Teo Acosta
Encyclopedia
Teolindo Antonio Acosta Lazaro (Maracaibo
, July 23, 1937 — August 1, 2004 in Maracaibo) was a baseball player from Venezuela
.
assigned him to Dothan for a second season in 1959, and he responded by bopping out a .337 average and led the circuit with 46 steals. Sufficiently impressed, the Reds moved Acosta up to Billings of the Class C Pioneer League the next season, where he topped the loop with a .369 average (the first of his five pro batting crowns) and 45 swipes. He leapfrogged over B ball in 1961 to play for Class A Columbia of the Sally League, and once more was best in the league in batting (.343) and steals (40), marking his fourth consecutive stolen base titles.
Acosta was one of the top batters in the Mexican League for nine seasons between 1968 and 1976, winning three LMB batting titles in a six-year span. Never a power hitter, the 5’6” 158-pound outfielder was a contact hitter who rarely struck out and sprayed the ball all over the field, similar in fashion to Rod Carew
.
He cooled off a bit over the next few seasons, batting between .269 and 294 from 1962 through 1966, and after only hitting .238 for Buffalo of the International League over 49 games in 1967, he moved south to Mexico for the 1968 campaign with Puebla
.
Acosta found his footing in the Mexican League, bettering .320 his first eight seasons. He hit .325 for the Pericos in 1968, followed by a Liga batting crown with a .354 average in 1969. Despite that, he moved on to Yucatán in 1970. After hitting .337 that season (including one game in which he went 6-for-6 with six runs), he was the top hitter in Mexico in 1971 with a career-high .392 BA and followed up with a solid .346 season in 1972. Acosta returned to Puebla during his .375 campaign in 1973, and won his fifth and final batting championship in 1974 with a .366 showing. After hitting .320 for Villahermoso in 1975, he wrapped up his career as a 39-year-old with Nuevo Laredo
in 1976 by batting .276, his only sub-.300 season in nine Mexican League campaigns.
The left-handed Acosta carried a lifetime .328 average in 19 seasons of professional baseball, collecting 2,724 hits with 64 homers and 389 stolen bases. He did even better in Mexico, knocking out a .345 batting average (sixth-best lifetime in the Liga) with 132 stolen bases. He led all of professional baseball in batting in 1971 and 1974. Despite these figures, he is not a member of Mexican baseball’s Salon de la Fama.
Acosta returned home to Venezuela to play ball during the winter for 23 seasons, and is number two on the Venezuelan League career hit list with 1,289 safeties in 1,239 games. He won two batting titles and finished with a career winter average of .298.
After retiring from winter ball in 1979, Acosta settled down in Valencia. Known in Venezuela as “El Inventor del Hit,” he died from heart problems on August 2, 2004 at 67. He was raised to the Hall of Fame of the Venezuelan Baseball in 2006.
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...
, July 23, 1937 — August 1, 2004 in Maracaibo) was a baseball player from Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
Career
He broke into minor league baseball with Dothan of the Class D Alabama-Florida League in 1958, batting .313 with 76 RBIs and a league-leading 36 stolen bases in 124 games. For whatever reason, the parent Cincinnati RedsCincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
assigned him to Dothan for a second season in 1959, and he responded by bopping out a .337 average and led the circuit with 46 steals. Sufficiently impressed, the Reds moved Acosta up to Billings of the Class C Pioneer League the next season, where he topped the loop with a .369 average (the first of his five pro batting crowns) and 45 swipes. He leapfrogged over B ball in 1961 to play for Class A Columbia of the Sally League, and once more was best in the league in batting (.343) and steals (40), marking his fourth consecutive stolen base titles.
Acosta was one of the top batters in the Mexican League for nine seasons between 1968 and 1976, winning three LMB batting titles in a six-year span. Never a power hitter, the 5’6” 158-pound outfielder was a contact hitter who rarely struck out and sprayed the ball all over the field, similar in fashion to Rod Carew
Rod Carew
Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach. He played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and was elected to the All-Star game every season except his last. In 1991, Carew was inducted into the National...
.
He cooled off a bit over the next few seasons, batting between .269 and 294 from 1962 through 1966, and after only hitting .238 for Buffalo of the International League over 49 games in 1967, he moved south to Mexico for the 1968 campaign with Puebla
Pericos de Puebla
The Pericos de Puebla are a baseball team that has been a member of the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol since 2000. They have existed on and off since 1942 in various other leagues...
.
Acosta found his footing in the Mexican League, bettering .320 his first eight seasons. He hit .325 for the Pericos in 1968, followed by a Liga batting crown with a .354 average in 1969. Despite that, he moved on to Yucatán in 1970. After hitting .337 that season (including one game in which he went 6-for-6 with six runs), he was the top hitter in Mexico in 1971 with a career-high .392 BA and followed up with a solid .346 season in 1972. Acosta returned to Puebla during his .375 campaign in 1973, and won his fifth and final batting championship in 1974 with a .366 showing. After hitting .320 for Villahermoso in 1975, he wrapped up his career as a 39-year-old with Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo
Nuevo Laredo is a city located in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Río Grande, across from the United States city of Laredo, Texas. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Laredo is part of the Laredo-Nuevo...
in 1976 by batting .276, his only sub-.300 season in nine Mexican League campaigns.
The left-handed Acosta carried a lifetime .328 average in 19 seasons of professional baseball, collecting 2,724 hits with 64 homers and 389 stolen bases. He did even better in Mexico, knocking out a .345 batting average (sixth-best lifetime in the Liga) with 132 stolen bases. He led all of professional baseball in batting in 1971 and 1974. Despite these figures, he is not a member of Mexican baseball’s Salon de la Fama.
Acosta returned home to Venezuela to play ball during the winter for 23 seasons, and is number two on the Venezuelan League career hit list with 1,289 safeties in 1,239 games. He won two batting titles and finished with a career winter average of .298.
After retiring from winter ball in 1979, Acosta settled down in Valencia. Known in Venezuela as “El Inventor del Hit,” he died from heart problems on August 2, 2004 at 67. He was raised to the Hall of Fame of the Venezuelan Baseball in 2006.
Sources
- "La Liga Mexicana" by Pedro Treto Cisneros (Comprehensive Player Statistics, 1937-2001/Estadísticas Comprensivas De Los Jugadores, 1937-2001 - ISBN 9780786413782)
- "Mexican Baseball Stars" by John Phillips
External links
- Teolindo Acosta player information from museodebeisbol.org (in Spanish)