José Pérez Colmenares
| José Pérez Colmenares | |
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| First baseman / Outfielder | |
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Born: July 14, 1914 Villa de Cura, Aragua, Venezuela |
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Died: July 25, 1944 (aged 30) Barcelona, Anzoátegui, Venezuela |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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José Pérez Colmenares (July 14, 1914 – July 25, 1944) was a baseball pioneer in Venezuela and a member of the National Team that captured the Baseball World Cup in its 1941 edition. Pérez batted and threw lefthanded. He was born in Villa de Cura, Aragua.
In his playing days, Pérez was regarded by his versatility to play both outfield corners and first base. A solid average defender with a strong throwing arm, he showed good footwork around first base and was able to pick throws out of the dirt well. Strictly a line-drive hitter with little power, he placed more emphasis on speed and running the bases aggressively.
At age 17, Pérez debuted professionally in 1931 in the newly created Liga Nacional de Béisbol, which had stabilized the first national championship of first division in Venezuela since its inauguration in 1930.
Pérez moved around for a while, as the circuit shifted players in anytime as needed to help new teams stay afloat. He entered the league with the Latinos BBC, playing for them in his rookie season before joining the Águilas BBC in 1932. After that he had a number of stints with clubs such as Lucana, Senadores, Deportivo Caracas (twice), Cardenales (twice), Valdés (twice) and Magallanes in the next nine seasons spanning 1933–1941.
The hard work paid off when Pérez made the Venezuelan pre-selection team in 1941, then was added to the national team roster for the Baseball World Cup tournament to be played in Cuba in October.
The Venezuelan team prevailed in six of its seven games, with the only defeat coming to Dominican Republic, before facing the undefeated Cubans in the last game of the schedule. Venezuela closed the tournament with a 4–1 victory over Cuba, a disappointing final for 30,000 people gathered at La Tropical Stadium in Havana. With both clubs tied at 7–1 after more than two weeks of play, the visitors to settle proudly for the result. Nevertheless, the overconfidents Cubans insisted on an extra playoff game, which was played on October 28, 1941. As a result, Daniel Canónico won a pitching duel with Connie Marrero and defeated the Cuban squad by a score of 3–1. This was the first Venezuelan baseball team to win an international tournament, where Pérez drove in five runs and scored 11 times, while hitting a .275 batting average in the nine contests.
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