Roberto Canales

Roberto Canales Lira

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 198 lb.

• Born ~1925

BR register page

Biographical Information

Roberto Canales drove in 100+ runs four of his six years as a pro. His brother Víctor Canales also had four 100+ RBI seasons.

He was on the Mexican national team that won Silver in the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games. He turned pro with the '51 Juarez Indios, batting .343/.386/.448 with 105 runs, 30 doubles and 108 RBI. He tied Dick Butcher for 8th in the Southwest International League in runs, tied for 8th in doubles and was 7th in RBI.

Canales batted .308/.346/.450 for Juarez in 1952, smacking 42 doubles, scoring 117 runs and driving in 121. He led Arizona-Texas League first basemen in both putouts (1,252) and errors (29). He was 5th in the loop in doubles (between Burro Hernandez and Tony Morales) and 6th in RBI (between Bobby Melton and Dick Steinhauer).

In 1953, he produced at a .357/.387/.534 clip for the Indios (managed for part of the year by his brother and teammate Victor) with 50 doubles and 129 RBI. He was 5th in average (between Joe Joshua and Benny Valenzuela), led with 208 hits (7 ahead of Moises Camacho), led in doubles (3 ahead of Lloyd Jenney), tied for second in RBI and led first basemen with 1,150 putouts.

Canales hit .371/.412/.567 for Juarez in 1954, driving in 114 in only 97 games. He was 7th in average. He was with the Indios de Ciudad Juarez in 1955. In 1956, he hit .316/.462/.442 with 89 RBI in 100 games for Ciudad Juarez. He tied Joshua and Gregorio Acea for 3rd in the Central Mexican League in doubles (24), tied for third in triples (8) and tied Guadalupe Pedroza for 5th in RBI.