Words About Imaginary Baseball

Tiger Favorite Hangs Up His Spikes
10 de Octubre, 1952

It was a sad moment for the Mazatlan faithful today as beloved center fielder José Antonio Villanueva announced his retirement. Part of the team’s dominant outfield for the last six years, Villanueva never quite lived up to the high expectations placed upon him, due in no small part to a never-ending plague of injuries.

Villanueva will always be remembered for his role in leading Mazatlan to their 1947 Copa de Mexico championship. Villanueva, an LMB top 5 player for most of his short career, leaves baseball holding the record for the highest single-season On-Base Percentage with the .512 he notched in that epic 1947 campaign.

Puebla Angels‘ bench coach Júlio Martínez, who was Villanueva’s manager on the ’47 Tigers, was quoted as saying

“This is a very sad day. José was a very gifted young player and it is everyone’s loss that we will not get to see what he could do over the course of a full career. José started young – perhaps too young – and accomplished many great things. I always enjoyed José’s presence in the locker room and, even after I left Mazatlan, I kept in touch with him. I hope that he chooses to find a way to remain en béisbol, but I wish him the best no matter what he does. He is, as I say, a young man with many years ahead of him. He will do great things no matter what he does.”