José Ocanto

Ramón José Ocanto

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 180 lb.

• Born September 6, 1934 in Carora, Lara Venezuela

BR minors page

Biographical Information

José Ocanto played in the US and Venezuela.

Ocanto debuted in the Venezuelan League with the Indios de Oriente in 1956-1957, going 2 for 5 with a run and a RBI. He hit .248/?/.376 for them in 1957-1958; his 25 RBI tied Eduardo Monasterios and Jim Marshall for 4th in the league and he tied for 4th with 3 HR (with Marshall, Bert Hamric, Earl Battey and Bob Wilson). The first baseman won Rookie of the Year honors.

In 1958, he got his lone chance in the minors. He played for the Cincinnati Redlegs' Palatka Redlegs (9 for 52, 2 2B, 7 BB) and Visalia Redlegs (.284/.433/.500 in 54 G, 47 RBI, 51 BB). Despite his strong play in the California League, he would not return to the Cincinnati chain for 1959. In the winter of 1958-1959, he hit .279/?/.436 with 4 HR, 25 R and 21 RBI in 46 G for the Indios and drove in 10 in 16 postseason games. He was 8th in the league in RBI, 7th in runs, tied for 4th in homers (even with Chico Carrasquel, Rudy Regalado and Bobby Balcena) and tied Carrasquel and Allen Jones for fifth in doubles (10).

The Lara native's production slumped after that. In 1959-1960, he hit .190 and slugged .250. In 1960-1961, he batted .209 and slugged .256. In 1961-1962, he moved to the Licoreros de Pampero and hit .197/?/.246 with no homers for a third year in a row. He finished with a .236 average and .336 slugging percentage in 593 at-bats in Venezuela, with 65 runs and 64 RBI.

Sources include Pelota