Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League

The Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League (Spanish: Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional or LBPN), known as the Campeonato Claro for sponsorship purposes, is the professional baseball league of Nicaragua. The league consists of five teams with a 30-game regular season schedule that runs from November to December, followed by a four team playoff round robin; the two best teams advance to a best of seven championship series.

Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League
SportBaseball
Founded1956
No. of teams5
CountryNicaragua
Most recent
champion(s)		Gigantes de Rivas
(5th title)
Most titlesIndios del Bóer
(9 titles)
Official websitehttp://lbpn.com.ni/

History

Inaugurated on March 30, 1956 at the Estadio Nacional Anastasio Somoza (the modern Estadio Nacional Soberanía), the first game was between San Fernando and Indios del Bóer. The Nicaraguan public's excitement for baseball grew as foreign professional teams and foreign players came to play in their country's winter league circuit. The teams from Bóer and León were the most successful teams in those years with three championships each. Due to economic difficulties, the league had to shut down in 1967, though baseball continued to be played in an amateur format.

Professional baseball was re-established in Nicaragua in 2004. Since then, Bóer has led the league in championships with six, their most recent victory coming in the 2022–23 season.

Current teams
TeamCityStadiumCapacityFounded
Indios del BóerManaguaEstadio Nacional Soberanía20,0001905
Tigres de ChinandegaChinandegaEstadio Efraín Tijerino8,0001956
Gigantes de RivasRivasEstadio Yamil Ríos Ugarte6,0002013
Leones de LeónLeónEstadio Héroes y Mártires8,0001939
Tren del NorteEstelíEstadio Rufo Marín1,2001961
Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League team locations

Defunct teams

Defunct stadiums
  • Estadio Roberto Clemente, Masaya
  • Estadio Roque Tadeo Zavala, Granada

Champions
SeasonChampion
1957–58Leones de León
1958–59Oriental
1959–60Leones de León (2)
1960–61No champion
1961–62Marlboro
1962–63Indios del Bóer
1963–64Cinco Estrellas
1964–65Indios del Bóer (2)
1965–66Indios del Bóer (3)
1966–67Cinco Estrellas (2)
No professional baseball from 1967 to 2004
2004–05Leones de León (3)
2005–06Tigres de Chinandega
2006–07Indios del Bóer (4)
2007–08Indios del Bóer (5)
2008–09Season suspended
2009–10Leones de León (4)
2010–11Indios del Bóer (6)
2011–12Indios del Bóer (7)
2012–13Tigres de Chinandega (2)
2013–14Gigantes de Rivas
2014–15Indios del Bóer (8)
2015–16Gigantes de Rivas (2)
2016–17Tigres de Chinandega (3)
2017–18Tigres de Chinandega (4)
2018–19Leones de León (5)
2019–20Leones de León (6)
2020–21Gigantes de Rivas (2)
2021–22Leones de León (7)
2022–23Indios del Bóer (9)
2023–24Gigantes de Rivas (3)
Team Titles
Indios del Bóer 9
Leones de León 7
Tigres de Chinandega 4
Gigantes de Rivas 3
Cinco Estrellas 2
Oriental 1
Marlboro 1

International competition

From its inception, the Nicaraguan professional league sought to participate in international club competition. It hosted a tournament billed as the Serie Panamericana, or Pan-American Series, in 1958, inviting the champions of the Colombian and Mexican Pacific Leagues.[1] This tournament, won by Leones de León, was a success; Nicaraguan organizers hoped it would allow them to join the Caribbean Series, but such an invitation was not forthcoming.[2]

The LPBN did participate in the Interamerican Series three times[lower-alpha 1] in the 1960s, while the Caribbean Series was suspended. It hosted the 1964 edition, which was won by Cinco Estrellas.

Nicaragua was an inaugural member of the Latin American Series, winning the tournament four times in the 2010s.

The LPBN would not participate in the Caribbean Series until 2024, when it was invited to participate in the tournament in Miami.[3] Their entry was controversial, because it was alleged that the regime of Daniel Ortega offered $1 million to the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation to secure the participation in the tournament.[4][5]

Interamerican Series champions
Season Winner
1964Cinco Estrellas

Latin American Series champions
Season Winner
2016Gigantes de Rivas
2017Tigres de Chinandega
2018Tigres de Chinandega
2019Leones de León

