Guillermo Álvarez (14 August 1926 – 8 April 2007), nicknamed Huevito, was a Mexican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

shortstop and manager. He is considered the best shortstop to ever play for

El Águila de Veracruz El Águila de Veracruz (English: The Eagle of Veracruz) is a professional baseball team that plays in the Mexican League. Based in Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico, they play their home games at the Estadio Universitario Beto Ávila. Histor ...

, where he spent most of his

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

(LMB) career, and one of the best Mexican shortstops of all time.

Career

Álvarez debuted in the

at the age of 19 with the

Pericos de Puebla The Pericos de Puebla (English: Puebla Parrots) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Puebla. Their home ballpark is the Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán. Established in 1938, the Pericos have won five Mexican League ...

during the 1946 season, in a May 23 game against the

Azules de Veracruz The Azules de Veracruz (English: Veracruz Blues) were a professional baseball team that played in the Mexican League from 1940 to 1951. Originally from Veracruz, Mexico, the team relocated to Mexico City shortly after its foundation, while keeping ...

; he made several sensational plays that game, including the final out. Álvarez finished the year hitting .306, winning rookie of the year honors. He played most of his career (1949–1957) with Águila de Veracruz, where he won a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 1952. He was best known as a defensive shortstop, though he batted .334 in batting and hit 18 home runs in 1955. He won Álvarez was a Mexican League all-star for fifteen consecutive seasons. In the later part of his career he was a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

with

Leones de Yucatán The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team plays its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in 1957 ...

(1958) and with Águila de Veracruz (1959). He retired after a stint with the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey (English: Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball club in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Monterrey, Mexico. Established in 1939 as Carta Blanca, the Sultanes have won ten LMB titles, most recently in 2018. Fro ...

in 1961. He finished his LMB career with a .270 career

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 ...

and a .366

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. Álvarez also played 16 winter ball seasons with the

Tomateros de Culiacán The Tomateros de Culiacán () are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The ''Tomateros'' have won thirteen league championships and two Caribbean World Series in and . The team was founded in 19 ...

of the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (, or LMP), also known as the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons, is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league based in Northwestern Mexico. The league comprises 10 teams. It wa ...

. He was inducted into the

Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León, inaugurated on 10 ...

in 1976.

References

External links

Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees 1926 births 2007 deaths Baseball players from Veracruz Pericos de Puebla players El Águila de Veracruz managers El Águila de Veracruz players Leones de Yucatán managers Leones de Yucatán players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Sultanes de Monterrey players People from San Andrés Tuxtla {{Mexico-baseball-bio-stub