José de la Trinidad Bracho (July 23, 1928 – June 16, 2011) was a

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 ...

n professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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, ...

. Listed at 6' 1", 185 lb., he batted and threw right handed. His friends and fans affectionately called him Carrao (" crying bird"), a moniker that he used throughout his life. Born in

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

Zulia Zulia State (, ; 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 is also one of t ...

, Bracho has been considered one of the best pitchers in Venezuelan baseball history. Bracho spent 26 years in the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (, or LVBP) is the top-level professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Background and predecessors Baseball had been play ...

, played four minor leagues seasons, hurled in the Dominican Winter League, and appeared in six

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series ( Spanish: ''Serie del Caribe'') is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in ...

, 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 game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s (91),

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s (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.

Career

Venezuelan league

A sinking fastball specialist, Bracho made his debut as a 20-year-old rookie with the

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 ...

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 Vargas (state), state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port, founded in 1577 as an outlet for nearby Caracas. The city hosts its own professional baseball team i ...

(1964–67) and

Lara Lara may refer to: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district ...

(1966-68), ending his career with his home team

(1970–73). ( Spanish) 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 (November 9, 1935October 2, 2020), nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. Known for his fiercely competi ...

, 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 career in Venezuela, 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 The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Missions compete in the Texas League as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Nelson W. W ...

(1952) and Houston Buffaloes (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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

(1952) and Havana Sugar Kings (1955-1956) of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

. 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

, while appearing in the

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

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 Uni ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

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 ...

, 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 thir ...

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 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 .464, while scoring two runs with six

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

Awards and recognitions

Bracho was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. Two years later, he gained induction into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 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
{{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 Baseball players 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 20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen