Alex Carrasquel

Carrasquel made his first big league start on May 14 against the visiting Boston Red Sox at Griffith Stadium. Carrasquel engaged in a 11-inning pitching duel with Lefty Grove and the score tied at 2–2, until the Red Sox chased him with three runs in the top of the 12th, while the Senators’ rally in the bottom of the inning against Grove and two relievers fell one run short, as the Sox prevailed, 5–4. Besides, in the 7th inning Carrasquel recorded the first hit by a Venezuelan player in the major leagues when he singled off Grove. Incidentally, Carrasquel faced a Red Sox starting lineup that had other future Hall of Famers: Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, and the aforementioned Grove. On August 13, he won a rematch with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, earning his sixth win of the season on a 6–3, complete game effort.

In 1949, Carrasquel returned to the majors and made three appearances for the White Sox before being farmed out. When Chicago acquired his nephew Chico Carrasquel in that season, GM Frank Lane swapped Alex to the Detroit Tigers for Cuban reliever Witto Aloma, who acted strictly as an interpreter for the young Venezuelan shortstop.

Although World War II was officially over and baseball's finest players were back in their familiar ranks, tranquility no longer had a place in the majors. The new Mexican League, headed by millionaire Jorge Pasquel, had lured a cluster of bigleaguers. On January 2, 1946, the Chicago White Sox bought Carrasquel's contract from the Senators. He rejected the deal and fled to play in Mexico, signing a three-year contract – the first shot in the cross-border disputes that would dominate baseball even more than the return of the war veterans. “Pasquel paid me $3,000 cash [bonus], to sign a three-year contract calling for $10,000 a year,” Carrasquel said, in an interview three years later. “I took it, for in addition to the $33,000 I was to receive in Mexico, I also was free to pitch winter baseball”, he added, according to historian Lou Hernandez. There were several other players who fled to Mexico, including outfielder Danny Gardella, pitchers Sal Maglie and Max Lanier and catcher Mickey Owen. As a result, Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler sought a lifetime suspension for them, but his penalty was later reduced.

His most productive season came in 1943, when he had a 11–7 record and 3.43 ERA in 39 games (13 starts), including four complete games, one shutout and five saves. His shutout was also a career highlight on April 25, as he pitched a two-hitter, 5–0 victory against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. The Senators actually finished over .500 at 84-69.

In the 1940s, Carrasquel posted positive win–loss records in six consecutive seasons for lousy Senators teams that usually finished below .500. He had a 6-2 record (.750) in both 1940 and 1941, while the Senators went 64-90 and 70-84, respectively. In 1942 he went 7–7 (.500); Washington, 60–91.

Carrasquel became the first Venezuelan-born to play in the majors when he joined the Senators in its 1939 season. He is also known as one of the handful of major leaguers who jumped their organized baseball teams to play in the outlaw Mexican League in 1946.

Born in Caracas, Carrasquel had a fine fastball, which he complemented with an effective knuckleball and a decent curve. He started his major league career with the Senators of the American League on April 23, 1939. Carrasquel became the second player to go straight into the major leagues, following Ted Lyons, who did it in 1923.

Alejandro Eloy Carrasquel Aparicio (July 24, 1912 – August 19, 1969) was a Venezuelan pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Washington Senators and the Chicago White Sox in a span of eight seasons from 1939–1949. Listed at 6' 1" (1.85 mt), 182 lb. (82 kg), he batted and threw right handed.