Enrique FONSECA died at the age of 102 in the city of Guarenas. He was the last survivor of the so-called Heroes of 1941, the Venezuelan National Baseball Team that won the 1941 Amateur World Series (which evolved into the profes known as the IBAF Baseball World Cup) in Havana, Cuba.
Winning the Amatuer World Series is regarded as the defining moment that established baseball as the national sport of Venezuela, which it remains today.
Fonseca, nicknamed Conejo (the rabbit), got in touch with baseball in his native Maracaibo when he was 16. Initially a third baseman and an outfielder, he evolved into an elite catcher.
Fonseca caught all games pitched by Daniel CANONICO, the hero of the 1941 Amateur World Series. Canonico, nicknamed El Chino, outdueled legendary Cuban pitcher, Conrado MARRERO.
Fonseca helped Venezuela win back-to-back Amateur World Series on home soil in 1944 and 1945.
