Luis García

Luis García Beltrán (September 11, 1929 – January 9, 2014) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player and manager. Listed at , , he batted and threw right handed.

At an early age García was dubbed Camaleón by his family, and he carried this nickname throughout his professional career, which spanned 22 years.

He was born in Carúpano, located in the eastern coastal area of Sucre state in Venezuela. Despite his short, stocky build, he was a gifted athlete, enabling him to become the natural leader in pickup games and later in school. He was also a dependable third baseman and, he had the ability to hit the ball to all fields, regardless of size or capacity. Owner of a strong throwing arm, he had good range, being able to catch fly balls from his left field and infield teammates.

García played in the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators Minor League systems, but never appeared in a major league game for either club. His career was largely associated with the Navegantes del Magallanes club of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, but he also had a distinguished career in the Mexican League in a span of ten seasons. was the first player to reach 1,000 hits in Venezuelan baseball, and also set several records in the VPBL that still remain intact.

Professional career

Minor Leagues García became a professional as a 19-year-old in 1949, while playing for the Senators Class D team in Concord, North Carolina. He collected 92 hits in 381 at-bats for a .241 batting average in 109 games, including 12 doubles, four triples, and one home run.

This season also marked the professional debut of Hank Aaron, who hit .336 (116-for-345) with nine homers and amassed 170 total bases in 87 games for the Eau Claire Bears.

After that, García accepted a more attractive offer to play in the Mexican League in 1956. During the winter, he continued to play regularly in the Venezuelan League.

Mexican baseball The 1956 summer season brought García to the Mexican League, where he played through 1965 for the Leones de Yucatán, Petroleros de Poza Rica and Aguilas de Veracruz.

In a 10-season career he posted a .322 average with 171 home runs and 759 RBI in 1,124 games, while collecting 1,346 hits and a .507 slugging percentage, establishing himself as one of the most prolific hitters in Mexican baseball history.

García batted over .300 in seven consecutive years from 1957 to 1963, averaging .334 in this period with a career-high .364 in 1958. His most fruitful season came in the 1964 campaign with Veracruz, when he hit a solid .299 and registered career numbers in home runs (29), RBI (108), runs (81) and total bases (251). In addition, he twice hit three home runs in a single game and was a seven-time All-Star.

García played later for the Porteños de Nuevo México of the Mexican Southeast League in 1966. It was his last season held outside of Venezuela.

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

Navegantes del Magallanes (1st stage) Following his minor league debut with the Concord Nationals, the 19-year-old Camaleón García would play in 12 of his 22 professional seasons with the Navegantes del Magallanes.

García joined Magallanes during the 1949–1950 VPBL season in a game against the Cervecería Caracas club. Nervous in his first appearance, due to the historic rivalry between the two teams, he had to face Alejandro Carrasquel; a 37-year-old veteran and former Washington Senators pitcher, as well as the first Venezuelan player to wear a major league uniform. The young García went 2-for-4 against Carrasquel and recorded an RBI in the 5–2 victory over Caracas, quickly gaining the trust of Magallanes manager Lázaro Salazar, who gave him a place in the starting lineup as everyday third baseman. Then, on November 29, 1949, Camaleón began a long string of consecutive games played that would extend over the next four years.

Even though he batted just .247 in 41 games as a rookie, García collected 39 hits in 138 at-bat appearances, including 10 doubles and two home runs, while driving in 22 runs and scoring 28 more. He earned VPBL Rookie of the Year honors in his first season, while Magallanes won its first pennant in the league and represented Venezuela in the 1950 Caribbean Series. García batted .211 in the Series, being the only Magallanes player to either hit a home run or steal a base in the tournament.

In 1950–1951 García enjoyed a good season at the plate, hitting .292 with nine doubles, three triples and five homers in 53 games. He also had 27 RBI and scored 32 runs, while slugging .491 and leading Magallanes to its second straight pennant. He went 5-for-20 in the 1951 Caribbean Series, including five runs and four RBI, and hit a solo home run to prevent a shutout by Cuban pitcher Bill Ayers in Game 6 of the series. For his part, Camaleón contributed with a .289 average and slugged .403, as he extended his string of consecutive games played to 341. He also batted eight doubles, five homers and 20 RBI, while his 32 runs tied him with Patriotas' Dave Pope for the most in the league.

García had a modest season for Magallanes in 1955–1956, when he collected a .278 average and slugged .356 in a disappointing season for the club, which finished last in the four-team league. He connected 60 hits in 216 at bats, including nine doubles, one triple and two home runs, while scoring 24 runs with 27 RBI.

García then finished the 1957–1958 season averaging a team-best .335 (53-for-158) for second-place Oriente and also posted a league-best 14 doubles. He scored 24 runs and hit two triples, two homers and 20 RBI, as well a .487 slugging, which was also a team-best and the second of the league behind Caracas' John Roseboro (.500). Meanwhile, García hit .263, slugged .350, and led the team with 21 RBI and nine doubles. He also scored 12 runs, smashed one home run, and stole one base. Nonetheless, his production and the changes did not create a more competitive team, as they finished in last place. At the end of the year, the franchise owners acquired the brand Magallanes and returned to the following season.

Navegantes del Magallanes (2nd stage) In 1964–1965, the Navegantes de Magallanes returned as a new franchise with the old colors, records and a new ballpark. Magallanes retained the services of some Orientales players as Chico Carrasquel, José Bracho, Látigo Chávez, Oswaldo Blanco and, of course, Camaleón García.

The Navegantes hired Sparky Anderson as their skipper. Anderson came with a five-year experience while managing in the Milwaukee Braves, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds minor league systems, But Anderson did not get all the success he wanted. After a 2-1 start, the team lost 13 straight games and he was replaced by the veteran infielder Carrasquel, who also had managed the Indios and Orientales in the previous seasons.

Then, after being dismissed, the future Hall of Fame manager defended himself in a press conference, arguing that the club was badly organised, for having players that never played together before. Anderson added that to improve the team, the owners should strengthen the relationship between players and coaches, not make any difference. Also, they gave me a group of local veteran players almost gone from baseball, and rookies with little professional experience, he explained earnestly.

In 1965–1966, García played in all 60 regular season games and one tie-breaking contest in the now six-team league. The 36-year-old veteran hit .295 for Magallanes, including nine doubles, three home runs, 30 RBI and 18 runs. Magallanes advanced to the postseason, losing the first round to the eventual champions Tiburones de La Guaira. García batted .375 (9-for-24) with one run and four RBI in the five playoff games.

In 2003, he was honored by the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as part of their first class.

After that he was inducted into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame through the Veterans Committee in 2011. In addition, a baseball park in the City of Caracas is named after him.

Then, in 2012 he became an inaugural inductee into the Navegantes del Magallanes Hall of Fame; while his uniform number 21 was retired by the franchise.

Besides this, in 2012 García and fellow and countryman Luis Aparicio were honored prior to a Caracas–Magallanes game at Estadio José Bernardo Pérez. After the ceremony, both Venezuela legends threw out the ceremonial first ball.

García died in Caracas, Venezuela in 2014, at the age of 84, after suffering a cerebrovascular disease.