Osvaldo Chavarria (born August 5, 1937, Colón, Panama

Colón, Panama

Colón is a sea port on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. The city lies near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city....

) is a former Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 player. When he made his major league debut with the Kansas City Athletics on April 14, , he became the thirteenth Panamanian born baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player to make it to the majors.

Career

Chavarria lied about his age, claiming to have been born in when he originally signed as an amateur free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 with the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 in . After one season with the Cubs organization, he was acquired by the A's in a minor league transaction prior to the season. He made his major league debut in left field against the Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

 at Metropolitan Stadium

Metropolitan Stadium

Metropolitan Stadium was a sports stadium that once stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. The area where the stadium once stood is now the site of the Mall of America...

, and was held hitless by Jim Kaat

Jim Kaat

James Lee "Jim" Kaat , nicknamed "Kitty", is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins , Chicago White Sox , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Yankees , and St...

 in four at-bats. Over his two major league seasons, Chavarria also played first

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

, second

Second baseman

Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...

, third base

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 and shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

.

Chavarria was still with the Athletics organization when they moved to Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

 prior to the start of the season. He was traded to the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 with Danny Cater

Danny Cater

Danny Anderson Cater is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder. He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18 on June 8,...

 for Al Downing and Frank Fernández

Frank Fernández (baseball)

Frank Fernández is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He signed as an amateur free agent with the New York Yankees upon graduation from Curtis High School in Staten Island in . He spent six seasons in their minor league system before debuting with the Yankees as a September call-up in...

 prior to the start of the season. After two seasons with the Yankees' International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, Chavarria was dealt to Mexico City Tigers

Tigres de Quintana Roo

The Quintana Roo Tigers also known as Mexico Tigers is a Triple-A baseball team located in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The team is part of the Southern Division of the Mexican Baseball League...

 of the Mexican League for Celerino Sanchez

Celerino Sanchez

Celerino Sánchez was a Major League baseball third baseman. He was known primarily as an excellent fielder....

.

After retiring as a player, Chavarria became an umpire

Umpire (baseball)

In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...

. He worked in the minor leagues, including the Northwest League

Northwest League

The Northwest League of Professional Baseball is a Class A-Short Season minor baseball league. The league is the descendant of the Western International League which ran as a class B league from 1937-1951 and class A from 1952-1954...

, and college games. He has also umpired numerous international events, including the 1992 Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

, the Baseball World Cup, Pan American Games

Pan American Games

The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...

 and Intercontinental Cup

Intercontinental Cup (baseball)

The Intercontinental Cup is a baseball tournament between the members of the International Baseball Federation . It was first held in 1973 in Italy, and was held every other year following until 1999....

.

External links