Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player.

From 1956 to 1962, Aparicio and second baseman Nellie Fox formed one of the most revered double play duos in major league history.

[4][5][6] As the team's leadoff hitter and defensive star, he provided a spark to the "Go-Go" White Sox, helping to lead them to their first pennant in 40 years in 1959, finishing second to Fox in the Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting.

Traded to the Baltimore Orioles before the 1963 season, he set a franchise record with 57 steals in 1964, then played a major role in helping the club to its first World Series title in 1966.

He set major league records for career hits and total bases as a shortstop that were later broken by Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken Jr. respectively.

[10] At the age of 19, Aparicio was selected as a member of the Venezuelan national team in the 1953 Amateur World Series held in Caracas; Venezuela took the silver medal in the tournament.

In a symbolic gesture during the team's 1953 home opener, his father led off as the first hitter of the game, took the first pitch, and had Aparicio Jr. take his place at bat.

[2] Chicago White Sox general manager Frank Lane, on the recommendation of fellow Venezuelan shortstop Chico Carrasquel, then signed Aparicio for $5,000 down and $5,000 in first-year salary.

[7][19] Aparicio was the team leader when the "Go-Go" White Sox won the AL pennant in 1959, finishing the regular season five games ahead of the Cleveland Indians.

[20] After stealing 56 bases to tie Wally Moses' 1943 team record, he was runner-up to Fox in the Most Valuable Player Award balloting.

[26] The White Sox eventually traded him to the Baltimore Orioles with Al Smith for Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward in January 1963.

[28][29] In 1964, he led the league in stolen bases for a ninth consecutive year, with his 57 steals breaking George Sisler's franchise record of 51 set with the 1922 St. Louis Browns, and won his sixth Gold Glove Award.

[31][32][33] He finished ninth in the MVP balloting, in which teammates took the top three spots, and helped the Orioles sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1966 World Series.

[34][35] With the emergence of Mark Belanger at shortstop, Aparicio was traded back to the White Sox along with Russ Snyder and John Matias for Don Buford, Bruce Howard and Roger Nelson on November 29, 1967.

Aparicio had his best overall offensive season in 1970, scoring 86 runs and finishing fourth in the AL batting race with a career-high .313 average.

[41] In 1971, Aparicio had a career-high six runs batted in (RBI) on April 10 against the Indians in Cleveland, hitting a 2nd-inning grand slam followed by a 2-run double in the seventh inning.

However, he also made a late-season baserunning blunder that contributed to the Red Sox losing the 1972 American League Eastern Division title by a half-game to the Detroit Tigers.

[48] He tied the record of most seasons leading the league in fielding average by shortstops with 8, previously set by Everett Scott and Lou Boudreau.

[50] His 2,583 games played at shortstop stood as the major league record from his retirement in 1973 until May 2008, when it was surpassed by Omar Vizquel.

[52] He had 13 consecutive seasons with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and an on-base percentage less than .325, a major league record (his career OBP was slightly better than the shortstop average during his era; .311 vs .309).

[55] The 2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was dedicated jointly to Aparacio, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, and Tony Perez.

[56] In 2004, the first annual Luis Aparicio Award was presented to the Venezuelan player who recorded the best individual performance in Major League Baseball, as voted on by sports journalists in Venezuela.

In 2015, Empresas Polar and Fenix Media released a documentary, Thirty Years of Immortality, which features testimonials from many major leaguers, friends, and family, on the day that Aparicio was announced as being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.