Elio Chacón

Elio Chacón Rodríguez (October 26, 1936 – April 24, 1992) was a Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop who played in the National League from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from Venezuela to play in the majors.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Chacón and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.
Elio Chacón
Second baseman
Born: (1936-10-26)October 26, 1936
Caracas, Venezuela
Died: April 24, 1992(1992-04-24) (aged 55)
Caracas, Venezuela
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 20, 1960, for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1962, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average.232
Home runs4
Runs batted in39
Teams

Early baseball career

Born in Caracas, Chacón was listed as 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and 160 pounds (73 kg). He threw and batted right-handed. Chacón hit .265 as a reserve second baseman with the 1961 NL champion Cincinnati Reds, starting 34 games during the season. In Game 2 of the 1961 World Series, Chacón hit a key bloop single against New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry, and scored the winning run in the Reds' only victory in the series.

Immediately after the World Series, on October 10, the 1961 MLB expansion draft to stock the newborn Houston Colt .45s and New York Mets was conducted in Cincinnati. After he was selected by New York with the fourth overall pick during the draft's regular phase, Chacón was the Mets' first candidate for the 1962 starting shortstop job. In May 28 game, Chacón got into a fight with Willie Mays. Chacón was ejected from the game.[1]

'¡Yo la tengo!'

During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Chacón frequently found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into the 160-pound Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" which is "I've got it" in Spanish. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by 200-pound left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions.[2] After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the hell is a Yellow Tango?".[3] The band, Yo La Tengo, gets its name from this baseball anecdote.

He led the Mets in stolen bases in their inaugural season of 1962, but then never appeared in the major leagues again. His professional career continued through 1971. In the majors, Chacón was a .232 career hitter with 143 hits, four home runs, 28 RBI, 49 runs, and 20 stolen bases in 228 games played.

Elio Chacón died in Caracas at the age of 55.

See also
  • List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball

References
  1. Mets lose fight, pair to Giants
  2. "Kaplan's Korner, Episode 1". Yolatengo.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
  3. Richie Ashburn Remembered by Fran Zimniuch, Sports Publishing LLC, 2005; pp. 41–42.
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