Juan Esteban Vargas Marcano (April 11, 1906 – December 30, 1971), better known as Tetelo Vargas, and nicknamed ''"El Gamo Dominicano"'' or "The Dominican Deer", was a

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 from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

Baseball career

An athletic teenager, Vargas spent his early years playing pick-up baseball games, which helped him develop ability and strength. By 1927, when Vargas was 21, scouts from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the Dominican Republic had noticed him. Vargas was

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, however, and he became a member 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 ...

' famed

New York Cubans The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in ...

. Meanwhile, at home, he was signed by the

Leones del Escogido Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional baseball team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Wi ...

, one of the four original Dominican Republic winter baseball league teams that remain in competition. Vargas gained recognition around the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, establishing a Negro league record by hitting

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 in seven consecutive at bats. In

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, Vargas went to play in

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 ...

, where he became a star and remained until

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

, when the New York Cubans re-signed him. In 1940, Vargas played in the

Puerto Rican Winter League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

. He eventually became an established resident of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. Vargas was once again signed by the New York Cubans from

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, his last year as an active player in the Negro leagues. Meanwhile, in

Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded ...

, Vargas established himself as an All-Star, playing in the Puerto Rican All-Star game multiple times during the 1940s. At the time, a series of different sports competitions preceded the All-Star game in Puerto Rico, all of them involving baseball players and for the All-Star game's public's enjoyment. Vargas, who won various

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 ...

titles through his career, won a number of sprint races as an All-Star player in Puerto Rico. He went on to play with the

Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama ( es, Municipio Autónomo de Guayama) is a city and municipality on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 36,614. It is the c ...

Witches and the Santurce Crabbers before heading to the

Mexican Pacific Winter League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

in 1952. Vargas, in the twilight of his career, returned to the Dominican Republic's winter league also in 1952, this time with the

Estrellas Orientales Estrellas Orientales (English: Eastern Stars), also known as Estrellas de Oriente, is a baseball team in the Dominican Winter League. Based in San Pedro de Macorís, the team has historically struggled, winning championships only in 1936, 1954, 19 ...

team. At the age of 46, he led the Dominican Republic league with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .350. Vargas retired from baseball in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, after having played 27 seasons in five countries. The stadium in

San Pedro de Macorís San Pedro de Macorís is a city and Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipality (''municipio'') in the Dominican Republic and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís Province, San Pedro de Macorís province in the east region of the ...

, home of the Estrellas Orientales team, is named in his honor.

Statistics

Vargas holds the major league record for best batting average in a single season. He hit .471 while playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro National League in 1943. Apart from hitting .350 in 1952 in the Dominican Republic's winter league, Vargas also led the Puerto Rican winter league in batting average three times, hitting .410 in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

, and winning back to back titles in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

and

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, when he hit .382 and .362, respectively. Vargas played a number of exhibition games against

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), ...

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 ...

, averaging .500 against Yankees pitchers.

Positions

Vargas played a number of positions on the baseball field, including

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 ...

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

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 ...

and second base.

After baseball

Vargas was idolized both in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico, but he decided to settle in the Puerto Rican city of Guayama, where he had previously starred for the local team. He remarried in 1954 in PR and lived a rather quiet, humble life in Guayama with his wife, Violeta Enchautegui de Vargas and three daughters Carmen, Ana and Iris and son Juan Esteban Vargas Jr. He died December 30, 1971 after battling lung cancer and is now resting in peace next to his wife in Guayama's main cemetery (Cementerio Municipal de Guayama). Vargas was elected to the Puerto Rican baseball Hall of Fame. Because of his involvement as a player with the New York Cubans, Vargas is also a member of the

Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame The Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame (''Salón de la Fama del Béisbol Cubano'') is a hall of fame that honors eminent baseball players from Cuban baseball. Established in 1939 to honor players, managers, and umpires in the pre-revolution Cuban League ...

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
SeamheadsJuan "Tetelo" Vargas
at SABR Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Tetelo 1906 births 1971 deaths Sportspeople from Santo Domingo Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States New York Cubans players Cuban Stars (East) players Cuban House of David players