1953 Amateur World Series

The 1953 Amateur World Series was the 14th Amateur World Series and ended a run when one was held every year or every other year; it would be eight years until the Series was reinstituted. The 1953 Series was held in Caracas, Venezuela from September 12 through October 9, 1953.

 Cuba won the Gold, its last before the Fidel Castro era began (but far from its last of the Century). The Cubans were 11-1, sweeping Venezuela in the best-of-3 finals. Alfonso Suarez and Manolo Garcia each topped .400 while Antonio Suarez was 2-1 with a 0.87 ERA.

 Venezuela won Silver. They were 9-1 in the first round before getting swept in the finals. Venezuela was led by Dario Rubenstein, the tourney leader in steals (10) and co-leader in runs (16), on offense. On the mound, Andres Quintero went 4-0 and took home MVP honors. The team included future Hall-of-Famer Luis Aparicio.

 Nicaragua took home Bronze with a 7-3 performance. Oscar Alvarado led in hits (18).

 Dominican Republic finished 4th with a 7-3 record and they had the batting champ, Domingo Vargas (.455).

 Panama was 5th at 6-4. Their top performers were Antonio Castillo (the leader with 4 triples), Conrado Griffith (the home run leader with 2) and Leonard Cumberbatch, the co-leader with 16 runs.

 Puerto Rico finished 6th at 5-5. Félix Torres drove in 15 runs to lead the Series.

 Colombia,  Guatemala and  Mexico all tied for 7th with 3-7 records. Mexico's Manuel Estrada had the best ERA (0.00).

 Netherlands Antilles finished 10th at 2-8. Juan Perez led the Series with 4 doubles.

 El Salvador was last at 1-9.

Source: A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman

See also 1953 Amateur World Series (Rosters)