Juan Esteban Vargas Marcano (April 11, 1906 – December 30, 1971), better known as Tetelo Vargas, and nicknamed "''El Gamo Dominicano''" or "the Dominican Deer", was a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

and

first baseman 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 ...

in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

Baseball career

An athletic teenager, Vargas spent his early years playing pick-up baseball games, which helped him develop ability and strength. By 1927, when Vargas was 21, scouts from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the Dominican Republic had noticed him. Vargas was

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, however, and he became a member of the

' famed

New York Cubans The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics pl ...

. Meanwhile, at home, he was signed by the

Leones del Escogido Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional baseball team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Pr ...

, one of the four original Dominican Republic winter baseball league teams that remain in competition. Vargas gained recognition around the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, establishing a Negro league record by hitting

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 in seven consecutive at bats. In

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, Vargas went to play in

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 ...

, where he became a star and remained until

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, when the New York Cubans re-signed him. In

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

, Vargas played in the Puerto Rican Winter League. He eventually became an established resident of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Vargas was once again signed by the New York Cubans from

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, his last year as an active player in the Negro leagues. Meanwhile, in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a Caguas barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Cordillera Central (Puer ...

, Vargas established himself as an All-Star, playing in the Puerto Rican All-Star game multiple times during the 1940s. At the time, a series of different sports competitions preceded the All-Star game in Puerto Rico, all of them involving baseball players and for the All-Star game's public's enjoyment. Vargas, who won various

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 ...

titles through his career, won a number of sprint races as an All-Star player in Puerto Rico. He went on to play with the Guayama Witches and the Santurce Crabbers before heading to the Mexican Pacific Winter League in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. Vargas, in the twilight of his career, returned to the Dominican Republic's winter league also in 1952, this time with the Estrellas Orientales team. At the age of 46, he led the Dominican Republic league with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .350. Vargas managed the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

at the

1952 Amateur World Series The 1952 Amateur World Series was the 13th Amateur World Series. It was held in Havana from September 6 through September 26. Starting this year and continuing until 2007, Cuba would win every Amateur World Series/Baseball World Cup it entered - ...

. Vargas retired from baseball in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, after having played 27 seasons in five countries.

Statistics

Vargas hit .472 while playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro National League in 1943. While Baseball Reference recognizes this (listed as .471) as the highest single-season batting average in MLB history, MLB.com instead recognizes

Josh Gibson Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. In 1972, he became the second Negro league player to be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, National ...

's .466 average, hit during the same season. Apart from hitting .350 in 1952 in the Dominican Republic's winter league, Vargas also led the Puerto Rican winter league in batting average three times, hitting .410 in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

, and winning back to back titles in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

and

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, when he hit .382 and .362, respectively. Vargas played a number of exhibition games against

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, averaging .500 against Yankees pitchers.

Positions

Vargas played a number of positions on the baseball field, including

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 ...

, left field, center field,

and

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

After baseball

Vargas was idolized both in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico, but he decided to settle in the Puerto Rican city of Guayama, where he had previously starred for the local team. He remarried in 1954 in Puerto Rico and lived a rather quiet, humble life in Guayama with his wife, Violeta Enchautegui de Vargas and three daughters Carmen, Ana and Iris and son Juan Esteban Vargas Jr. Vargas died on December 30, 1971, after battling lung cancer, and is buried next to his wife in Guayama's main cemetery (Cementerio Municipal de Guayama). Vargas was elected to the Puerto Rican baseball Hall of Fame. Because of his involvement as a player with the New York Cubans, Vargas is also a member of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame. The stadium in

San Pedro de Macorís San Pedro de Macorís is a city and municipality (''municipio'') in the Dominican Republic. The capital of its eponymous province in the east region of the country, it is among the ten largest cities of the Dominican Republic. The city has approx ...

, home of the Estrellas Orientales team, is named in his honor.

Notes

References

External links

, o
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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SeamheadsJuan "Tetelo" Vargas
at SABR Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Tetelo 1906 births 1971 deaths Baseball players from Santo Domingo Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States New York Cubans players Cuban Stars (East) players Cuban House of David players Baseball outfielders Dominican Republic baseball players Baseball first basemen Negro league baseball players from the Dominican Republic Baseball shortstops