View source for Yo-Yo Davalillo

{{short description|Venezuelan baseball player and manager}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Davalillo|Romero|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Yo-Yo Davalillo
|image=Pompeyo Davalillo (1928-2013) in uniform.jpg
|image_size=175px
|caption=Pompeyo Davalillo when he played with the Lions of Caracas
|position=[[Shortstop]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1928|6|5}}
|birth_place=[[Cabimas]], [[Zulia]], [[Venezuela]]
|death_date={{Death date and age|2013|2|28|1928|6|5}}
|death_place=[[Ocumare del Tuy]], [[Miranda (state)|Miranda]], [[Venezuela]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=August 1
|debutyear=1953
|debutteam=Washington Senators
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=August 23
|finalyear=1953
|finalteam=Washington Senators
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.293
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=0
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=2
|teams=
*[[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] ({{mlby|1953}})
|hofcolor = #ffd700
|hoflink = Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = Venezuelan
|hofdate = [[Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum#2007|2007]]
|hofvote = 
|hofmethod = 
}}
'''Pompeyo Antonio Davalillo Romero''' [da-va-LEE-yo] (June 5, 1928 – February 28, 2013) was a [[Venezuelan people|Venezuelan]] professional [[baseball]] player and minor league [[Manager (baseball)|manager]]. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) as a [[shortstop]] for the [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]].

==Career==
Davalillo was drafted by the [[New York Yankees]] in 1953 and later transferred to the Washington Senators.<ref name="Pompeyo Davalillo">{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/davalyo01.shtml |title=Pompeyo Davalillo |publisher=Baseball Reference |access-date=6 January 2013 }}</ref> At the age of 25, he made his major league debut with the Senators on August 1, [[1953 Washington Senators season|1953]], becoming only the fourth Venezuelan to play in Major League Baseball after [[Alex Carrasquel]] (1939), [[Chucho Ramos]] (1944) and [[Chico Carrasquel]] (1950).<ref name="Pompeyo Davalillo"/> On August 3, 1953, Davalillo and the Senators played the Chicago White Sox who fielded shortstop [[Chico Carrasquel]], marking the first time in Major League history that two Venezuelan players faced each other on opposing teams.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1195308030.shtml |title=Chicago White Sox vs Washington Senators Box Score: August 3, 1953 |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=July 2, 2025}}</ref> Davalillo had a promising future, but his aversion to airplane travel, combined with a severe injury, curtailed his career in the major leagues.

Davalillo played eleven seasons in [[minor league baseball]], nine of them at Triple-A level, and posted a .270 average in 1,207 games.<ref name="Pompeyo Davalillo minor league statistics">{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=davali001pom |title=Pompeyo Davalillo minor league statistics |publisher=Baseball Reference |access-date=6 January 2013 }}</ref> He also played in [[Mexico]] (1962–64) and spent fourteen seasons with the [[Leones del Caracas]] of the [[Venezuelan Winter League]] (1952–53 and 1965–66).  

At 5'3", along with [[Stubby Magner]] he is the shortest person to have played a fielding position in [[Major League Baseball]]. He is the second-smallest player in major league baseball history. The shortest player on record is 43-inch [[Eddie Gaedel]], who got one plate appearance (a walk) as a 1951 publicity stunt. Five players listed at 5'3" have played in the major leagues since 1900, according to Baseball Reference, with Pompeyo Davalillo, [[Jess Cortazzo]], [[Bob Emmerich]], [[Stubby Magner]] and [[Mike McCormick (third baseman)|Mike McCormack]] combining for 90 hits in 463 at-bats".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/08/18/astros-altuve-stands-shorter-than-all-active-mlb-players/|title=Astros' Altuve stands shorter than all active MLB players|date=18 August 2011}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
In a 19-game major league career, Davalillo had 17 [[Hit (baseball)|hits]] in 58 [[at bats]] for a .293 career [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] along with 2 [[runs batted in]], 1 [[stolen base]] and scored 10 [[Run (baseball statistics)|runs]].<ref name="Pompeyo Davalillo"/> He had a .305 [[on-base percentage]] along with a .935 [[fielding percentage]].<ref name="Pompeyo Davalillo"/> In 469 Venezuelan Winter League games, he was a .276 hitter with three [[home run]]s and 130 RBI, including 246 runs, 58 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], 19 [[triple (baseball)|triples]] and 67 stolen bases.

==Coaching career and honors==
After his playing career had ended, Davalillo became a [[coach (baseball)|coach]] and a manager in the Venezuelan league.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Gutiérrez F., Daniel |author2=Álvarez, Efraim M. |author3=Gutiérrez G., Daniel |title=Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela |publisher=Fondo Editorial Cárdenas Lares |year=1997 |page= 418 |isbn=980-6996-02-X}}</ref> He won three championships as a manager in the LVBP: two with [[Águilas del Zulia]] (1991–92 and 1992–93) and one with [[Leones del Caracas]] (1994–95).<ref>{{cite news |title=Los numeros se agigantaron con el orgullo de ser zuliano |url=https://issuu.com/versionfinal/docs/d1597/15 |access-date=11 October 2025 |agency=Diario Version Final |date=3 March 2013 |page=15}}</ref> He also managed the [[Venezuela national baseball team]] at the [[Baseball at the 1979 Pan American Games|1979 Pan American Games]], held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.<ref>{{cite news |title=Otro jonrón olvidado |url=https://www.juventudrebelde.cu/deportes/2024-12-09/otro-jonron-olvidado |access-date=11 October 2025 |agency=Juventud Rebelde |date=9 December 2024}}</ref>

Davalillo was inducted into the [[Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]] in 2006.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} His younger brother [[Vic Davalillo]], also played in Major League Baseball.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/davalvi01.shtml |title=Vic Davalillo statistics |publisher=Baseball Reference |access-date=6 January 2013 }}</ref>

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

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{baseballstats | br=d/davalyo01 | brm=davali001pom }}

{{Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame}}
{{Venezuelan Professional Baseball League Rookie of the Year}}
{{Leones del Caracas}}
{{Leones del Caracas managers}}
{{Algodoneros de Unión Laguna managers}}
{{Venezuela national baseball team managers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davalillo, Pompeyo}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:Algodoneros de Unión Laguna managers]]
[[Category:Anaheim Angels scouts]]
[[Category:California Angels scouts]]
[[Category:Caribbean Series managers]]
[[Category:Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Havana Sugar Kings players]]
[[Category:Jersey City Jerseys players]]
[[Category:Leones del Caracas players]]
[[Category:Louisville Colonels (minor league) players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Venezuela]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball shortstops]]
[[Category:Miami Marlins (International League) players]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:Mexican League baseball managers]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Cabimas]]
[[Category:Tigres del México players]]
[[Category:Tigres de Salamanca players]]
[[Category:Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico]]
[[Category:Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States]]
[[Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players]]
[[Category:Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Cuba]]
[[Category:20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen]]
[[Category:Leones del Caracas managers]]