The 1940 Amateur World Series was the third Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 1988 tournament). The tournament took place, for the second consecutive time, in Cuba. It was contested by seven national teams playing twelve games each from September 14 through October 6 in Havana.
Cuba won its second, and second consecutive, Amateur World Series title. The runners-up were, also for the second consecutive year, Nicaragua and the United States; though the U.S. had finished in third place in 1939, the 1940 tournament saw a marked improvement as it tied with Nicaragua for the silver medal.
Participants Though only three of the fourteen teams that had been invited to the second Amateur World Series in Havana managed to attend the previous year, many of them participated in the 1940 edition, leading to a robust field of seven teams.
Mexico, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico all made their debuts at the Amateur World Series, as did Hawaii (which at the time was a U.S. territory), becoming the first team from Oceania to participate. However, all of those nations had previously participated in regional competitions; Mexico at the 1926 Central American and Caribbean Games, Venezuela and Puerto Rico at the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games, and Hawaii at the tri-national tournament held in Paris during the 1937 World's Exhibition.
Invited teams
Caribbean (2) (hosts)
Oceania (1)
North America (3)
South America (1)
Venue Havana, Cuba Gran Stadium Cervecería Tropical Capacity: 15,000
Results
Highlights Some players of note who took part in the tournament include:
Connie Marrero (3-2, 1.15 ERA), winner of the tournament most valuable player award Pedro Orta (.282), father of journeyman Jorge Orta Nap Reyes (.297), future major league player Segundo Rodriguez (.433), team batting leader
Stanley Cayasso led the tournament in hits with 19 Juan Manuel Vallecillo led the tournament in RBIs with 10, and tied for second with doubles 4 José "Chino" Meléndez had a record of 3-0 Jonathan Robinson (.444) led the tournament in batting average, as well as runs with 14
Stubby Overmire, future major league player
Lawrence Kunihisha led the tournament with 7 stolen bases Herb North was a former professional who played with the Nagoya Golden Dolphins in the first Japanese Baseball League game in 1936
Final standings Team 10 2 9 3 9 3 4 5 7 5 7 6 2 10 7 2 10
Honors and awards Statistical leaders
+ Batting leadersStatisticNameTotalBatting average Jonathan Robinson .444Hits Stanley Cayasso 19Runs Jonathan Robinson 14Home runs Jonathan Robinson 1Runs batted in Juan Manuel Vallecillo 10Stolen bases Lawrence Kunihisha 7
+Pitching leadersStatisticNameTotalWins L. Sinclair 3Earned run average Jonathan Robinson 0.00Strikeouts Cliff McClanahan 29
Awards Award Player Ref. Most Valuable Player Conrado Marrero
All-Star team PositionPlayerC Bill Krywicki Carlos Colás1B Virgilio Arteaga2B Joe McDonough3B David K. RichardsSS Lawrence KunihisaOF Héctor Benítez Antonio Ruiz Jonathan RobinsonP Stubby Overmire Cliff McClanahan Conrado Marrero Tomás Hechevarría José "Chino" Meléndez Al Nalua
Source:
References
Bjarkman, Peter, A History of Cuban Baseball