José de la Trinidad Bracho (July 23, 1928 – June 16, 2011) 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 t ...
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 ...
. Listed at 6' 1", 185 lb., he batted and threw right handed.
His friends and fans affectionately called him ''
Carrao'', a moniker that he used throughout his life.
Career
Born in
Maracaibo,
Zulia
Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...
, Bracho has been considered one of the best pitchers in Venezuelan baseball history. An extremely reliable and durable pitcher, he spent 26 years in the
Venezuelan Professional Baseball 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 ...
, played four minor leagues seasons, hurled in the
Dominican Winter League
Dominican may refer to:
* Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean
** People of the Dominican Republic
** Demographics of the Domi ...
, and appeared in six
Caribbean Series
The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...
, setting an all-time pitching mark in this tournament. Notably, forty years after his retirement in 1973, Bracho still owns the all-time records in the Venezuelan league for the most
wins (109),
complete games (91),
strikeouts (859) and innings pitched (), and still owns the record for the most wins in a single-season, while collecting 15 in the 1961–1962 season.
Venezuelan league
A
sinking fastball specialist, Bracho made his debut as a 20-year-old rookie with the
Caracas team in the 1948–1949 season, playing for them during ten seasons, while helping the team to clinch four championship titles in 1948-49, 1951–52, 1952–53 and 1956-57. He also played for the
Pastora (1953–54) and
Magallanes (1954-55) champion teams before joining
Oriente/Orientales (1959-60 through 1963-64). He then returned to Magallanes (1964–65), and later formed part of
La Guaira
La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...
(1964–67) and
Lara
Lara may refer to:
Places
* Lara (state), a state in Venezuela
*Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia
* Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey
* Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia
* Lara de los In ...
(1966-68), ending his career with his home team
Zulia
Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...
(1970–73).
[ (]Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
)
His most productive campaign came in the 1961–1962 season for Oriente, when he posted a 15-5 record with 97 strikeouts and a 2.25
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
in 160 innings pitched, leading the league both in wins and innings. During that season he formed part of a solid one-two rotation along
Bob Gibson
Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...
, who went 7-10 with a 2.54 ERA and topped the league with 134 strikeouts in 142 innings.
[Récords de la Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional]
In a 23-year career, Bracho had a 109-90 record and a 3.17 ERA in 370 pitching appearances (195
starts), giving up 624 earned runs on 1626 hits and 618
walks while striking out 859 in of work.
[Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela]
Minor leagues
In addition to his homeland career, Bracho pitched in the
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
with the
San Antonio Missions (1952) and
Houston Buffaloes
The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...
(1954), as well as for the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
(1952) and
Havana Sugar Kings
The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds. Their home ...
(1955-1956) of the
International League. He registered a combined record of 18-19 and a 3.22 ERA in 71 games (40 starts).
[
]
Caribbean Series
Bracho was very solid in six Caribbean Series
The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...
, while appearing in the 1949, 1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, 1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
, 1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...
, 1955 and 1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
tournaments.
In 12 pitching appearances, he went 6–3 with a 2.15 ERA and five complete games in 71.0 innings of work. His six victories ties him with Rubén Gómez and Camilo Pascual
Camilo Alberto Pascual Lus (born January 20, 1934) is a Cuban former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During an 18-year baseball career (1954–71), he played for the original modern Washington Senators franchise (which became the Mi ...
for the most all-time wins in the Series.
He was also a productive hitter, batting an average of .393 (11-for-28) and slugging
Slugging, also known as casual carpooling, is the practice of forming ad hoc, informal carpools for purposes of commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking. A driver picks up these non-paying passengers (known as ...
.464, while scoring two runs with six 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 ba ...
.
Awards and recognitions
Bracho was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame
The Pabellón de la Fama del Caribe (In English, the ''Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame'') was established in 1996 by Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, commissioner of the Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe (''Caribbean Confederation of Profession ...
in 2001. Two years later, he gained induction 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 ...
as part of their first class.[
Since the 1985–1986 season, the VPBL honors annually the best pitcher in the league with the Carrao Bracho Trophy.][ es.Wikipedia.org – Pitcher del año]
References
External links
Baseball Reference – MiLB statistics
Pura Pelota – VPBL statistics
(Spanish)
(Spanish)
Obituary
(Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bracho, Jose
1928 births
2011 deaths
Águilas del Zulia players
Baseball pitchers
Cardenales de Lara players
Cervecería Caracas players
Estrellas Orientales (VPBL) players
Havana Sugar Kings players
Indios de Oriente players
Houston Buffaloes players
Lácteos de Pastora players
Leones del Caracas players
Navegantes del Magallanes players
San Antonio Missions players
Sportspeople from Maracaibo
Tiburones de La Guaira players
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Cuba
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Canada