Caribbean Series
The Caribbean Series (Spanish: Serie del Caribe) is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in February, after the various winter leagues have ended their national tournaments.
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| First season | 1949 |
| Director | Juan Francisco Puello Herrera |
| Organising body | Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation |
| Countries | Colombia Dominican Republic Mexico Panama Puerto Rico Venezuela |
| Region | Caribbean and Latin America |
| Most recent champion(s) | Tiburones de La Guaira (1st title) (2024) |
| Most titles | Tigres del Licey (11 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | United States: ESPN Deportes Bally Sports |
| Related competitions | LPB LIDOM LMP PROBEIS LBPRC LVBP |
| Official website | seriedelcaribe.net |
| 2024 Caribbean Series | |
The Dominican Republic has won the most Caribbean Series championships (22), with Tigres del Licey being the most successful team in the tournament's history. The series has been won by 29 teams from seven different countries. Only two teams have won the tournament two years in a row, the most recent being Criollos de Caguas from Puerto Rico in 2017 and 2018.
History
The competition was the brainchild of Venezuelan baseball entrepreneur Pablo Morales and Oscar Prieto Ortiz, who devised the idea after seeing the success of the Serie Interamericana in 1946, which featured the clubs Brooklyn Bushwicks from the United States, Cervecería Caracas from Venezuela, Sultanes de Monterrey from Mexico, and an All-Star team composed of Cuban players.[1]
Inspired by the Interamerican Series and his experience as a former president of the International Baseball Federation, Morales joined Prieto and presented the idea to baseball representatives of Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico during a meeting held in Havana on August 21, 1948.[2] The representatives then agreed to stage a four-country, round-robin tournament 12-game to be known as the Serie del Caribe, to be launched in Cuba from February 20–25 of 1949.
The Series ran annually from 1949 through 1960, with Cuba winning seven times. However, the event was suspended in 1961, as a result of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro dissolved all professional baseball in Cuba, and MLB Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that American major leaguers were barred from playing in Havana, where the 1961 series had been scheduled.[3][4]
It was not until 1970 that the Caribbean Series was revived. Moreover, the 1981 Caribbean Series was not held due to a Venezuelan League player's strike.
The tournament featured the champions of the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela for over 40 years. Cuba returned in 2014. Panama returned to host the 2019 edition. Colombia was added for the 2020 edition, replacing Cuba who could not participate due to visa issues. Curaçao was invited as a guest in 2023.[5]
Participants
- Key
- Member of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation
Previous participants
| Country | League | First edition | Latest edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuba | Cuban League | 1949 | 1960 |
| Cuban National Series | 2014 | 2019 | |
| Cuban Elite League | 2023 | ||
| Curaçao | Curaçao National Championship AA League | 2023 | |
| Colombia | Colombian Professional Baseball League | 2020 | 2023 |
Notes
- a After the 1960 tournament, Panama would not appear in another Caribbean Series until 2019.
- b Venezuela's LVBP was replaced by the Liga Occidental de Béisbol Profesional for the 1960 tournament
Series
Championship games
Starting with the 2013 Caribbean Series, a championship game was introduced where the two teams with the best win–loss record from the round-robin first stage would meet to determine the champion. In 2013 the first round consisted of 12 games and each team faced the other teams twice, one as home club and the other as an away team; from 2014 on, with the return of Cuban teams to the tournament, the first stage was changed to a round robin of 10 games where each team faced the other teams once.
