1941 Amateur World Series

1941 Amateur World Series

Poster commissioned by Radio Havana Cuba; IBF president Jaime Mariné is on the cover
Tournament details
Country	Cuba
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	27 September – 22 October
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	Venezuela (1st title)
Runner-up	Cuba
Third place	Mexico
Fourth place	Panama
Tournament statistics
Games played	36
MVP	José Casanova
← 1940 1942 →

The 1941 Amateur World Series was the fourth edition of the Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation. The tournament took place, for the third consecutive time, in Cuba. It was contested by nine national teams playing eight games each from September 27 through October 22 at the Estadio La Tropical in Havana.^[1]

Venezuela won its first international baseball title, defeating defending champions Cuba in a tie-breaker championship game. The victory is cited as the catalyst for baseball's exploding popularity in Venezuela, and the championship team was hailed as "Los Heroes del '41" ("Heroes of '41").^[2][3]

Participants and format

All teams participated in a single-match round-robin, resulting in eight games for each team. In case of a tie for best record at the end of the round-robin, a single playoff game would be held to determine the overall winner.

The tournament saw the return of all of the new members that had been invited to the 1940 edition, with the exception of Hawaii. Three new national teams were added: El Salvador, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The appearance of the Panamanian and Dominican teams in particular raised the level of competition in the tournament, according to Roberto González Echevarría.^[4]

With the departure of Hawaii, the Amateur World Series would consist exclusively of national teams from the Americas going forward, until Italy and the Netherlands were added for the 1970 edition.

Final standings

Final Standings[5]
Pos.	Team	W	L	RS	RA
1	Venezuela	8	1	61
2	Cuba	7	2	63
Eliminated in group stage
3	Mexico	6	2	51
4[a]	Panama	5	3	34
	Dominican Republic	5	3	39
6[b]	United States	2	6	35
	Nicaragua	2	6	23
8[c]	Puerto Rico	1	7	19
	El Salvador	1	7	12

Playoffs

	Playoff Game
	1	Venezuela	3
	2	Cuba	1

October 22, 1941 14:30 EDT (UTC−4) at Gran Stadium La Tropical in Havana, Cuba

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	7	2
Venezuela	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	6	1
WP: Daniel Canónico (5–0)   LP: Conrado Marrero (3–1) Boxscore

Highlights

 Venezuela

• Héctor Benítez collected at least one hit in each of his nine games and led the series with three triples.
• Daniel Canónico (4–0, 1.69 ERA) was the most dominant pitcher in the series, winning five of the team's games including the series-tying and deciding games against Cuba. He would go on to a career as a player and manager in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.
• José Antonio Casanova earned the Most Valuable Player award for the tournament.
• José Pérez Colmenares drove in five runs and scored 11 times in the nine contests.
• Chucho Ramos was on the team as an outfielder and would have a brief stint with the Cincinnati Reds in 1944.^[6]
• Dalmiro Finol, who years later would hit the first home run in Venezuelan professional baseball (1946) as well as the first homer in Caribbean Series history (1949).

 Cuba

• Bernardo Cuervo hit a .400 average and led the tournament with 10 runs batted in.
• Andrés Fleitas (.378) was the brother of Washington Senators shortstop Ángel Fleitas.^{[citation needed]}
• Clemente González (.395) had the most hits in the tournament with 17.
• Connie Marrero (3-0, 0.46 ERA) was very effective during round-robin play, but suffered the loss in the playoff game.
• Rogelio Martínez (2-0, 0.00 ERA) would have a cup of coffee with the Washington Senators in 1950.^[7]
• Julio Moreno (1-1, 1.29 ERA) was another effective pitcher for the team. He went on to play four seasons with the Washington Senators in the early 1950s.^[8]
• Tony Ordeñana (.256) led the tournament with 14 runs scored, and go on to play a single major league game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1943.^[9]
• Nap Reyes (.343) contributed for a second Amateur World Series.

 Mexico

• Victor Canales hit five doubles to lead the tournament and would go on to play for several years in the minor leagues.
• Guillermo Prieto led the tournament in average, going 12-for-22 at the plate and hitting .545, the highest imark to that point in Amateur World Series history.^[5][10]

 Panama

• León Kellman hit the only home run of the series and would go on to a career in the Negro leagues and Mexican League.^{[citation needed]}
• Pat Scantlebury pitched for the team and would go on to have a long Negro leagues career as well as a short stint with the Cincinnati Reds.^{[citation needed]}

 Nicaragua

• Carlos Navas would take the base stealing title for the tournament by swiping six bags.

 Puerto Rico

• Miguel Angel Jimenez - Pitcher

Honors and awards

Statistical leaders

Batting leaders[10] Statistic Name Total Batting average Guillermo Prieto .545 Hits Clemente González 17 Runs Mosquito Ordeñana 14 Home runs León Kellman 1 Runs batted in Bernardo Cuervo 10 Stolen bases Carlos Navas 6

Pitching leaders[10] Statistic Name Total Wins Daniel Canónico 4 Earned run average Rogelio Martínez 0.00

Awards

Award	Player	Ref.
Most Valuable Player	José Antonio Casanova	[10]

References

External links

• Historia de la Copa Mundial (1938-1948) (Spanish)
• IV Serie Mundial de Béisbol Amateur – 1941 (Spanish)