Caracas (Venezuela), 1928 – 2005

By Pablo Alabarces

Alfonso “Chico” Carrasquel was such a talented baseball player and had such a powerful arm that at the age of eleven, he played in a league reserved for athletes sixteen years old. In one season, he played for three teams. At fifteen, he dropped out of school to work in a tire factory in Caracas, although he was primarily hired to play baseball. He arrived in American baseball in 1949 with the Dodgers but was not accepted due to his lack of English proficiency. The following year, he debuted as a starter for the Chicago White Sox, being considered the third-best rookie in the American League. He was the third Venezuelan to play in Major League Baseball, preceded by his uncle Alejandro “Patón” Carrasquel and Jesús “Chucho” Ramos. He played in Chicago until 1955, with his uncle acting as his translator. Soon, he was sent to the Cleveland Indians, yielding his position to another Venezuelan, Luis Aparicio. In June 1958, he was purchased by Kansas City, and four months later, he was traded to Baltimore, the team where he would retire in 1959.

Chico Carrasquel was the first Latin American to participate in a Major League All-Star Game, being selected in 1951. He repeated this feat in 1953, 1954, and 1955. He returned to Venezuela and served as a coach and later manager for the Caracas Leones, in addition to working for ten years as a TV and radio commentator in the Venezuelan League. He passed away at the age of 77 due to kidney disease. After his death, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez declared two days of official mourning.