Andrés Pelayo Chacón Cortina (September 22, 1888 – March 11, 1971) was a Cuban

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 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

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 ...

right fielder 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He spent his American playing career in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

, mostly with the

Cuban Stars (East) The Cuban Stars were a professional baseball team that competed in the Negro leagues in the eastern United States from 1916 to 1933. The team was largely composed of professional baseball players from Cuba and other Latin American countries. The ...

of the

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

, which he also managed from to . He was also active in the

Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...

and in Venezuela's amateur leagues. Nicknamed "Cortina" or "the Curtain", Chacón was elected to 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 ...

in . In a player-voted poll by the

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by ...

, he was voted the fifth best all-time shortstop of the Negro leagues."1952 Pittsburgh Courier Poll of Greatest Black Players"
/ref>

Career

Chacón played from to with several clubs in the

, including Almendares,

Azul Azul, meaning "blue" in Spanish and Portuguese, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Azul'' (Los Piojos album), 1998 * ''Azul'' (Cristian Castro album), 2001 ** "Azul" (song), the title song * Azul Azul, a Bolivian pop-dance music group * " ...

, Club Fé, and

Habana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...

to 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 . Over the course of his Cuban League career, he compiled 463 hits with a .246 batting average. He won the league batting title in the 1920–21 season, hitting .344. In the

, he played for both iterations of the Cuban Stars: the

Western Stars ''Western Stars'' is the nineteenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 14, 2019, by Columbia Records. It was produced by Ron Aniello, who worked with Springsteen on his two previous albums: ''Wrecki ...

, an

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team, from to ; and the Eastern Stars, which were a major league side (associated with the

) from 1923 to ."The Cuban Stars Take Series From American Giants." Indianapolis Freeman, Indianapolis, Indiana, Saturday July 17, 1915, Page 4, Columns 4 to 6
/ref> Along with Horacio Martínez, he was rated as one of the best Hispanic shortstops in the Negro Leagues. In the 1930s, Chacón played in the Venezuelan first division with the "Caribe" club, alongside fellow Cuban

Cocaína García Manuel García Carranza (December 28, 1905 – April 13, 1995), nicknamed "Cocaína", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher and outfielder in the American Negro leagues in the 1920s and 1930s. A native of Manacas, Cuba, García made hi ...

. He managed Caribe to a division title in 1932, and Vargas to two more in 1937 and 1939. Chacón managed the

Colombia national baseball team The Colombia national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Colombia'') is the national baseball team of Colombia. The team represents Colombia in international competitions. Colombia has won two international baseball championship ...

throughout the 1940s. At the 1947 Amateur World Series, held in

Cartagena, Colombia Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...

, he led the team to its first world championship. Chacón's three sons, Elio, Armando y Pelayito, were all active baseball players in Venezuela.

Elio Chacón Elio Chacón Rodríguez (October 26, 1936 – April 24, 1992) was a Venezuelan Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop who played in the National League from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from Venezuela to play ...

was the seventh Venezuelan to play in

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 ...

Notes

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1888 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Almendares (baseball) players Azul (baseball) players Baseball first basemen Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Havana Baseball second basemen Baseball shortstops Club Fé players Cuban baseball coaches Cuban baseball players Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Cuban House of David players Cuban League players Habana players Negro league baseball managers Negro league baseball players from Cuba Santa Marta (baseball club) players Team Cuba (Cuban League) players {{negro-league-baseball-outfielder-stub