Carlos Colás

Carlos Celestino Suce Colás
(Sunset, Charlie)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9½", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut 1941
• Final Game 1941
• Born December 4, 1917 in Caimito del Guayabal, Artemisa Cuba
• Died December 4, 1987 in Havana Cuba

BR page

Biographical Information

Carlos Colás was a catcher in the Mexican League, Cuban Winter League and Negro Leagues. His brother José Colás played in the same three leagues as well as in the US minors.

Carlos hit only .156 for the Cuban national team that won the 1940 Amateur World Series. He debuted in 1940 with the New York Cubans, backing up 43-year-old player-manager José María Fernández. Carlos was a backup catcher (behind Bill Perkins) and outfielder for Cienfuegos in the 1940-1941 Cuban Winter League, hitting .328 and slugging .388. He hit only .175 as New York's starting backstop in 1941 and would not appear in the US again for seven years. Colas batted .283/?/.340 as a starter for Cienfuegos in 1941-1942.

In the 1942 Mexican League, the 24-year-old tore up the ball, batting .352/.416/.473 with 83 runs and 24 steals in 88 games. He was six swipes behind leader Pedro Pagés and led with 128 hits. He was 8th in average, trailing four other Cubans (Agustin Bejerano, Pages, Silvio Garcia and Lazaro Salazar) and three Americans (Monte Irvin, Quincy Trouppe and Henry McHenry). In 1942-1943, he hit .241 and slugged .364 as the Cienfuegos backstop. His 28 runs tied Alejandro Crespo for the team lead, ahead of Reggie Otero, Antonio Castano, Silvio Garcia, Pages or Rene Monteagudo. He also led the CWL with eight triples, his only time pacing his homeland in a major department.

Colas hit .331/.381/.458 with 72 runs in 85 games for Torreon in 1943, then had his best offensive season in Cuba, batting .335 and slugging .402 for Cienfuegos. He was third in the CWL in average, just two points behind major leaguer Roberto Ortiz and one point behind another big leaguer, Bobby Estalella. In 1944, Sunset's batting line was .291/.363/.401 for the Nuevo Laredo Owls. As a catcher-outfielder for the 1944-1945 Cienfuegos club (he split the catching role with Jack Aragon), Colas hit .257 and slugged .319. Back with Nuevo Laredo for the summer of 1945, he hit .307/.360/.390 and swiped 21 bases.

Carlos was with Cienfuegos when they won the pennant in 1945-1946, but he was just 16 for 81 and shared the catcher's duties with Ray Berres. In 1946, he joined the Mexico City Red Devils and produced at a .271/.347/.350 rate. He stole 34 bases, continuing to show speed unexpected in a catcher. He fell to .250/.325/.294 with the 1947 Red Devils. In the 1947-1948 Cuban Players League, he hit .200 while sharing a role with Red Hayworth. He was only 1 for 12 with five runs for Habana and Almendares in 1948-1949.

In 1949, Colas joined his brother Jose on the Memphis Red Sox; he would spend four years with the club. He finished his Cuban career in 1949-1950, going 0 for 3 with a steal and four runs as Habana's third-string catcher (apparently being used as a pinch-runner on occasion in both 1948-1949 and 1949-1950). He played in the Venezuelan League in 1950-1951, hitting .332 with a league-best 14 steals for the Patriotas de Venezuela. He returned to Mexico late in 1952 and went 26 for 75 with 3 doubles, 8 walks and a steal for the Monterrey Sultans. He hit .324/.406/.397 for the 1953 Sultans and .327/.383/.444 for the '54 Veracruz Eagle to conclude his career.

Overall, Colas hit .309/.375/.403 in 639 games in Mexico, with 131 steals, 442 runs and only 173 strikeouts in 2,710 AB.

Sources

• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• Purapelota