View source for Elio Chacón

{{Short description|Venezuelan baseball player (1936–1992)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Chacón| Rodríguez|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Elio Chacón
|position=[[Second baseman]]
|image=Elio Chacon Mets.jpg
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1936|10|26}}
|birth_place=[[Caracas, Venezuela]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1992|4|24|1936|10|26}}
|death_place=Caracas, Venezuela
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 20
|debutyear=1960
|debutteam=Cincinnati Reds
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 30
|finalyear=1962
|finalteam=New York Mets
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.232
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=4
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=39
|teams=
*[[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1960}}–{{mlby|1961}})
*[[New York Mets]] ({{mlby|1962}})
|medaltemplates=
{{MedalSport | Men's [[baseball]]}}
{{Medal|Country|{{bb|VEN}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Baseball at the Pan American Games|Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[Baseball at the 1955 Pan American Games|1955 Mexico City]] | [[Venezuela national baseball team|Team]]}}
}}
'''Elio Chacón Rodríguez''' (October 26, 1936 &ndash; April 24, 1992) was a Venezuelan [[Major League Baseball]] [[second baseman]] and [[shortstop]] who played in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from [[Venezuela]] to play in the majors.

==Early baseball career==
Born in [[Caracas]], Chacón was listed as {{convert|5|ft|9|in}} tall and {{convert|160|lb}}. He threw and batted right-handed. Chacón [[batting average (baseball)|hit]] .265 as a reserve second baseman with the {{mlby|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 {{mlby|1962}} starting shortstop job. In a May 28 game, Chacón got into a fight with Willie Mays. Chacón was ejected from the game.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19620528&id=V4tPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HFIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7078,3970775&hl=en Mets lose fight, pair to Giants]</ref>

=='¡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, "¡La tengo! ¡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 (outfielder)|Frank Thomas]], who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡La tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yolatengo.com/kaplanskorner.html |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090711024319/http://www.yolatengo.com/kaplanskorner.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 11, 2009 |title=Kaplan's Korner, Episode 1 |publisher=Yolatengo.com |accessdate=February 17, 2012 }}</ref> After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the hell is a Yellow Tango?".<ref>''Richie Ashburn Remembered'' by Fran Zimniuch, Sports Publishing LLC, 2005; pp. 41–42.</ref> The band [[Yo La Tengo]] gets its name from this baseball anecdote.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-06-01|title=Sports Legend Revealed: Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn indirectly led to the naming of the band Yo La Tengo|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/06/sports-legend-revealed-hall-of-famer-richie-ashburn-indirectly-led-to-the-naming-of-the-band-yo-la-t.html|access-date=2020-07-13|website=LA Times Blogs - Sports Now|language=en-US}}</ref>

Chacón led the Mets in [[stolen base]]s in their inaugural season of 1962, but then never appeared in the major leagues again. His professional career continued through 1971. In the majors, he was a .232 career hitter with 143 [[hit (baseball)|hits]], four [[home run]]s, 28 [[Run batted in|RBI]], 49 [[run (baseball statistics)|runs]], and 20 stolen bases in 228 games played.

Chacón died in Caracas, at the age of 55.

==See also==
* [[List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats | br=c/chacoel01 |brm=chacon001eli}}
*[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/C/Pchace101.htm Retrosheet]

{{Venezuelan Professional Baseball League Rookie of the Year}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chacon, Elio}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:Águilas del Zulia players]]
[[Category:Baseball players at the 1955 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Broncos de Reynosa players]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Denver Bears players]]
[[Category:Havana Sugar Kings players]]
[[Category:Industriales de Valencia players]]
[[Category:Jacksonville Suns players]]
[[Category:Licoreros de Pampero players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball infielders]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Venezuela]]
[[Category:Mexican League baseball players]]
[[Category:New York Mets players]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for Venezuela]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists in baseball]]
[[Category:Portland Beavers players]]
[[Category:Savannah Redlegs players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Caracas]]
[[Category:Tiburones de La Guaira players]]
[[Category:Tigres de Aragua players]]
[[Category:Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico]]
[[Category:Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Cuba]]
[[Category:20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen]]