Jesús Torrijos

Jesús Torrijos Avilés (Chucho)

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born May 22, 1906 in Mexico City Mexico

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jesús Torrijos was an early star in Mexico. He is the brother of Francisco Torrijos.

He hit .333 and slugged .429 for the Mexican national team that won Silver in the 1930 Central American Games; he stole five bases in five games and fielded .933 as their starting shortstop. He was the first player to swipe five bases in an international tournament, though his brother tied him by event's end. He led shortstops with 16 assists in the Games and his 12 putouts were one shy of Cuba's Jorge Consuegra.

He was on the Agrario de México teams that won Mexican League titles from 1935-1937, starting at second base in 1935 and third base in 1936. 1937 was the first season for which LMB stats are available and the 31-year-old hit .362/.385/.467 with 21 runs and 3 triples in 24 games. In 1938, he hit .252/.288/.370 for Agrario. He was on the Mexican squad for the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games; Cuba protested Mexico's use of numerous pros like Torrijos but Mexico's team was allowed to stand (they had to withdraw in 1935 after similar problems). They did not get a medal, though.

Torrijos moved to the Indios de Anáhuac in 1939 and batted .297/.354/.389, scoring 86 times in 59 games. In 1940, he went to the Diablos Rojos del México and fell to .186/.230/.214, followed by .172/.172/.207 in '41. In 1942, he hit .262/.298/.297 for the Industriales de Monterrey. The veteran batted .300/.338/.358 in '43 and .235/.278/.277 in 1944. In '45, he split time between the Azules de Veracruz and the Diablos Rojos (a combined .229/.311/.266). He wound down in 1946 by hitting .211/.297/.211 for Veracruz at age 40. Available LMB stats do not start until he was past his 30th birthday; he hit .263/.312/.322 in that period with 239 runs in 459 games.