309	72	83	4	16	.975
1969	CLE	A	3B	30	20	194.1	28	42	2	8	.972
1969	TOT	A	3B	35	22	226.2	29	52	4	9	.953
1969	TOT	A	SS	16	11	109.2	11	39	3	3	.943
1969	TOT	A	2B	53	41	341	81	94	4	17	.978
1971	ATL	N	SS	24	23	198.2	32	60	5	11	.948
1971	ATL	N	2B	1	1	9	2	2	0	0	1.000
1971	ATL	N	3B	30	29	248.1	29	45	8	2	.902
Total			3B	65	51	475	58	97	12	11	.928
Total			SS	1265	1227	10852.2	2126	3645	268	727	.956
Total			2B	54	42	350	83	96	4	17	.978

[edit] Transactions

Signed as an amateur free agent by Washington Senators (1958).
Traded by Minnesota Twins with Mudcat Grant to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for John Roseboro, Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller (November 28, 1967).
Selected by San Diego Padres from Los Angeles Dodgers (20th pick overall) in the expansion draft (October 14, 1968).
Traded by San Diego Padres to Cleveland Indians (December 2, 1968) completing trade in which Cleveland Indians traded Bill Davis to San Diego Padres in exchange for a player to be named later (October 21, 1968).
Sold by Cleveland Indians to Washington Senators (July 26, 1969).
Released by Washington Senators (April 6, 1970).
Released by Atlanta Braves (December 21, 1971).

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This page was last modified 16:28, 8 November 2007. Content is available under the GFDL.