Carlos Ascanio (April 4, 1918 – February 27, 1998) was a

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

for the

New York Black Yankees The New York Black Yankees were a professional Negro league baseball team based in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; and Rochester, New York. Beginning as the independent Harlem Stars, the team was renamed the New York Black Yankees in 1932 and ...

of the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. He played first base and was nicknamed "The Earthquake" due to his powerful swing. Ascanio was the only

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n to play in the Negro leagues, which he joined in 1946 after meeting a pitcher in Cuba, who helped him get a spot in the leagues. After retiring in 1961, he spent a number of years running a sporting goods store in the Venezuelan capital city, Caracas. When

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

prices began dropping rapidly in the 1980s, the former baseball player was forced to close his business. Then, in February 1998, Ascanio died due to complications from

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, t ...

and, ultimately,

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

. On February 9, 1998, Ascanio was found "destitute and starving" on a sidewalk in downtown Caracas, where he had been living with his wife in a rundown boarding home. The two people that had found him immediately transported Ascanio to the nearest emergency room, where he was diagnosed with severe anemia caused by years of

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...

. Just three weeks later, on February 27, Ascanio was pronounced dead due to respiratory failure.

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1918 births 1998 deaths Baseball first basemen Cervecería Caracas players Cienfuegos players Gavilanes de Maracaibo players Industriales de Valencia players Licoreros de Pampero players New York Black Yankees players Patriotas de Venezuela players Sabios de Vargas players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Cuba Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan people of indigenous peoples descent Mestizo people Deaths from anemia Deaths from respiratory failure {{Negro-league-baseball-infielder-stub