Beautiful original 1953 in action baseball photo featuring two great catchers while playing in Dominican Republic. Valmy Thomas, catcher of the legendary Licey baseball club, is sliding home while Guillermo Vento, catcher of the Aguilas Cibaenas, is waiting the ball.
Valmy Thomas is best known as a Major League catcher (New York/San Francisco Giants), but was also a star player in the Caraïbes where he played many seasons in Dominican Republic (Licey) and Puerto Rico (Santurce).
During the early 1950’s, there was a big rivalry between Tigres Licey and Aguilas Cibaenas. For two seasons, Vento was the top catcher of Cibaenas. In 1952, Cibaenas won the championship in defeating Licey in the 7th game of the final serie. Vento was one the main hero in the victory of Cibaenas. Actually Guillermo Vento is one of the best catchers in Venezuela baseball history. He played professional baseball in Venezuela (Caracas Cerveceria) from 1946 to 1967.
Great photo featuring two really great but underrated catchers in their prime. The photo is from the famous Dominican professional photograph Pablo Rosa. Great addition to any baseball collection.