Home runs 2 Role Baseball Player Name Ossie Chavarria | Runs batted in 14 Batting average .208 | |
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Osvaldo Chavarría Quijano (born August 5, 1937, Colón, Panama) is a former Major League Baseball player. When he made his major league debut with the Kansas City Athletics on April 14, 1966, he became the thirteenth Panamanian born baseball player to make it to the majors.
Career
Chavarría lied about his age, claiming to have been born in 1940 when he originally signed as an amateur free agent with the Chicago Cubs in 1959. After one season with the Cubs organization, he was acquired by the A's in a minor league transaction prior to the 1960 season. He made his major league debut in left field against the Minnesota Twins at Metropolitan Stadium, and was held hitless by Jim Kaat in four at-bats. Over his two major league seasons, Chavarría also played first, second, third base and shortstop.
Chavarría was still with the Athletics organization when they moved to Oakland, California prior to the start of the 1968 season. He was traded to the New York Yankees with Danny Cater for Al Downing and Frank Fernández prior to the start of the 1970 season. After two seasons with the Yankees' International League affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, Chavarría was dealt to Mexico City Tigers of the Mexican League for Celerino Sanchez.
After retiring as a player, Chavarría became an umpire. He worked in the minor leagues, including the Northwest League, and college games. He has also umpired numerous international events, including the 1992 Olympics, the Baseball World Cup, Pan American Games and Intercontinental Cup.