Individual leaders by year

Hitting
Season Player Team Player Team Player Team
Batting averageHome RunsRBI
2004–05Adolfo MatamorosChinandega.378Luis IglesiasChinandega4Marlon AbeaSan Fernando33
Marlon AbeaSan Fernando4
2005–06Bárbaro CañizaresBóer.352Michel AbreuBóer14Wilson BatistaChinandega42
2006–07Justo RivasLeón.377Clyde WilliamsBóer16Clyde WilliamsBóer40
2007–08Ofilio CastroSan Fernando.351Luke GorsettChinandega6Danilo SoteloSan Fernando32
Jimmy HurtsSan Fernando6
Marcos SánchezSan Fernando6
2009–10Jimmy GonzálezGranada.363Lenín AragónBóer6Lenín AragónBóer38
Edgard LópezLeón38
2010–11José CampusanoBóer.363Brian NicholsLeón10Manuel MejíaBóer37
2011–12Renato MoralesGranada.387Esteban RamírezChinandega12Wuillians VasquezBóer51
2012–13Yurendell DeCasterChinandega.416Yurendell DeCasterChinandega13Yurendell DeCasterChinandega56
Ramón FloresChinandega13
2013–14Wuillians VasquezChinandega.351Ronald GarthGranada8Esteban RamírezChinandega35
2014–15Yurendell DeCasterRivas.368Rudy Van HeydoormRivas6Ramón FloresRivas38
2015–16Jonel PachecoChinandega.427Juan C. TorresGranada6Ronald GarthChinandega30
2016–17Wuillians VasquezRivas.407Wuillians VasquezRivas11Wuillians VasquezRivas55
2017–18Javier RoblesBóer.354Curt SmithChinandega6Elmer ReyesRivas34
2018–19Elmer ReyesBóer.360Juan SilverioBóer6Juan SilverioBóer19
2019–20Ofilio CastroLeón.409Alvaro GonzalezChinandega10Elian MirandaChinandega31
Alvaro GonzalezChinandega31
2020–21Ronald GarthLeón.400Cheslor CuthbertRivas9Héctor GómezTren41
Willy GarcíaTren9
2021–22Alay LargoTren.424Willy GarcíaTren11Alay LargoTren45
2022–23Manuel GeraldoBóer.355Manuel GeraldoBóer7Manuel GeraldoBóer31
2023–24Omar MendozaChinandega.358Jesus LopezChinandega8Omar MendozaChinandega29

Pitching
Season Player Team Player Team Player Team
ERAWin–loss recordStrikeouts
2004–05Julio RaudezSan Fernando1.46Julio RaudezSan Fernando10–3Miguel PérezLeón99
2005–06Wilton LópezLeón1.34Julio RaudezChinandega10–0Devern HansackLeón89
2006–07José Luis SáenzSan Fernando1.96Wilton LópezLeón8–2Willy LebrónSan Fernando/León89
2007–08Wilton LópezLeón1.45Diego SandinoSan Fernando10–0Juan FigueroaBóer60
2009–10Wilfredo AmadorLeón1.95Wilder RayoLeón7–2Melvin CuevasGranada57
2010–11Carlos EstrellaGranada1.19Rodney RodríguezGranada8–5Rodney RodríguezGranada93
2011–12Eric BlackwellLeón2.75Wilder RayoLeón8–3Juan FigueroaGranada74
2012–13Wilder RayoLeón2.06Juan FigueroaGranada7–1Juan FigueroaGranada79
2013–14Carlos EstrellaRivas1.62Carlos TéllerBóer7–0Santos HernandezGranada71
2014–15Rodney RodríguezBóer2.29Paul EstradaChinandega8–1Rodney RodríguezBóer58
2015–16Austin DavisBóer1.12Roger LuqueGranada5–2Paul EstradaRivas52
Abraham ElviraChinandega52
2016–17Gustavo MartínezGranada1.95José RosarioRivas7–1Frankie de la CruzGranada58
2017–18Jorge BucardoBóer1.56Manauris BaezBóer5–0Paul EstradaBóer49
2018–19Luis Angel MateoLeón3.29Jorge BucardoLeón3–0Luis Angel MateoLeón35
2019–20Isaac SilvaLeón2.59Carlos SanoChinandega4–0Carlos SanoChinandega37
2020–21Leónardo CrawfordRivas2.65Willy ParedesLeón6-1Alexander SantanaChinandega47
2021–22Bryan TorresRivas0.81Ronald MedranoRivas5-0Pedro FernándezChinandega71
2022–23Edgard MartinezTren2.22Yeudy GarcíaBóer5-0Ronald MedranoRivas57
2023–24Yeris GonzalezChinandega1.69Luis RamirezTren6-2Joanner Negrin PerezLeón42

See also

Notes
  1. The champion of the merged 1961–62 Nicaragua-Panama league was invited to the 1962 tournament in Puerto Rico; the league was technically represented by Marlboro, a Panama-based team.

References
  1. "Colombia, Mexico sending champs to Managua series". The Sporting News. February 12, 1958. p. 25. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  2. "Pan-American title captured by Nicaragua". The Sporting News. February 26, 1958. p. 26. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  3. Enrique Rojas (July 24, 2023). "¿Por qué Colombia se quedó fuera de Serie Caribe 2024?". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish).
  4. "Colombia no va a la Serie del Caribe por diferencias en pago" (in Spanish). Diario Libre. 25 April 2023.
  5. "El régimen garantiza un millón de dólares para que Nicaragua participe en Serie del Caribe 2024". Despacho 505. 24 April 2023.
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