Annual baseball tournament
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.
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
[
edit
]
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
,
Cerveceria Caracas
from Venezuela,
Sultanes de Monterrey
from Mexico, and an All-Star team composed of Cuban players.
[1]
Pablo Morales
and
Oscar Prieto
founded the Caribbean Series
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.
Curacao
was invited as a guest in 2023.
[5]
Participants
[
edit
]
- Key
Previous participants
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
Series
[
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]
Championship games
[
edit
]
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.
Championships by team
[
edit
]
| Rank
|
Team
|
Wins
|
Years
|
| 1
|
 Tigres del Licey
|
11
|
1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2023
|
| 2
|
Aguilas Cibaenas
|
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
|
| Aguilas del Zulia
|
1984, 1989
|
| Indios de Mayaguez
|
1978, 1992
|
 Tomateros de Culiacan
|
1996, 2002
|
| Leones del Caracas
|
1982, 2006
|
| Yaquis de Obregon
|
2011, 2013
|
| Naranjeros de Hermosillo
|
1976, 2014
|
| Venados de Mazatlan
|
2005, 2016
|
| 17
|
 Carta Vieja Yankees
|
1
|
1950
|
| Leones del Habana
|
1952
|
| Leones de Ponce
|
1972
|
| Vaqueros de Bayamon
|
1975
|
| Lobos de Arecibo
|
1983
|
| Aguilas de Mexicali
|
1986
|
| Senadores de San Juan
|
1995
|
| Tigres de Aragua
|
2009
|
| Vegueros de Pinar del Rio
|
2015
|
| Toros de Herrera
|
2019
|
| Toros del Este
|
2020
|
 Caimanes de Barranquilla
|
2022
|
| Tiburones de La Guaira
|
2024
|
Championships by country
[
edit
]
| 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
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Antero Nunez, Jose.
Series del Caribe
. Jefferson,
Caracas, Venezuela
: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987.
- Gutierrez, Daniel.
Enciclopedia del Beisbol en Venezuela ? 1895?2006
. Caracas, Venezuela: Impresion Arte, C.A., 2007.
External links
[
edit
]
|
|---|
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| Editions
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| Participants
| | Full CPBC members
| |
|---|
| Invited members (
2024
)
| |
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| Former participants
| |
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| Related articles
| |
|---|
- 1961 to 1969 - The Series was not held during these years following the dissolution of Cuba's professional league.
- 1981 - The Series was not held due to a Venezuelan player's strike.
|
Articles related to Caribbean Series
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| Defunct teams
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| Current Teams:
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| Former Teams:
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Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional
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