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Elio Chacón Rodríguez (October 26, 1936 – April 24, 1992) was a Venezuelan
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...
and
shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...
who played in the
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
to play in the majors.


Early baseball career

Born in
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (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 northern p ...
, Chacón was listed as tall and . He threw and batted right-handed. Chacón hit .265 as a reserve second baseman with the NL champion
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
, starting 34 games during the season. In Game 2 of the 1961 World Series, 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) Am ...
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
Ralph Terry, 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 to stock the newborn Houston Colt .45s and
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
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 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 (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) 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 ...
gets its name from this baseball anecdote. Chacón led the Mets in
stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions 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 out ...
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, he was a .232 career hitter with 143 hits, four
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s, 28 RBI, 49 runs, and 20 stolen bases in 228 games played. Chacón died in Caracas, at the age of 55.


See also

* List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball


References


External links


Retrosheet
{{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 bronze 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 20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen