Bobby Ávila

Mexican-born baseball player

• Born: April 2, 1924
• Birthplace: Veracruz, Mexico
• Died: October 26, 2004
• Place of death: Veracruz, Mexico

Ávila, known as “Beto” in his native Mexico, was a gifted, right-handed second baseman who was the first player signed out of the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol (Mexican League) by an American Major League baseball team, the Cleveland Indians.

Early Life

Growing up, Roberto Francisco Ávila González, better known as Bobby Ávila (AH-vee-lah), played soccer. By the time he was fourteen, he was a professional soccer player. His father, a wealthy lawyer, discouraged Roberto from playing sports and tried to steer him into more intellectual pursuits.

Devoting more time to baseball in high school against his father’s wishes, Ávila was heavily influenced by Baseball: Individual Play and Team Strategy, written by former major league pitcher Jack Coombs. Ávila then set his sights on a professional baseball career. He began his career by playing for Cordoba in the Veracruz State League. By the age of nineteen, he was the regular second baseman for the Pericos de Puebla (Puebla Parrots) of the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol (Mexican League).

By the late 1930’s and 1940’s, the Mexican League was attracting some of the best players from the American Negro Leagues, including Satchel Paige and James “Cool Papa” Bell. As a result, by 1940 Mexican ballplayers had practically been run out of the league, and three of the former Negro League players led the league in batting averages, home runs, and runs batted in during a four-year period.

In 1946, Jorge Pasqual, a wealthy Mexican team owner, began offering lucrative contracts to encourage

American major league baseball players, like Max Lanier and Sal Maglie, to come to Mexico; Pasqual also offered blank contracts to Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Stan Musial. While the American players added prestige to the Mexican League, they generally were of lesser talent. In addition, by the mid-1940’s, Mexican players were more prevalent in the league and were more productive than they had been in the earlier part of the decade.

Life’s Work

Ávila, who joined the Mexican League in 1943, benefited from Pasqual’s efforts. Pasqual’s work raised the quality of the league and increased the visibility of young players, like Ávila. Ávila also realized he had the talent to compete in the American major leagues. In 1946, Ávila hit .359, finishing third in the league in batting. His winter play in Cuba attracted the attention of Leo Durocher of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who offered Ávila an annual salary of ten thousand dollars to sign on to the team. When Ávila demanded a bonus, Branch Rickey, the Dodgers’ general manager, acquired another promising second baseman: Jackie Robinson.

Undaunted, Ávila in 1947 won the Mexican League batting title, hitting .346 with 11 triples and 18 stolen bases. His secret for successful batting was to concentrate only on the pitcher’s chest and not on his arms. As a result, he was not distracted by the moves and quirks of the pitcher’s delivery.

Before the 1948 season, the Cleveland Indians offered Ávila a tax-free bonus of twenty thousand dollars. He took it, debuting with the team on April 30, 1949. Initially, Ávila played backup to aging star Joe Gordon, but it was not an easy transition. Ávila spoke no English. It was not until the Indians roomed Ávila with pitcher Mike Garcia, whose parents were Mexican, that Ávila could communicate with the rest of the team.

In 1951, he replaced Joe Gordon full time at second base. In an effort to “Americanize” Latin players, the Indians told Ávila to use the name “Bobby” instead of “Roberto.” The year 1951 was a breakout year for Ávila. He hit .304, stole 18 bases, and played a sparkling second base. He also was an aggressive base runner. Ávila perfected the scissors-kick slide; he would slide into base with his right leg tucked against his body and then spring his right leg to kick the ball and glove away from the fielder.

Ávila had his best season in 1954. Led by one of the greatest pitching staffs in baseball history, the

Indians won a then American League record of 111 games. The team’s players included Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and American League home run champion Larry Doby. That year, Ávila was the American League batting champion. He edged out Minnie Minoso with a .341 batting average while playing with a broken thumb for almost the entire season. In an interview for Splendor on the Diamond, Ávila recalled how his thumb injury could not stop him: “I started to hit well early, and once you’re hitting well you build confidence. . . . I felt like I could hit anybody.”

The Indians faced the New York Giants in the 1954 World Series, in which the two leagues’ batting champions, Ávila and Willie Mays, competed with each other. Although the Indians were favored, the Giants swept the series in four games, with Ávila struggling against Giants’ pitching. After 1954, injuries and stomach ulcers began to plague Ávila, and his playing began to suffer.

He remained with the Indians until the end of the 1958 season, and the next year he played for brief stints with the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and Milwaukee Braves. Wanting to retire only after he played one more season in Mexico, Ávila returned in 1960 to play for the Tigres del México (Mexico City Tigers). That year, he hit .333, with 125 runs scored on the way to leading the Tigers to the league title.

After retiring from baseball, the charismatic Ávila became an owner in the Mexican League and was the president of the Veracruz Eagles. Later in the 1980’s he became president of the Mexican League. He went into politics following retirement from baseball and was elected mayor of Veracruz. Ávila died on October 26, 2004, because of complications from diabetes. He was eighty years old.

Significance

Bobby Ávila was the first Latin American player to win the American League batting title. Ávila was an excellent contact hitter and defensive second baseman. More than any other player, he helped develop Mexican baseball, and as the first Mexican League player to join the major leagues, he led the recruitment of Latin American players into Major League Baseball.

Bibliography

Knight, Jonathan. Summer of Shadows: A Murder, a Pennant Race, and the Twilight of the Best Location in the Nation. Covington, Ohio: Clerisy Press, 2010. Interweaves the story of the 1954 Cleveland Indians with details of the murder that year of the wife of physician Sam Sheppard in the couple’s home on Lake Erie. Includes information on Ávila’s background, history with the Indians, and achievements during the 1954 season.

Lebovitz, Hal. “Cleveland’s Bobby Ávila: A Real Good Hitter.” BaseballDigest 14, no. 5 (June, 1955): 5-13. Reports on Ávila’s hitting prowess, which led him to be the American League batting champion in 1954. Ávila discusses his secrets of successful batting.

Westcott, Rich. “Bobby Ávila: First Hispanic Batting Champ.” In Splendor on the Diamond: Interviews with 35 Stars of Baseball’s Past. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000. Ávila recalls important moments in his baseball career.