| Year | Venue | Champion | Result | Runner-up | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Hermosillo | Yaquis de Obregón | 4–3 (18) | Leones del Escogido | Eddie Díaz |
| 2014 | Isla de Margarita | Naranjeros de Hermosillo | 7–1 | Indios de Mayagüez | Matías Carrillo |
| 2015 | San Juan | Vegueros de Pinar del Río | 3–2 | Tomateros de Culiacán | Alfonso Urquiola |
| 2016 | Santo Domingo | Venados de Mazatlán | 5–4 | Tigres de Aragua | Juan José Pacho |
| 2017 | Culiacán | Criollos de Caguas | 1–0 (10) | Águilas de Mexicali | Luis Matos |
| 2018 | Guadalajara | Criollos de Caguas | 9–4 | Águilas Cibaeñas | Luis Matos |
| 2019 | Panama City | Toros de Herrera | 3–1 | Leñadores de Las Tunas | Manuel Rodríguez |
| 2020 | San Juan | Toros del Este | 9–3 | Cardenales de Lara | Lino Rivera |
| 2021 | Mazatlán | Águilas Cibaeñas | 4–1 | Criollos de Caguas | Félix Fermín |
| 2022 | Santo Domingo | Caimanes de Barranquilla | 4–1 | Gigantes del Cibao | José Mosquera |
| 2023 | Caracas and La Guaira | Tigres del Licey | 3–0 | Leones del Caracas | José Offerman |
| 2024 | Miami | Tiburones de La Guaira | 3–0 | Tigres del Licey | Ozzie Guillén |
Championships by team
| Rank | Team | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigres del Licey | 11 | 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2023 |
| 2 | Águilas Cibaeñas | 6 | 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2021 |
| 3 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 5 | 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993, 2000 |
| Criollos de Caguas | 1954, 1974, 1987, 2017, 2018 | ||
| 5 | Leones del Escogido | 4 | 1988, 1990, 2010, 2012 |
| 6 | Tigres de Marianao | 2 | 1957, 1958 |
| Alacranes del Almendares | 1949, 1959 | ||
| Elefantes de Cienfuegos | 1956, 1960 | ||
| Navegantes del Magallanes | 1970, 1979 | ||
| Águilas del Zulia | 1984, 1989 | ||
| Indios de Mayagüez | 1978, 1992 | ||
| Tomateros de Culiacán | 1996, 2002 | ||
| Leones del Caracas | 1982, 2006 | ||
| Yaquis de Obregón | 2011, 2013 | ||
| Naranjeros de Hermosillo | 1976, 2014 | ||
| Venados de Mazatlán | 2005, 2016 | ||
| 17 | Carta Vieja Yankees | 1 | 1950 |
| Leones del Habana | 1952 | ||
| Leones de Ponce | 1972 | ||
| Vaqueros de Bayamón | 1975 | ||
| Lobos de Arecibo | 1983 | ||
| Águilas de Mexicali | 1986 | ||
| Senadores de San Juan | 1995 | ||
| Tigres de Aragua | 2009 | ||
| Vegueros de Pinar del Río | 2015 | ||
| Toros de Herrera | 2019 | ||
| Toros del Este | 2020 | ||
| Caimanes de Barranquilla | 2022 | ||
| Tiburones de La Guaira | 2024 |
Championships by country
| Rank | Country | Wins | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominican Republic | 22 | 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980,1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2020, 2021, 2023 |
| 2 | Puerto Rico | 16 | 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2017, 2018 |
| 3 | Mexico | 9 | 1976, 1986, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 |
| 4 | Cuba | 8 | 1949, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 2015 |
| Venezuela | 1970, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2006, 2009, 2024 | ||
| 6 | Panama | 2 | 1950, 2019 |
| 7 | Colombia | 1 | 2022 |
Undefeated teams
| No. | Team | Record | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Tigres del Licey | 6–0 6–0 5–0 |
1971 1977 1991 |
| 2 | Cangrejeros de Santurce | 6–0 6–0 |
1953 2000 |
| 2 | Águilas Cibaeñas | 6–0 7–0 |
1998 2021 |
| 1 | Alacranes del Almendares | 6–0 | 1949 |
| 1 | Leones del Habana | 5–0 | 1952 |
| 1 | Elefantes de Cienfuegos | 6–0 | 1960 |
| 1 | Senadores de San Juan | 6–0 | 1995 |
| 1 | Venados de Mazatlán | 6–0 | 2016 |
See also
Notes
- Salón de la Fama y Museo del Béisbol de Venezuela Exaltados 2008 – Oscar Prieto Ortiz Archived 31 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish).
- Bjarkman, Peter (1994). Baseball with a Latin Beat: A History of the Latin American Game. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-89950-973-0.
- "Caracas Grabs Latin Title Set, Cuban Loop Out". The Sporting News. 11 January 1961. p. 21. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- "Historia Serie del Caribe". LVBP.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- Rojas, Enrique (13 May 2022). "Oficial: Cuba y Curazao jugarán en próxima Serie del Caribe en Caracas 2023". ESPNdeportes.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2023.
Sources
- Antero Núñez, José. Series del Caribe. Jefferson, Caracas, Venezuela: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987.
- Gutiérrez, Daniel. Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela – 1895–2006. Caracas, Venezuela: Impresión Arte, C.A., 2007.
External links
- Béisbol en Cuba (Spanish)
- Cuban Teams in the Caribbean Series
- Historia de las Series del Caribe (Spanish)
- Las Series del Caribe (Spanish)
- Sobre el Diamante (Spanish)