#230 "Chico" Carrasquel - Cleveland Indians

Alfonso Carrasquel
Cleveland Indians
Shortstop

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  January 23, 1926, Caracas, Venezuela
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago White Sox 1950-1955; Cleveland Indians 1956-1958; Kansas City Athletics 1958; Baltimore Orioles 1959

Died:  May 26, 2005, Caracas, Venezuela (age 79)

Chico Carrasquel was the first of a long line of successful Venezuelan-born shortstops in the major leagues, paving the way for Luis Aparicio (#292), Davey Concepcion and Omar Vizquel, among many others.  He batted a career high .282 in his rookie season of 1950, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voting.  Carrasquel was a four-time All-Star with the White Sox in the early 1950s, and in 1951 he was the first Latin American player to start an All-Star Game, beating out reigning MVP Phil Rizzuto in fan voting to earn the starting spot at shortstop.  His best year came in 1954 when he set career highs for home runs (12), RBIs (62), hits (158) and runs (106) while leading all shortstops in fielding percentage for the third time.  With Aparicio waiting in the wings for the White Sox, Carrasquel, along with Jim Busby (#330), was traded to the Indians on October 25, 1955 for Larry Doby (#250).

After four more seasons with the Indians, Athletics and Orioles, Carrasquel retired as a player, at least in the major leagues, following the 1959 season.  He had accumulated 1,199 hits while batting .258, and his career games at shortstop, double plays turned, assists and putouts all currently rank within the top 100 all-time.  Carrasquel returned to Venezuela where he continued to play through the 1967 season.  He'd later manage the Leones del Caracas to the 1982 Caribbean Series title.  Carrasquel would also spend time as a scout for the Royals and Mets, and providing Spanish language color commentary for White Sox broadcasts.  In 2003, he was inducted with the inaugural class of the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Building the Set
December 4, 1999 in Raleigh, NC - Card #191
This is one of four cards I acquired at the "Holiday Sports Classic" baseball card show held in Raleigh in late 1999.  I paid $10 for the Cubs team card (#11) and another $5 for three commons - this Carrasquel card, Norm Zauchin (#89) and Alvin Dark (#148).  Given the timing of this show right before the holidays, I would have attended by myself but I most likely called my Dad back in Millville, New Jersey to update him on my purchases later that day.

From the notes I took on the flyer shown here, I didn't have much of a budget for this show as I spent $15 for the four cards for our 1956 Topps set and a whopping $6.30 for five cards for my 1972 Topps set.  It's also interesting to look back at this flyer and remember how bonkers the Beanie Baby craze was in the late 1990s.

The Card / Indians Team Set
Topps swapped out a White Sox logo for an Indians logo on Carrasquel's hat, and he wore #17 with both teams.  He was absent from Topps sets between 1953 and 1955, making his return here after appearing exclusively on Bowman cards.  The cartoon panels on the back rightfully highlight his excellent defensive skills, and his quick ascent to the majors.

1956 Season

In his first season with the Indians, Carrasquel was the team's opening day shortstop and started 135 games overall at the position.  On April 26th, he had a career-high seven RBIs against the Athletics and on August 27th he had a two home run outing, his only multi-home run game in the majors.  The Indians double play combination of Carrasquel and Bobby Avila (#132) were solid in the field, but light-hitting at the plate with Carrasquel batting .243 and Avila batting .224.  But Carrasquel's .967 fielding percentage was second in the league behind Harvey Kuenn (#155).

1951 Bowman #60

1952 Topps #251

1953 Bowman Color #54

1957 Topps #67

1959 Topps #264

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #60
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1951-1952, 1956-1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Legends #L5

65 - Carrasquel non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/27/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #229 Harry Brecheen CO - Baltimore Orioles / #231 Bob Hale - Baltimore Orioles

Order Collected: #148 Alvin Dark - New York Giants / #79 Sandy Koufax - Brooklyn Dodgers