Concept

Chico Carrasquel

Summary
Alfonso Carrasquel Colón, better known as Chico Carrasquel (January 23, 1926 – May 26, 2005), was a Venezuelan professional baseball player, coach, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1950 to 1959, most prominently as a member of the Chicago White Sox where he became the first Latin American in MLB history to start in an All-Star Game in . A four-time All-Star known for his exceptional defensive skills, Carrasquel was the first in a long line of Major League shortstops from Venezuela including, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén and Omar Vizquel among others. He also played for the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles. After his playing career, Carrasquel worked as a manager in the Venezuelan Winter League and also worked as a major league scout. He later worked as a color commentator on the White Sox' Spanish language game broadcasts and, as the team's Community Relations Representative. In , he was selected in the inaugural class of the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Born in Caracas, Carrasquel began his professional baseball career in at the age of 17 with the Cervecería Caracas team, where he hit the first home run in Venezuelan Professional Baseball League history. He was signed in by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and was immediately promoted to the Double-A Fort Worth Cats. Carrasquel provided good fielding and hit .315 during the season and .364 in the playoffs to help spur the Cats to the 1949 Texas League championship. His inability to speak English fluently may have caused Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey to sell him to the Chicago White Sox although, Rickey later admitted that the move was a mistake. White Sox' General Manager Frank Lane solved the language communication problem by trading Carrasquel's uncle Alex for reliever Witto Aloma, who served as the interpreter between Carrasquel and White Sox' manager Jack Onslow.
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