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:''For other uses, see Hector Benitez (disambiguation)''. Héctor Benítez (November 1, 1918 – June 17, 2011) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player. Listed at 5' 7" (1.73 m), 160 lb. (73 k), he batted and threw left handed.〔 (Spanish)〕〔Gutiérrez, Daniel; Alvarez, Efraim; Gutiérrez (h), Daniel (2006). ''La Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela''. LVBP, Caracas. ISBN 980-6996-02-X〕 Born in Caracas, Benítez spent 21 years in Venezuelan baseball, playing in three different leagues as well as for his national team in international tournaments. A solid line-drive hitter and an aggressive base runner, he excelled as a speedy center fielder with a strong arm who gained notoriety for his spectacular diving and shoestring catches.〔 (Spanish)〕 A Most Valuable Player and Venezuelan Hall of Famer, he was the first ballplayer born in Venezuela to make a Caribbean Series All-Star Team〔Nuñez, José Antero (1994). ''Serie del Caribe de la Habana a Puerto La Cruz''. JAN Editor. ISBN 980-07-2389-7〕 and also became the first to ever hit three home runs in a single game in Venezuelan baseball history.〔 ′′Redondo′′, as he was dubbed by teammates and fans alike, made his professional debut in the First Division of Baseball of Venezuela, playing for five teams in eight seasons spanning 1938–1945. He then moved to the Cervecería Caracas club in 1946, to become a founding member of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season.〔La Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela〕 ==Early career== The 18-year-old Benítez gained international exposure with the Venezuela national baseball team in the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games held in Panama City, being used as a pitcher and cleanup hitter.〔〔 But for much of the next decade, he was a valuable addition to the Venezuelan squad during the 1941 and 1945 Baseball World Cup tournaments, where he helped his team to win Gold medal at both championships, usually batting third in the order.〔Bjarkman, Peter. ''Diamonds around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball''. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-31-332268-6]〕〔 (Spanish)〕 The 1941 BWC featured a nine-team tournament, which was held at the old Tropical Stadium in Havana, Cuba. The representing clubs of Cuba and Venezuela clubs finished tied with an identical record of 7-1, and were forced to play a tie breaking game to determine the championship.〔 In this one, Daniel Canónico won a pitching duel over Conrado Marrero in front of a crowd of more than 30,000 spectators, as the Venezuelan baseball team captured its first international title with a 3–1 victory over Cuba.〔〔González Echevarría, Roberto (2001). ''The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514605-9〕〔Diamonds around the Globe〕 A three-run rally in the first inning was enough of a cushion for Canónico, especially being backed by Benítez, who drew a significant walk to put two men on with one out and scored on a two-run RBI-double by Chucho Ramos. The third run came after an error on the outfield. Benítez also collected at least one hit in each of the nine games, scoring six runs with four runs batted in, while leading all hitters with three triples.〔〔 But Benítez was much better in the 1945 BWC, when he claimed the batting crown with a mark of .526 (20-for-38), leading also the tournament in hits, runs scored (16) and RBI (16), to earn Most Valuable Player honors.〔〔 The host Venezuelan team finished undefeated with a perfect 10–0 record, winning its second consecutive gold medal and third overall, largely thanks to the batting of Benítez and the pitching of Luis Zuloaga, who went 4–0, also setting an all-time mark for most consecutive win decisions with his 7–0 undefeated streak at the event.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Héctor Benítez」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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