Pompeyo Antonio Davalillo Romero a-va-LEE-yo(June 5, 1928 – February 28, 2013) was a

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

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 and minor league

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played in

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 ...

(MLB) as a

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 ...

for the Washington Senators.

Career

Davalillo was drafted by the

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 ...

in 1953 and later transferred to the Washington Senators. At the age of 25, he made his major league debut with the Senators on August 1,

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 ...

, becoming only the fourth Venezuelan to play in Major League Baseball after

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 ...

(1939),

Chucho Ramos Jesús Manuel Ramos García (April 12, 1918 – September 2, 1977) was a Venezuelan outfielder/first baseman in Major League Baseball who played briefly during the season. Listed at 5' 10.5", 167 lb., Ramos batted right-handed and threw l ...

(1944) and

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 ...

(1950). At 5'3", along with

Stubby Magner Edmund Burke (Stubby) Magner (February 10, 1888 – September 6, 1956) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop and second baseman. Career Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Magner captained Cornell to an undefeated season in 1911, winning an ...

he is the shortest person to have played a fielding position in

. He had a promising future, but his aversion to airplane travel, combined with a severe injury, curtailed his career in the major leagues. Davalillo played eleven seasons in

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, nine of them at Triple-A level, and posted a .270 average in 1,207 games. He also played in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

(1962–64) and spent fourteen seasons with the

Leones del 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 ...

of the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (, or LVBP) is the top-level professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Background and predecessors Baseball had been play ...

(1952–53 and 1965–66). He is the second-smallest player in major league baseball history. The shortest player on record is 43-inch

Eddie Gaedel Edward Carl Gaedel (June 8, 1925 – June 18, 1961) was the smallest player to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Gaedel gained recognition in the second game of a St. Louis Browns doubleheader on August 19, 1951. Weighing and standing t ...

, who got one plate appearance (a walk) as a 1951 publicity stunt. Five players listed at 5-3 have graced the major leagues since 1900, according to Baseball Reference, with Pompeyo Davalillo,

Jess Cortazzo John Francis "Jess" Cortazzo (September 26, 1904 – March 4, 1963), also known as "Shine", was an American professional baseball player. He was a shortstop for one season (1923) with the Chicago White Sox. For his career, he appeared in one g ...

Bob Emmerich Robert George Emmerich (August 1, 1891 – November 22, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He played one season with the Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, B ...

and Mike McCormack combining for 90 hits in 463 at-bats".

Career statistics

In a 19-game major league career, Davalillo had 17

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 58

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

for a .293 career

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 ...

along with 2

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, 1

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 ...

and scored 10 runs. He had a .305

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

along with a .935

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. In 469 Venezuelan Winter League games, he was a .276 hitter with three

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 and 130 RBI, including 246 runs, 58 doubles, 19

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 67 stolen bases.

Coaching career and honors

After his playing career had ended, Davalillo became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and a manager in the Venezuelan league. Davalillo was inducted 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 ...

in 2006. His younger brother

Vic Davalillo Víctor José Davalillo Romero (31 July 1939 – 6 December 2023) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Mexican League as an outfielder from 1963 to 1982. Davalillo (pronounced da-va-LE ...

, also played in Major League Baseball.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davalillo, Pompeyo 1931 births 2013 deaths Algodoneros de Unión Laguna managers Anaheim Angels scouts California Angels scouts Caribbean Series managers Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Havana Sugar Kings players Jersey City Jerseys players Leones del Caracas players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Major League Baseball shortstops Miami Marlins (International League) players Minor league baseball managers Mexican League baseball managers Baseball players from Cabimas Tigres del México players Tigres de Salamanca players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Cuba 20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen Leones del Caracas managers

Career

Career statistics

Coaching career and honors

See also

Notes

References