Caribbean Series

The Caribbean Series is an international baseball team tournament that annually brings together the winners of the professional winter leagues of the four countries that make up the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CBPC): Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela as full members, plus the representatives of Colombia, Cuba, Curacao, Nicaragua and Panama as guests. Each of them can be reinforced with the best players from the rest of the teams in the national leagues, of any nationality or origin.

Due to visa problems for the champion team of the Cuban National Baseball Series in 2020 by the Embassy of the United States and Puerto Rico (it is a Free Associated State of the United States), the participation of Colombia in the baseball competition, replacing the representative of Cuba and pending participation by Nicaragua, which was scheduled to appear for the first time in the 2020 edition. On May 13, 2022, it was announced that the champion teams of Cuba and Curacao would attend the 2023 Caribbean Series as special guests.

In total, taking into consideration the first stage 1949-1960 (12 editions in which the DR did not participate) and the second stage (1970-2023), the number of crowns for each team is: Dominican Republic with 22 crowns, Puerto Rico with 16 crowns (4 of these obtained in the first stage), Mexico with 9, Cuba with 8 (7 of these obtained in the first stage of the game), Venezuela with 7, Panama with 2 (one of these obtained in the first stage) and Colombia with 1.

Placing the Dominican Republic as the team with the most Caribbean series wins (22 titles), taking into consideration that it began participating in said tournament from the second stage (1970-2023). Cuba rejoined the second stage of the Caribbean series in 2014 and Panama, Nicaragua and Colombia in 2020.

History

First stage

The project to create a series that would bring together the best teams in the Caribbean has its origins on October 18, 1946, when the first Inter-American Series was inaugurated in Caracas, the idea of the Venezuelan fan and businessman Jesús Corao. For a month the teams faced each other: Sultanes de Monterrey, from Mexico; All Cubans, from Cuba; Brooklyn Bushwicks, from the United States; and the Cervecería de Caracas, from Venezuela.

That first Inter-American Series was won by the American team, which also won the following three editions, all held in Caracas. But in 1950, when the last of these championships was held, it was won by the host club, Cervecería de Caracas.

The public response to the Inter-American Series was so good that Venezuelan businessmen Óscar "El Negro" Prieto and Pablo Morales had an idea: create the Caribbean Series. At the end of 1948, Prieto and Morales presented the idea in Miami before a convention of the Caribbean Baseball Confederation made up of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama and Venezuela.

On August 21, 1949, in Havana, they signed the agreement for the Caribbean Series, a competition in which the four champion teams of the member countries of the Caribbean Baseball Confederation would participate. The four novenas would face two rounds in six days, with two games a day, during the month of February.

For two years, 1949 and 1950, both the Inter-American Series and the Caribbean Series were held, which was inaugurated in '49 at the Grand Stadium in Havana, also known as "Estadio del Cerro" in Havana. and it was played for the second time at the Sixto Escobar in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The first stage of the Caribbean Series lasted until 1960. Of the 12 editions that were held in that era; Cuba won seven, Puerto Rico four, Panama one and Venezuela none.

Second stage

In 1960, Fidel Castro banned "private" professional teams in his country, forcing the event known as the "Caribbean Series" not to take place for a decade. In 1970, the Venezuelan, Puerto Rican and Dominican leagues decided to resume the event with interleague matches, which was a failure, since participation was unequal. In 1971 the entry of the Mexican Pacific League was confirmed, representing Mexico.

In this second stage (1970-2023), the Dominican Republic has been the most successful country with 22 titles, followed by Puerto Rico with 12, Mexico with 9, Venezuela with 7 and finally Cuba, Panama and Colombia with 1 each. In 1981 there was no series due to a players' strike.

Since 2005, the intention of Colombia and Nicaragua to participate in the Caribbean Series was made public, for which both countries managed to establish their respective leagues: Colombian Professional Baseball League and Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League. In 2008, during a meeting of the Confederation, it was agreed that for a maximum period of four years both countries would have representation at the Caribbean event, however this agreement was not fulfilled.

Since 2013, the league champions of both countries have competed in the Latin American Series together with the champions of the leagues of Panama (Panama Professional Baseball League) and Mexico (Veracruzana Winter League), remembering that Panama participated in the Caribbean Series until 1960.

At the same meeting, the possibility of adding Cuba to the Confederation through the request of said country was approved; However, the request was denied and postponed since the organizational entity of the Cuban Baseball League demanded 100,000 dollars from the regional organization, a fact that the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation did not accept since they grant 50,000 dollars to all leagues. to cover your expenses.

On Monday, June 10, 2013, the president of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, together with Higinio Vélez, head of the Cuban Baseball Federation, held a press conference, officially announcing Cuba's return to the event. of Caribbean baseball, making its return in the edition held on Margarita Island, Venezuela, in 2014.

In August 2018 it was announced that starting with the 2020 edition Panama, Colombia and Nicaragua would be included as guests. However, due to the political crisis in Venezuela, the 2019 Caribbean Series was moved from Barquisimeto to Ciudad of Panama, advancing the integration of Panama as a guest since that year.

In January 2020, that year's Caribbean Series was scheduled to be played with the 4 traditional representatives of the Caribbean Confederation: Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, accompanied by the guest teams from Cuba and Panama. However, on January 5, 2020, it was announced that the champion team of the Cuban National Baseball Series could not attend the tournament to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, due to problems with the visa process for Cuban players. from the US embassy in the Dominican Republic. Therefore, the champion of the Colombian Professional Baseball League replaced the representative of Cuba, thus advancing Colombia's integration into this competition, leaving Nicaragua's integration pending.

For the 2023 edition, Cuba created a new league, the Cuban Elite Baseball League, which was previously with the purpose of having a more competitive league with the other winter leagues. Therefore, the National Baseball Series continues to be the selective tournament of the provinces in Cuba, but it is no longer considered the best circuit on the island and will not represent said country in the Caribbean Series.

Palmarés

Palmarés until 2012, before the start of the final game champion format, in the 2013 edition.

Year	Headquarters	Champion	Mánager	Récord
1949	Havana	Almendares	Fermin War	6-0
1950	San Juan	Old Letter Yankees	Wayne Blackburn	5-1
1951	Caracas	Blood Crabs	George Scales	5-1
1952	Panama	Lions of Havana	Miguel González	5-0
1953	Havana	Blood Crabs	Buster Clarkson	5-0
1954	San Juan	Caguas Criollos	Mickey Owen	4-2
1955	Caracas	Blood Crabs	Herman Franks	5-1
1956	Panama	Cienfuegos elephants	Óscar Rodríguez	5-1
1957	Havana	Tigers of Marianao	Napoleon Reyes	5-1
1958	San Juan	Tigers of Marianao	Napoleon Reyes	4-2
1959	Caracas	Almendares	Sungo Carrera	5-1
1960	Panama	Cienfuegos elephants	Tony Castaño	6-0
1961/69	No.
1970	Caracas	Magellan Navigators	Carlos Pascual	7-1
1971	San Juan	Tigers of Licey	Manuel Mota	6-0
1972	Santo Domingo	Lions of Ponce	Frank Verdi	5-1
1973	Caracas	Tigers of Licey	Tommy Lasorda	5-1
1974	Beautiful	Caguas Criollos	Bobby Wine	4-2
1975	San Juan	Bayamon jeans	José Pagán	5-1
1976	Santo Domingo	Naraneros de Hermosillo	Benjamin Kings	5-1
1977	Caracas	Tigers of Licey	Rob Rodgers	6-0
1978	Mazatlan	Mayagüez Indians	Rene Lachemann	5-1
1979	San Juan	Magellan Navigators	Willie Horton	5-1
1980	Santo Domingo	Tigers of Licey	From Crandall	4-2
1981	Cancelled
1982	Beautiful	Leones del Caracas	Alfonso Carrasquel	5-1
1983	Caracas	Wolves of Arecibo	Ron Clark	5-1
1984	San Juan	Eagles of Zulia	Ruben Amaro	5-1
1985	Mazatlan	Tigers of Licey	Terry Collins	5-1
1986	Maracaibo	Eagles of Mexicali	Benjamin Kings	4-2
1987	Beautiful	Caguas Criollos	Ramón Avilés	5-2
1988	Santo Domingo	Lions of the Chosen	Phil Regan	4-2
1989	Mazatlan	Eagles of Zulia	Pete Mackanin	5-1
1990	Miami	Lions of the Chosen	Felipe Alou	5-1
1991	Miami	Tigers of Licey	John Roseboro	5-0
1992	Beautiful	Mayagüez Indians	Pat Kelly	5-1
1993	Mazatlan	Blood Crabs	Mako Oliveras	5-2
1994	Puerto La Cruz	Tigers of Licey	Casey Parson	5-1
1995	San Juan	San Juan Senators	Luis Meléndez	6-0
1996	Santo Domingo	Tomateros de Culiacán	Francisco Estrada	5-1
1997	Beautiful	Aguilas Cibaeñas	Mike Quade	4-2
1998	Puerto La Cruz	Aguilas Cibaeñas	Tony Peña	6-0
1999	San Juan	Tigers of Licey	Dave Jauss	5-2
2000	Santo Domingo	Blood Crabs	Mako Oliveras	6-0
2001	Culiacán	Aguilas Cibaeñas	Felix Fermin	4-2
2002	Caracas	Tomateros de Culiacán	Francisco Estrada	5-1
2003	Carolina	Aguilas Cibaeñas	Felix Fermin	6-1
2004	Santo Domingo	Tigers of Licey	Manny Acta	5-1
2005	Mazatlan	Venados de Mazatlan	Juan José Pacho	5-1
2006	Maracay and Valencia	Leones del Caracas	Carlos Subero	6-0
2007	Carolina	Aguilas Cibaeñas	Felix Fermin	4-2
2008	Santiago	Tigers of Licey	Hector of the Cross	5-1
2009	Mexicali	Tigers of Aragua	Buddy Bailey	5-1
2010	Isla de Margarita	Lions of the Chosen	Ken Oberkfell	5-1
2011	Mayagüez	Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón	Eddie Díaz	4-2
2012	Santo Domingo	Lions of the Chosen	Ken Oberkfell	4-2

