Camilo Carreón (August 6, 1937 – September 2, 1987) was an American
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.
Mod ...
player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games
** Athlete, a player in sports
** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...
. The
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
appeared in 354
games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...
over all or parts of eight
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
seasons between and for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
,
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
and
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
. His son
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
was also a major league player. Born in
Colton, California
Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Nicknamed "Hub City", Colton is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is a suburb of San Bernardino, California, San Bernardino, approximately south of the cit ...
, Camilo Carreón threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as tall and .
Playing career
White Sox
Signed by the White Sox in 1956, Carreón rose steadily through their
farm system
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
,
hitting over .300 at three different levels, including .311 in the
Triple-A American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
, with 165
hits and 91
runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) 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 the bat ...
, in 1959. He was named the Association's All-Star catcher. Carreón made his major league debut on September 27, 1959, the closing day of Chicago's
pennant-winning season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
. He hit a
fly ball out against
Pete Burnside
Peter Willits Burnside (July 2, 1930 – August 26, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and left-handed pitcher who appeared in 196 Major League Baseball games in 1955 and from 1957 to 1963 for the New York / San Francisco Gian ...
of the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
in his only
at bat
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 during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
. He was late reporting to
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
, for
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
in 1960 because of service in the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, then spent the bulk of the campaign back in Triple-A, this time with
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
of the
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
, and hit .279 in 109 games. He then received his second consecutive September call-up, batting .235 in eight games, including seven starts as catcher.
Carreón made the White Sox for good in , getting into 78 games, with 63 starts at catcher in relief of 37-year-old veteran star
Sherm Lollar Sherm is a shortened version of the given name Sherman and may refer to:
People
*Sherm Chavoor (1919-1992), American swimming coach
*Sherm Cohen (born 1965), American storyboard artist
*Sherm Feller (1918–1994), American musician and sports an ...
. He hit a two-run single off
Whitey Ford
Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...
to give
Juan Pizarro a 2–1 victory over 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) Amer ...
on August 15, 1961. The second-inning hit enabled the White Sox to break Ford's 14-game winning streak. Overall, he hit .271 in his first full MLB season. The next year, , he supplanted Lollar as the White Sox' regular catcher, starting 85 games and hitting .256. His best big-league season came in , when he played in 101 games and hit .274, starting 81 games behind the plate. It was his last full and healthy season in the majors.
Indians and Orioles
The White Sox placed Carreón on the disabled list on July 3, 1964, after he tore tendons in his right arm. During the 1964–65 offseason, he was part of a blockbuster three-way trade with the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
and
Kansas City Athletics
The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...
that also included
Rocky Colavito
Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (born August 10, 1933) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a m ...
,
Tommy John
Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...
and
Tommie Agee
Tommie Lee Agee (August 9, 1942 – January 22, 2001) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from through , most notably as a member of the New York Mets team that became known as th ...
. Going into the campaign, Carreón was listed as the Indians' second-string catcher, behind
Joe Azcue
José Joaquín Azcue López (born August 18, 1939) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, most prominently as a member of the Cleveland Indians where he played the bulk of hi ...
. But he played only 19 games with the Tribe, spent 45 games back in Triple-A with the
Portland Beavers
The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL.
Franchise history
Many baseball teams ...
of the Pacific Coast League, and was one of five players assigned outright to Portland in October 1965.
Cleveland then traded Carreón to the Orioles during spring training of 1966 in a one-for-one deal for
Lou Piniella
Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...
, then a 22-year-old, minor league
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 cat ...
in the Baltimore organization. The Orioles were en route to their first-ever
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
pennant that season, but Carreón got into only four games for Baltimore (his last on June 8, when he hit a
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
in his final MLB at bat), and spent the latter half of the year with Triple-A
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
. He played two more minor league seasons before retiring from baseball.
As a major leaguer, Carreón collected 260 hits, including 43 doubles, four
triples, and 11
home runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
, with 114 runs batted in. He batted .264 lifetime. Defensively, he recorded a .993
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
as a catcher, committing only 13 errors in 1,776
total chances
In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...
. He died in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, at the age of 50, and is buried in the
Hermosa Memorial Cemetery in Colton.
''Baseball Necrology''
/ref>
See also
* List of second-generation Major League Baseball players
Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo ...
* Chicago White Sox all-time roster
The following is a list of players and managers (*), both past and current, who appeared at least in one regular season game for the Chicago White Sox franchise.
Players in Bold are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Players in ''Ita ...
References
External links
, o
Retrosheet
o
SABR Biography Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carreon, Cam
1937 births
1987 deaths
American baseball players of Mexican descent
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from San Bernardino County, California
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (WL) players
Duluth-Superior White Sox players
Holdrege White Sox players
Indianapolis Indians players
Jacksonville Suns players
Major League Baseball catchers
Sportspeople from Colton, California
Portland Beavers players
Rapiños de Occidente players
Rochester Red Wings players
San Diego Padres (minor league) players
Tucson Toros players
American expatriate baseball players in Colombia
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela