1970 Amateur World Series

The 1970 Amateur World Series was held in Cartagena, Colombia from November 18 through December 4, 1970.^{[citation needed]} It was the first Amateur World Series in over 30 years to feature a European team and was the first to include two European teams, in the form of Italy and the Netherlands. It also marked the debut of Canada in Amateur World Series play.

1970 Amateur World Series

Tournament details
Country	Colombia
Teams	11
Final positions
Champions	Cuba
Runner-up	United States
Third place	Puerto Rico
Fourth place	Colombia
← 1969 1971 →

The tournament was won by Cuba, for their second consecutive title and their sifth in the past eight editions. The United States finished in second, also for the second consecutive year.

Participants

The Italian and Dutch national teams were both fixtures of the European Baseball Championship, but neither had ever appeared in an Amateur World Series tournament until 1970. They would be the first European teams in the tournament since Great Britain defeated the United States in the inaugural Amateur World Series in 1938. While Italy and the Netherlands both won a game, the newcomers clearly struggled; nevertheless, within 35 years, both would make it to the medal round of the tournament.^{[citation needed]}

This was the second year of competition for the United States national baseball team, which returned to the AWS after a near-three decade absence. Jack Stallings, head coach of Florida State University, managed the team.^[1]

Final standings

Pos	Team	W	L
	Cuba	12	1
	United States	10	3
	Puerto Rico	9	2
4	Colombia	8	3
5	Venezuela	7	4
6	Dominican Republic	6	5
7	Nicaragua	4	7
8	Netherlands Antilles	3	8
9	Italy	1	9
10	Canada	1	9
11	Netherlands	1	10

Honors and awards

Statistical leaders

Batting leaders[2] Statistic Name Total Batting average Abel Leal .477 Hits Abel Leal 21 Runs 4 tied with[a] 12 Home runs Ramon Ortiz 3 Runs batted in Félix Isasi 15 Stolen bases Orlando Ramírez 8

Pitching leaders[2] Statistic Name Total Wins 5 tied with[b] 3 Earned run average Burt Hooton 0.00 Strikeouts Burt Hooton 44

1. Félix Isasi (CUB), Wilfredo Sánchez (CUB), Abel Leal (COL), Wilson Pérez (DOM)
2. Gaspar Legón (CUB), O. García (COL), Rich Troedson (USA), Mike Caldwell (USA), A. Córdova (VEN)

Awards

Award	Player	Ref.
Most Valuable Player	Abel Leal	[2]

References

1. "Baseball Takes Another Step Towards Olympics". The Sporting News. 2 January 1971. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
2. "Historia de la Copa Mundial/World Cup History XI-XX (1950-1972)". Baseball de Cuba (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 November 2011.