Champions by final game

Year	Headquarters	Champion	Outcome	Subfield	Mánager	Récord
2013	Beautiful	Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón	4-3 (18)	Lions of the Chosen	Eddie Díaz	4-3
2014	Isla de Margarita	Naraneros de Hermosillo	7-1	Mayagüez Indians	Matías Carrillo	4-2
2015	San Juan	Vegueros de Pinar del Río	3-2	Tomateros de Culiacán	Alfonso Urquiola	3-3
2016	Santo Domingo	Venados de Mazatlan	5-4	Tigers of Aragua	Juan José Pacho	6-0
2017	Culiacán	Caguas Criollos	1-0 (10)	Eagles of Mexicali	Luis Matos	3-3
2018	Jalisco	Caguas Criollos	9-4	Aguilas Cibaeñas	Luis Matos	4-2
2019	Panama	Herrera Bulls	3-1	Dreamers of Las Tunas	Manuel Rodríguez	4-1
2020	San Juan	Toros del Este	9-3	Cardinals of Lara	Lino Rivera	6-1
2021	Mazatlan	Aguilas Cibaeñas	4-1	Caguas Criollos	Felix Fermin	7-0
2022	Santo Domingo	Cayman of Barranquilla	4-1	Cibao Giants	José Mosquera	5-2
2023	Caracas and La Guaira	Tigers of Licey	3-0	Leones del Caracas	José Offerman	6-3
2024	Miami	To dispute
2025	Mexicali	To dispute
2026	Santo Domingo	To dispute
2027	Beautiful	To dispute

Players who have participated

Television rights

• Currently Sky Sports, along with its online application, BLUE TO GO, is responsible for transmitting for Mexico, the United States and Latin America.
• In Mexico for more than 10 years it was transmitted by ESPN 2. Since 2010, the Megacable company was the one that had the rights and transmitted in the states where it has coverage its cable system and the TVC Sports channel that has the highest coverage, transmitted to the entire country using the Megacable signal, as they are related companies. Sky Sports stayed with the rights.
• In Central America, it is transmitted by IVC.
• In South America, it is transmitted by IVC and DirecTV Sports.
• In Colombia it was transmitted in 2020 by Win Sports, since 2021 it transmits IVC and since 2022 Claro Sports 2.
• In Venezuela it is transmitted by IVC, TLT, SimpleTV, ByM Sports, Televen and TVes (the latter two broadcast this baseball event earlier between the years 1994–2001 and 2014–2020 respectively). From 1972 to 1978 and from 1987 to 1993 it was broadcast by RCTV, between 1979 and 1986 by Venezolana de Televisión, from 1994 to 2016 by Venevisión, between 2002 and 2018 the event was taken by Meridiano Televisión and between 2010 and 2021 was broadcast by DirecTV Sports, DirecTV Sports 2 and DirecTV Sports+.
• In Cuba it is transmitted by Tele Rebelde.
• In Panama it is transmitted by Nex.
• In Dominican Republic it is transmitted by CDN Sports, Digital 15 and Telemicro HD.
• In the United States and Puerto Rico it is transmitted in Spanish through ESPN Sports and in English by MLB Network.
• In Canada it is transmitted in French by RDS and in English by MLB Network.