Elio Chacón Rodríguez (October 26, 1936 – April 24, 1992) was a

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), ...

second baseman and

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

who played in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from

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 ...

to play in the majors.

Early baseball career

Born in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Chacón was listed as tall and . He threw and batted right-handed. Chacón

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.265 as a reserve second baseman with the NL champion

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, starting 34 games during the season. In Game 2 of the

1961 World Series The 1961 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1961 season. The 58th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees (109–53) ag ...

, Chacón hit a key bloop single against

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 ...

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 ...

Ralph Terry Ralph Willard Terry (January 9, 1936 – March 16, 2022) was an American baseball player who played as a right-handed starting pitcher for twelve seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, ...

, and scored the winning run in the Reds' only victory in the series. Immediately after the World Series, on October 10, the

1961 MLB expansion draft The 1961 MLB Expansion Draft was held by Major League Baseball on October 10, 1961, to fill the rosters of the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s, the new franchises which would enter the league in the 1962 season. The pool of players out of w ...

to stock the newborn

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

was conducted in Cincinnati. After he was selected by New York with the fourth overall pick during the draft's regular phase, Chacón was the Mets' first candidate for the starting shortstop job. In a May 28 game, Chacón got into a fight with Willie Mays. Chacón was ejected from the game.

'¡La tengo!'

During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder

Richie Ashburn Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. (Some sources give his ...

and Chacón frequently found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into the 160-pound Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡La tengo! ¡La tengo!" which is "I've got it" in Spanish. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by 200-pound left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡La tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the hell is a Yellow Tango?". The band,

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...

, gets its name from this baseball anecdote. He led the Mets in

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 in their inaugural season of 1962, but then never appeared in the major leagues again. His professional career continued through 1971. In the majors, Chacón was a .232 career hitter with 143

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 se ...

, four

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, 28 RBI, 49 runs, and 20 stolen bases in 228 games played. Elio Chacón died in Caracas at the age of 55.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chacon, Elio 1936 births 1992 deaths Águilas del Zulia players Baseball players at the 1955 Pan American Games Broncos de Reynosa players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cincinnati Reds players Denver Bears players Havana Sugar Kings players Industriales de Valencia players Jacksonville Suns players Licoreros de Pampero players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mexican League baseball players New York Mets players Pan American Games bronze medalists for Venezuela Pan American Games medalists in baseball Portland Beavers players Savannah Redlegs players Baseball players from Caracas Tiburones de La Guaira players Tigres de Aragua players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Cuba

Early baseball career

'¡La tengo!'

See also

References

External links