Dalmiro Finol (August 21, 1920 – May 16, 1994) was a

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 professional

baseball 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 tea ...

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 it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He was born in Barrancas,

Zulia State Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; 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 popu ...

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

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and

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 ...

, 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 the ...

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 The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

in with the

Cervecería Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of 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 Gavilanes is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Ins ...

(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 * Magallane ...

(1955–1956) teams. Although he never played in

American baseball 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 tea ...

, Finol teamed with major league figures as

Willard Brown Willard Jessie Brown (June 26, 1915 – August 4, 1996), nicknamed "Home Run" Brown, was an American baseball player who played outfielder in the Negro leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs and in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Brown ...

Alex Carrasquel Alejandro Eloy Carrasquel Aparicio (July 24, 1912 – August 19, 1969) was a Venezuelan pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Washington Senators and the Chicago White Sox in a span of eight seasons from 1939–1949. Listed at 6' 1 ...

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 1 ...

, Wilmer Fields,

Jim Pendleton James Edward Pendleton (January 7, 1924 — March 20, 1996) was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1953 and 1962. He played for the Milwaukee Braves (1953–69), Milwaukee Braves, Pittsb ...

and

Len Yochim Leonard Joseph Yochim (October 16, 1928 – May 11, 2013) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played in parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1951 and 1954, and later served in the organization for alm ...

, among others. As a rookie, he led the circuit with seven

home run 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 ...

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 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. Basebal ...

(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; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, and 35

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled 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 ...

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 ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

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 made his m ...

, 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 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 BaseballLatino Baseball1941 BWC ChampionshipPura Pelota – VPBL career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finol Dalmiro 1920 births 1994 deaths Cervecería Caracas players Gavilanes de Maracaibo players Leones del Caracas players Navegantes del Magallanes players People from Zulia Venezuelan baseball players