In Venezuela, they refer to Luis Aparicio as the ``little general`. He barks out orders in Spanish, moves the second baseman and points out where he should be standing.
Then he smacks his glove 3 times, very superstitious he is, but when the ball is thrown, and the ball is hit, they all look back at Luis, and no their heads in acknowledgement. He was right, it was a breaking ball, so of course the second baseman needed to playing deeper and towards short allowing the General to play closer to third.
Bill Rigney , then Twins manager turns to Oliva and Versailles and they shrug their shoulders, `he is the general and his moves his troops`says Tony Oliva to Zoilo Versailles, we have seen him in the Caribbean World Series do this for years
Following his debut in 1956, Luis Aparicio helped to redefine the role and expectations of Major League shortstops with agile fielding, spray-hitting and speedy base running. He took Rookie of the Year honors in 1956, collected nine Gold Glove Awards, led the American League in stolen bases nine seasons and was named to the All-Star squad 10 times. When he retired in 1973, he held the career record for shortstops for games played, double plays and assists.
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