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 > Little League Online > Media > News Archive > 2004 > Toronto Blue Jays Rookie Guillermo Quiroz Played for the 1994 Little League Baseball World Series Champions

Toronto Blue Jays Rookie Guillermo Quiroz Played for the 1994 Little League Baseball World Series Champions

Guillermo Quiroz
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Sept. 23, 2004) – Ten years ago, Guillermo Quiroz was a key player in leading Coquivacoa Little League of Maracaibo, Venezuela to the 1994 Little League Baseball World Series championship. Today, the 23-year-old is a top prospect of the American League’s Toronto Blue Jays, and on Sept. 4, he became the 27th Little League Baseball World Series participant to play in the Major Leagues.

Born in Maracaibo, where he still lives, Mr. Quiroz was the starting catcher for the Coquivacoa team that represented the Latin America Region, and defeated North Ridge Little League of Northridge, Calif., 4-3, to win the first Little League championship for Venezuela.

In the ‘94 World Series, Mr. Quiroz played error-free ball in five games behind the plate, and was 6-for-15 with the bat. He had four singles, a double and a triple, with one run batted in and a run scored, as the eventual world champions outscored the opposition, 26-6, en route to the title.

In Sept. 1998, at age 17, Mr. Quiroz signed with the Blue Jays as a non-drafted free agent. Through six minor league seasons, he has developed into one of the organization’s best prospects. Since his September call-up he has seven hits in 33 at-bats for a .212 batting average, with one double, and three runs batted in.

The first experience Mr. Quiroz had at the Major League level came last summer with his participation in the 2003 All-Star Futures Game. Played at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, the Futures Game is part of Major League Baseball’s All-Star weekend.

During his 2003 Eastern League season, Mr. Quiroz finished fourth in home runs (20), and at on stretch had an 11-game hitting streak where he hit .356 for the Class AA Newe Haven (Conn.) Ravens. He is considered the Blue Jays’ third-best major league prospect, and is ranked as the third-best minor league catcher by Baseball America. This year he has been slowed by broken finger that he sustained early in the season after being hit by a pitch.

Mr. Quiroz is the second player from Coquivacoa Little League to play in the Little League Baseball World Series and later reach the major leagues. Wilson Alvarez, currently pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, played in Williamsport in 1982.

Little League Baseball and Softball is the world’s largest organized youth sports program, with nearly 2.7 million players and 1 million adult volunteers in every U.S. state and scores of other countries.

Guillermo Quiroz in the 1994 LLBWS (Coquivacoa Little League, Maracaibo, Venezuela – Latin America)
  • Game 1: Played catcher (no errors), batted third. Singled, flew to right, struck out (1-for-3). No runs, no RBI. Latin America defeated Europe (Arabian-America Little League, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), 5-1.
     
  • Game 2: Played catcher (no errors), batted third. Tripled, grounded to short, struck out (1-for-3). No runs, no RBI. Latin America defeated Far East (Li Jen Little League, Chinese Taipei), 4-1.
     
  • Game 3: Played catcher (no errors), batted third. Doubled, singled, grounded to short (2-for-3). No runs, one RBI. Latin America defeated Canada (Glace Bay Little League, Nova Scotia), 3-0.
     
  • Game 4 (International Championship): Played catcher (no errors), batted third. Singled twice, grounded to third, grounded to second (2-for-4). No runs, no RBI. Latin America defeated Europe (Arabian-America Little League, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), 10-1.
     
  • Game 5 (World Championship): Played catcher (no errors), batted third. Reached on an error, struck out twice (0-for-2). One run, no RBI. Latin America defeated U.S. West (Northridge Little League, Northridge, Calif.), 4-3.
Batting totals
AB R H 1B 2B 3B HR RBI BB K
15 1 6 4 1 1 0 1 0 4