Baseball at the 1959 Pan American Games

Baseball at the III Pan American Games
Medalists
Venezuela    Puerto Rico    United States
«1955 1963»

The 1959 Pan American Games were the first Pan American Games held in the United States and the third ever. They were held at Wrigley Field in Chicago from August 27 through September 7. They were the only Pan Am Games (through 2015) won by Venezuela.

 Venezuela went 6-1 to claim the title. The team was managed by experimented José Antonio Casanova and featured future big leaguer Dámaso Blanco. Infielder José Flores led the event with three triples while Manuel Pérez Bolaños was 2-0 on the mound, as was 18-year-old Luis Peñalver, about to embark on a 19-year Minor League career, mostly in AAA.

 Puerto Rico won Silver, thanks to a 5-1 record. Irmo Figueroa led the competition in average (.500) while Carlos Pizarro had the most hits (12). R. Vazquez led in RBI (10) and tied for the home run lead with 2.

 United States won Bronze at 4-3; their 3-2 win over Cuba helped them lock up the Medal. An A. Hall, presumably Alan Hall, tied for the homer lead with two. Charles Davis had the best ERA (0.69). Future Hall-of-Famer Lou Brock was 1 for 10.

 Cuba had a very disappointing tourney, going 2-4 and failing to take a medal, a contrast with the upcoming Fidel Castro era teams that won 10 Pan Am Games Gold Medals in a row. Urbano Gonzalez hit .353 and Pedro Chavez was 5 for 9.

 Mexico was 5th at 3-2. Roberto Coto led the event with 5 doubles. Mauro Ruiz went 2-0, the only non-Venezuelan to post that record.

 Costa Rica had one of their best events ever, going 3-3 to finish 6th. They were followed by  Nicaragua (7th, 2-4) and  Dominican Republic (8th, 2-3).  Brazil pulled up the rear, losing all six of their games.

Final standing

Place Team  Venezuela  Puerto Rico  United States 4  Cuba 5  Mexico 6  Costa Rica 7  Nicaragua 8  Dominican Republic 9  Brazil

1959 Pan American Games  Venezuela First title

References

• Olderr, Steven (2003). The Pan American Games: A Statistical History, 1951-1999, bilingual edition. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786443369. 
• "1959 Pan American Games". Baseball-Reference.com. 
• "1959 Pan American Games (Rosters)". Baseball-Reference.com.