Francisco Contreras

Francisco de la Trinidad Contreras (August 20, 1922 — May 11, 1978) was a Venezuelan baseball player. Nicknamed "Tarzán" (after the fictional character), he was a member of the Venezuela national baseball team that won the 1941 Amateur World Series. He also played several seasons in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), mainly with the Sabios de Vargas.

Born in Maracaibo, played amateur baseball with several different youth teams in Zulia, earning his nickname from his strength and agility on the field, reminiscent of the Edgar Rice Burroughs character. He played with various clubs, including Campo Rojo, Lehólico, Lactuario Zulia, and Ondas del Lago. Though primarily a catcher by training, he was also used as an outfielder during the tournament, due to the presence of Enrique Fonseca and Guillermo Vento on the roster. He was notably left off the roster for the final championship game against Cuba, which Venezuela won, after being suspended by manager Manuel Malpica for disciplinary reasons.

Contreras was declared a professional baseball player in 1942 after playing in Panama. In the inaugural season of the professional league in Venezuela in 1946, he played with Sabios de Vargas, taking over catching duties from Roy Campanella after he left for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Notably, his eighth inning home run in a 9-8 victory over Magallanes won Sabios the first night game in LVBP history. Contreras finished with a .356 batting average (37-for-104), the fourth best average of the season. He went on to play for Magallanes and Patriotas de Venezuela, hitting over .300 in five different seasons, with Vargas and Magallanes.

Contreras also played with the short-lived Zulian professional league in May 1946 with Centauros de Maracaibo. With Espadón in the Venezuelan Western League (successor to the Zulia league), Contreras won the batting championship in 1954–55 season, hitting for a .359 average. He was inducted into the Zulia Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.