Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) - World War II and First Caribbean Series Title

World War II and First Caribbean Series Title

During the second world war, several players were drafted. The league cut the amount of teams by half and no foreign reinforcements played for three years. In 1942-43, Caguas lost its franchise and Santurce signed some of its players, including Luis Olmo, Sammy Céspedes and Manolo García. The Cangrejeros won the first half and advanced to the finals, but lost the series to the Leones de Ponce. In this season, Olmo was named Co-MVP along Coimbre. Ponce went on to win the following two championships with the Cangrejeros finishing in the second place, Félix Andrade and Alfonso Gerard won Rookie of the Year awards for Santurce, while Tetelo Vargas won the league's batting title in 1943-44. In 1945-46, the team had its worst season up to that point, finishing last in the league. However, Víctor Cruz became the team's third straight Rookie of the Year. Gibson did not a hit a single homerun throughout the season, experiencing an emotional breakdown that convinced Zorilla to send him back to Pittsburg. Vargas was the team's best hitter, while his former teammate in Guayama's amateur circuit, Perucho Cepeda, joined the Cangrejeros. In 1946-47, Santurce was managed by Clarence Palm, finishing fourth in the league's standing. Willard Brown joined the team during that season, winning the batting title. Guigo Otero took over the office of vice-president. The Cangrejeros finished in the third place in 1947-48, despite signing Satchel Paige and Rubén Gómez and Brown winning the league's triple-crown. The team tied Mayagüez for the first half's lead, but the Indios were declared winners due to the leading the individual series. In 1948-49, the LBPPR established a new format, where the top three teams from an 80-game season would advance to the playoffs. The Cangrejeros tied Ponce in the second place, eliminating them in the semifinals. However, they lost the finals series against Mayagüez. The team recorded the best assistance in the league with 4,337 followers per game for a total of 173,466. In 1949-50, the Cangrejeros once again tied with Ponce in the second position, being eliminated in the semifinals against the Indios. Brown won its second triple crown. The team was sponsored by TEK Deluxe Toothbrushes. For the 1950-51 season, Zorilla signed George Scales to manage the team and contracted new imports. The team won its first pennant after José Lucas hit a home run that became known as El Pepelucazo. The Cangrejeros went on to win the "City Championship", subsequently defeating the Senadores in all of their semifinal games. The team defeated the Criollos in a seven-game series, winning Santurce's first LBPPR championship and advancing to the newly-created Caribbean Series. In their first international competition, the Cangrejeros were reinforced with Olmo who had returned to Caguas, Roberto Vargas and José Santiago among others, winning the first Caribbean title for Puerto Rico. Olmo was selected the series' MVP.

In 1951-52, Santurce finished third, winning 16 and losing 4 to finish the regular season. In the semifinals they defeated Caguas in all of the semifinal games, losing the finals to San Juan. Gómez was selected the league's MVP. In 1952-53, the Cangrejeros employed Buster Clarkson as the player-manager. This season marked Roberto Clemente's debut in the league after being signed by Zorilla. The team advanced to the playoffs, where they eliminated the Leones in three games. The finals were against the Senadores, with Santurce winning its second championship in a six-game series. The Cangrejeros went on to win their second Caribbean Series title, with a final record of 5-1. In the 1953-54 season, the Cangrejeros finished last in the standing, but Clemente and Gómez recorded solid performances. The following season, Zorilla and Otero asked permission to the New York Giants and managed to secure a contract for MLB National League MVP Willie Mays, who played centerfield and went on to win the league's MVP and batting title. Other imports included Clarkson, Bob Thurman and George Crowe. After the first month of the season, the team was in the fourth place of the league's standing with a negative record, before winning straight games against the Senadores and Criollos. Despite this change, the team made two releases to contract three reinforcement players, but lost one due to a MLB rule that prohibited the participation of five players from the same team in the winter leagues. On this year's All-Star game, Clemente hit two home runs to give the North team, composed of players from Santurce and San Juan, a victory over the South team. On October 31, 1954, Gómez pitched the league's first shutout, he finished with a record of 13-4 and won the "City Championship" and Caribbean Series title for Santurce. After sweeping their series, the team did not sign any reinforcement prior to the Caribbean Series, being the first time that a team had done so. Five players were included in the event's All-Star lineup, Don Zimmer carried the MVP and the Cangrejeros received a special trophy for winning three Caribbean championships. This version of the Cangrejeros was nicknamed El Escuadrón del Pánico by local newspapers. The team was received by a multitude and they were invited to La Fortaleza. The Cangrejeros signed seven new players for the 1955-56 season, including Orlando Cepeda, José Pagán and Juan Pizarro. They led the league throughout the regular season, winning that phase's title and advanced to the playoffs. Cepeda hit his first home run on October 30, 1955, in a 16-inning loss against the Leones. Despite this success, the team struggled to attract fans, a problem that affected the league for some years with the emergence of television. The other team to advance to the final series was the Criollos, who went on to win after falling behind 1-2.

In 1956-57, Zorilla sold the team to Ramón Cuevas. Clemente was traded to Caguas along Pizarro and Ronnie Samford. Gómez was the team's only MLB pitcher during this season. Santurce went on to win the league's pennant, winning ten straight games to close the regular season. In the final series, the Cangrejeros lost to Mayaguez 1-4. On 1957-58, the team won its fourth consecutive pennant recovering from a slow first-half start. The team was forced to adjust its schedule to comply with the growing popularity of horse races, product of El Comandante hippodrome opening that year. Cepeda lead the league in RBIs and was tied with Victor Pellot in home runs. The Cangrejeros lost the final to Caguas, in a series where Clemente and Pizarro dominated their former teammates. In the 1958-59 season, Zorilla returned to serve as the team's general manager and the team stopped airing their games to deal with attendance issues. San Juan and Santurce competed for the pennant throughout the season, but the Senadores ultimately won it leaving the Cangrejeros in the second place. The team went on to defeat Mayagüez in a seven-game semifinal. The other team to advance was Caguas, who gained a quick two-game lead in the final series. The Cangrejeros recovered, winning four straight games, being led by Gómez, Cepeda and Julio Navarro. Pellot, Nino Escalera and Luis Arroyo reinforced the Cangrejeros for the Caribbean series. The team finished in the third place with a .500 win percentage.