Dalmiro Finol (August 21, 1919 – May 16, 1994) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. Finol batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. He was born in Barrancas,

Zulia State Zulia State (, ; Wayuu language, Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the States of Venezuela, 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Vene ...

. A versatile utility man, Finol was able to play all positions except

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, playing mainly at

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

and

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Basically a line-drive hitter and a fine defensive player, he started his career in the Venezuelan League in with the

Cervecería Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A., better known by its commercial name as the Leones del Caracas, is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVPB). The owner and sole shareholder of the sports club is Ricardo C ...

club, playing for the franchise in nine of his 11 professional seasons, often as its fourth batter.Cordero, Rafael. "Don Dalmiro Finol", en Tiempo Muerto de Nostalgia(pp 25–41), , Ed. Universidad Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Venezuela, 1997 He also spent part of two seasons with the Gavilanes (1953–1954) and

Magallanes Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallanes ...

(1955–1956) teams. Although he never played in American baseball, Finol teamed with major league figures as Willard Brown,

Alex Carrasquel Alejandro Eloy Carrasquel Aparicio (July 24, 1912 – August 19, 1969) was a Venezuelan pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Washington Senators and the Chicago White Sox over a span of eight seasons from 1939 to 1949. Nic ...

Chico Carrasquel 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 ...

Wilmer Fields Wilmer Leon Fields (August 2, 1922 – June 4, 2004) was an American baseball player who was a household name in the Negro leagues and other baseball circuits between the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Manassas, Virginia, Fields was a versatile tw ...

, Jim Pendleton and Len Yochim, among others. As a rookie, he led the circuit with seven

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, becoming the first player to win the league's home run title. In the midseason, he also became the first player to hit a

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

in the league's history. Finol later led the league with 35 RBI in the 1947–1948 season. His most productive effort came in the 1953–1954 tournament, when he posted career-highs in home runs (10), RBI (47) and

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

(70). He also had two good seasons, hitting .320 in 1948–1949 and .365 in 1951–1952. In an 11-season career, Finol batted a .278 average (475-for-1706) with 48 home runs and 296 RBI in 471 games, including 241 runs, 73 doubles, three

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, and 35

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. Finol died in 1994 in Maracaibo, Zulia, at the age of 74.

Milestones

*During the

1949 Caribbean Series The 1949 Caribbean Series was the first edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe''). It was held from February 20 through February 25 with the champion baseball teams of Cuba, Alacranes del Almendares; Panama, Spur Cola Colonites; Pu ...

Finol hit a home run off

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n team pitcher

Conrado Marrero Conrado Eugenio Marrero Ramos (April 25, 1911 – April 23, 2014), nicknamed "Connie", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher. The right-handed Marrero pitched in Major League Baseball from to for the Washington Senators. Marrero was a p ...

, to become the first player ever to homer in the Series. *Was a member of the Venezuelan team who won the 1941 Baseball World Cup tournament. *In 2012 received the honor of induction into the

Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The Salón de la Fama y Museo del Béisbol Venezolano (in English, the ''Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum'') is a nonprofit institution operated by private interests, which was founded on April 18, 2002, thanks to the vision of Carlos ...

as part of their ninth class.

References

* Gutiérrez, Daniel. ''Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela – 1895-2006''. Caracas, Venezuela: Impresión Arte, C.A., 2007.

External links

A history of Cuban Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finol Dalmiro 1920 births 1994 deaths Cervecería Caracas players Gavilanes de Maracaibo players Leones del Caracas players Navegantes del Magallanes players Baseball players from Zulia Venezuelan baseball players 20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen