Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic
The Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic (LIDOM) is a winter professional baseball league in the Dominican Republic. The league consists of six baseball teams that represent different cities in the country. The teams include players from the Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, among others. The league is sometimes called the Dominican Winter Baseball League, Dominican Professional Baseball League or simply Dominican League.
Each team has to stick to a fifty-game schedule that starts in mid-October and runs through mid-December. The four teams that qualify go to an 18-game round of Round-Robin from the end of December through the first three weeks of January; then the two teams that qualify will have to win 4 of seven games for the championship. The winning team represents the country in the Caribbean Series against the champions of Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, among others.
History
Background
Baseball was introduced to the Caribbean in 1866 by United States sailors at the then Captaincy General of Cuba. Eight years later, in 1874, the first baseball game between Cuban teams was organized. In the coming years, it would be Cuba that would spread baseball throughout the Caribbean. When the Ten Years' War (1868-1878) brought confusion to the colony, many Cubans fled their country and emigrated to the Dominican Republic, bringing with them the sport called baseball in 1886, where they celebrated a match between the Cuban teams Santiago de Cuba and Angelina in San Pedro de Macorís on September 25 of that year. The main promoters were the Cubans Ignacio and Ubaldo Alomá. The first professional Dominican tournament was played in 1890 with two teams: Ozama and Nuevo Club. The Licey team was founded in 1907, dominating professional baseball without rival until 1921, when the Escogido team was founded, product of the merger of several teams of the time; since then the rivalry of these teams has not ceased. The sport became competitive starting in the 1920s when baseball games began to be played against teams from neighboring countries.
Championships before LIDOM
Before the creation of the Dominican League, several championships considered national were played in the country by the teams of that time, highlighting among them the Tigres del Licey with two championships obtained before 1951.
These championships are not recognized for the official historical record of LIDOM, but for each of the respective sports organizations that participated in said championships.
Officialization
There was a period of interruption in 1938 until 1951, when the matches were resumed with the games being held in the summer of each year. Although the league had functioned unofficially since 1951, it was not until 1955 that the Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic (LIDOM) was made official by decree, where matches were no longer held in summer and were held to be held in the autumn-winter months. The league organized its first tournament between October of that year and January 1956, and its first president was Hipólito Herrera Billini.
Dead teams
The Ciudad Trujillo Dragons team existed before they founded the LIDOM and represented Ciudad Trujillo, being a fusion of the Leones del Escogido and Tigres del Licey teams. The team was devised by the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. In 1983 the Caimanes del Sur organization was founded, which represented San Cristóbal, recessing at the end of the 1988-89 season. His place would later be occupied by the Gigantes del Cibao from the 1996-97 season. Los Pollos del Cibao was the name of the giants of Cibao for two years Los Pollos del Cibao hold the league record for the most games lost in a regular series, which is 9-51 in the 1998-99 season (Calendar out of 60 matches) Delfines del Atlántico (Puerto Plata) (This team did not play and was never officially in the league)
Presidents
# | President TIEMPO | |
---|---|---|
1 | Hipólito Herrera Billini | 1955-1956 |
2 | Jaime Vidal Velásquez | 1956-1959 |
3 | Julio Cuello | 1959-1967 |
4 | Juan Tomas Mejía Feliu | 1967-1968 |
5 | Manfredo A. Moore | 1968-1971 |
6 | Eduardo Read Barreras | 1971-1973 |
7 | Eudaldo Troncoso Pou (not Eduardo) | 1973-1974 |
8 | Hipólito Herrera Pellerano | 1974-1975 |
9 | Quirico Elpidio Pérez | 1975-1977 |
10 | Manfredo A. Moore | 1977-1981 |
11 | Juan Tomas Mejía Feliu | 1982-1983 |
12 | Plinio Jacobo | 1984-1985 |
13 | Juan Francisco Puello Herrera | 1985-1991 |
14 | Luis Ramón Cordero | 1991 |
15 | Leonardo Matos Berrido | 1991-2017 |
16 | Vitelio Mejía Ortiz | 2017-presente |
Participating teams
Champions
Before LIDOM
Season | Champion | Leader Winner | Récord | Subfield | Récord | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1922 | Lions of the Chosen | Luis Alfau | 13-6 | Tigers of Licey | 6-13 | |
1923 | Not completed | |||||
1924 | Tigers of Licey | Charles A. Dore | 14-13 | Lions of the Chosen | 13-14 | |
1929 | Tigers of Licey | Charles A. Dore | 11-7 | Lions of the Chosen | 10-8 | |
1936 | Eastern Stars | Enrique Mejía | 13-5 | Aguilas Cibaeñas | 10-9 | |
1937 | Trujillo City Dragons | Lazarus Salazar | 18-13 | Aguilas Cibaeñas | 13-15 |
Summer Championships, La Normal Stadium
Season | Champion | Leader Winner | Outcome | Subfield | Leader Perdedor | JMV of the Final Series |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1951 | Tigers of Licey (1) | Manuel Henríquez | 4-1 | Lions of the Chosen (1) | Pepe Lucas | Alonzo Perry |
1952 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (1) | Rodolfo Fernández | 4-3 | Tigers of Licey (1) | Darío Sánchez | Tomás Guerrero |
1953 | Tigers of Licey (2) | Óscar Rodríguez | 4-1 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (1) | Rodolfo Fernández | Guayubín Olivo |
1954 | Eastern Stars (1) | Ramón Bragaña | 4-1 | Tigers of Licey (2) | Óscar Rodríguez | Wenceslao González |
Winter Championships, Under the Lights
Season | Champion | Leader Winner | Outcome | Subfield | Leader Perdedor | JMV of the Final Series |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1955-56 | Lions of the Chosen (1) | Frank Genovese | 4-3 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (2) | Larry Sheppard | Willie Kirkland |
1956-57 | Lions of the Chosen (2) | Red Davis | 5-2 | Tigers of Licey (3) | Eddie Lopat | Felipe Alou |
1957-58 | Lions of the Chosen (3) | Salty Parker | 5-1 | Eastern Stars (1) | Ben Gerarthy | Felipe Alou (2) |
1958-59 | Tigers of Licey (3) | Joe Schultz | 5-4 | Lions of the Chosen (2) | Salty Parker | Pete Burnside |
1959-60 | Lions of the Chosen (4) | Pete Reiser | 5-1 | Eastern Stars (2) | Lou Khan | Stan Williams |
1960-61 | Lions of the Chosen (5) | Pepe Lucas | 5-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (3) | Vicente Scarpatte | Juan Marichal |
1961-62 | Inconclusive | |||||
1962-63 | No. | |||||
1963-64 | Tigers of Licey (4) | Vernon Benson | 5-3 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (4) | Eugene Baker | Tony Oliva / Guayubin Olivo (2) |
1964-65 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (2) | Al Widmar | 5-0 | Lions of the Chosen (3) | Frank Genovese | Ed Kirkpatrick / Dan Osinski |
1965-66 | No. | |||||
1966-67 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (3) | Pete Peterson | 5-3 | Lions of the Chosen (4) | Felipe Rojas Alou | Don Bosch |
1967-68 | Eastern Stars (2) | Tony Pacheco | 5-2 | Lions of the Chosen (5) | Hub Kittle | Larry Dierker |
1968-69 | Lions of the Chosen (6) | Andy Gilbert | 5-2 | Eastern Stars (3) | Federico Olivo | Danilo Rivas |
1969-70 | Tigers of Licey (5) | Billy Muffett / Manny Mota | 5-1 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (5) | Don Lepport | Byron Browne |
1970-71 | Tigers of Licey (6) | Fred Hatfield / Manny Mota | 6-1 | Lions of the Chosen (6) | Tom Lasorda | Leron Lee |
1971-72 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (4) | Ozzie Virgil | 5-3 | Licey Tigers (4) | Les Moss | Gene Garber |
1972-73 | Tigers of Licey (7) | Tom Lasorda | 5-2 | Eastern Stars (4) | Hub Kittle | Teodoro Martínez |
1973-74 | Tigers of Licey (8) | Tom Lasorda | 5-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (6) | Julián Javier | Greg Shanahan |
1974-75 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (5) | Al Widmar | 5-4 | Eastern Stars (5) | Hub Kittle | Charlie Moore |
1975-76 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (6) | Tim Murtaugh | 5-2 | Tigers of Licey (5) | Tom Lasorda | Miguel Diloné |
1976-77 | Tigers of Licey (9) | Buck Rodgers | 5-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (7) | Johnny Lipon | Manuel Mota |
1977-78 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (7) | Johnny Lipon | 5-2 | Tigers of Licey (6) | John McNamara | Winston Llenas |
1978-79 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (8) | Johnny Lipon | 5-0 | Lions of the Chosen (7) | Jim Beauchamp | Nelson Norman |
1979-80 | Tigers of Licey (10) | From Crandall | 5-1 | Eastern Stars (6) | Loren Babe | Mickey Hatcher |
1980-81 | Lions of the Chosen (7) | Felipe Rojas Alou | 5-4 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (8) | Winston Llenas | Steve Ratzer |
1981-82 | Lions of the Chosen (8) | Felipe Rojas Alou | 5-1 | Eastern Stars (7) | Jimmy Johnson | Pedro Guerrero |
1982-83 | Tigers of Licey (11) | Manny Mota | 5-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (9) | Winston Llenas | Joe Beckwith |
1983-84 | Tigers of Licey (12) | Manny Mota | 4-3 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (10) | Winston Llenas | Ramón De Los Santos / Víctor Cruz |
1984-85 | Tigers of Licey (13) | Terry Collins | 4-1 | Eastern Sugars (1) | Red Cookie | Brian Holton |
1985-86 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (9) | Winston Llenas | 4-1 | Licey Tiger (7) | Luis Pujols | Miguel Diloné (2) |
1986-87 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (10) | Winston Llenas | 4-1 | Eastern Stars (8) | John Hart | José Joaquín Bautista |
1987-88 | Lions of the Chosen (9) | Phil Regan | 4-3 | Eastern Stars (9) | John Hart | José DeLeón |
1988-89 | Lions of the Chosen (10) | Phil Regan | 4-0 | Licey Tigers (8) | Bill Russell | Junior Noboa |
1989-90 | Lions of the Chosen (11) | Felipe Rojas Alou | 4-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (11) | Jack Lind | Rufino Linares |
1990-91 | Tigers of Licey (14) | John Roseboro | 4-1 | Lions of the Chosen (8) | Samuel Mejía | Henry Rodríguez |
1991-92 | Lions of the Chosen (12) | Felipe Rojas Alou | 4-1 | Eastern Stars (10) | Nelson Norman | Geronimo Berroa |
1992-93 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (11) | Miguel Diloné | 4-2 | Eastern Sugars (2) | Rafael Santana | William Suero |
1993-94 | Tigers of Licey (15) | Casey Parsons | 4-1 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (12) | Miguel Diloné | Silvestre Campusano |
1994-95 | Azucareros del Este (1) | Art Howe | 4-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (13) | Miguel Diloné | Julian Yan |
1995-96 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (12) | Terry Francona | 4-1 | Eastern Stars (11) | Pete McKanning | Luis Poland |
1996-97 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (13) | Mike Quade | 4-0 | Lions of the Chosen (9) | Junior Noboa | Felix Fermin |
1997-98 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (14) | Tony Peña | 4-2 | Tigers of Licey (9) | Dave Jauss | Guillermo García |
1998-99 | Tigers of Licey (16) | Dave Jauss | 5-4 | Lions of the Chosen (10) | Dave Miley | Ronnie Belliard |
1999-00 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (15) | Tony Peña | 4-3 | Eastern Stars (12) | Alfredo Griffin | Adrian Beltré+ |
2000-01 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (16) | Felix Fermin | 4-2 | Lions of the Chosen (11) | Bruce Fields | Miguel Tejada |
2001-02 | Tigers of Licey (17) | Bob Geren | 4-3 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (14) | Felix Fermin | D'Angelo Jiménez |
2002-03 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (17) | Felix Fermin | 4-0 | Lions of the Chosen (12) | Mako Oliveras | Luis Poland (2) |
2003-04 | Tigers of Licey (18) | Manny Acta | 4-1 | Cibao Giants (1) | Miguel Diloné | Henry Rodríguez (2) |
2004-05 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (18) | Felix Fermin | 4-3 | Tigers of Licey (10) | Manny Acta | Miguel Tejada (2) |
2005-06 | Tigers of Licey (19) | Rafael Landestoy | 5-2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (15) | Felix Fermin | Anderson Hernández / Erick Aybar |
2006-07 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (19) | Felix Fermin | 5-2 | Tigers of Licey (11) | Rafael Landestoy | Edwin Encarnation |
2007-08 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (20) | Felix Fermin | 5-3 | Tigers of Licey (12) | Hector of the Cross | Nelson Figueroa |
2008-09 | Tigers of Licey (20) | José Offerman | 5-0 | Cibao Giants (2) | Luis Dorante | Anderson Hernández (2) |
2009-10 | Lions of the Chosen (13) | Ken Oberkfell | 5-4 | Cibao Giants (3) | Felix Fermin | Santiago Casilla |
2010-11 | Toros del Este (2) | Dean Treanor | 5-0 | Eastern Stars (13) | Bobby Magellan | Julio Mañón++ |
2011-12 | Lions of the Chosen (14) | Ken Oberkfell | 5-4 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (16) | Felix Fermin | Andy Dirks |
2012-13 | Lions of the Chosen (15) | Audo Vicente | 5-0 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (17) | Felix Fermin | Starling Mars |
2013-14 | Tigers of Licey (21) | José Offerman | 5-3 | Lions of the Chosen (13) | Audo Vicente | Lew Ford |
2014-15 | Cibao Giants (1) | Audo Vicente | 5-3 | Eastern Stars (14) | Dean Treanor | Mario Santiago |
2015-16 | Lions of the Chosen (16) | Luis Rojas | 5-1 | Tigers of Licey (13) | Lino Rivera | Lew Ford (2) |
2016-17 | Tigers of Licey (22) | Audo Vicente | 5-4 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (18) | Manny Acta | César Valdez |
2017-18 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (21) | Lino Rivera | 4-3 | Tigers of Licey (14) | Luis Urueta | Christian Betancourt |
2018-19 | Eastern Stars (3) | Fernando Tatis | 5-1 | Toros del Este (3) | Arturo DeFreites | José Sirí |
2019-20 | Toros del Este (3) | Lino Rivera | 5-3 | Tigers of Licey (15) | Luis Urueta | Jeimer Candelario |
2020-21 | Aguilas Cibaeñas (22) | Felix Fermin | 4-3 | Cibao Giants (4) | Luis Urueta / Brayan Peña | Juan Lagares |
2021-22 | Cibao Giants (2) | Luis Urueta | 4-1 | Eastern Stars (15) | Fernando Tatis | Marcell Ozuna |
2022-23 | Tigers of Licey (23) | José Offerman | 4-1 | Eastern Stars (16) | Fernando Tatis | Jorge Alfaro |
+Won "Most Valuable Player" for the losing team.
++ Julio Mañón should have been named the “Most Valuable Player” of the final, but the League ignored the fact of officially naming an MVP.
Team Titles
Equipment | Titles | Subcamponatos | Years Champion | Years Subcamp |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tigers of Licey | 23 (2) | 15 (1) | 1951, 1953, 1958-59, 1963-64, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1976-77, 1979-80, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1990-91, 1993-94, 1998-99, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2013-14, 2016-17, 2022-23 (1924, 1929) | 1952, 1954, 1956-57, 1971-72, 1975-76, 1977-78, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1997-98, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2015-16,2017-2018, 2019-2020 (1922) |
Aguilas Cibaeñas | 22 | 18 (2) | 1952, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2017-2018, 2020-21 | 1953, 1955-56, 1960-61, 1963-64, 1969-70, 1973-74, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1994-95, 2001-02, 2005-06, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17 (1936, 1937) |
Lions of the Chosen | 16 (1) | 13 (2) | 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1968-69, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2015-16 (1922) | 1951, 1958-59, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1970-71, 1978-79, 1990-91, 1996-97, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2013-14 (1924, 1929) |
Eastern Stars | 3 (1) | 16 | 1954, 1967-68, 2018-19 (1936) | 1957-58, 1959-60, 1968-69, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1979-80, 1981-82, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1999-00, 2010-11, 2014-15, 2021-22, 2022-23 |
Toros del Este | 3 | 3 | 1994-95, 2010-11, 2019-20 | 1984-85, 1992-93, 2018-19 |
Cibao Giants | 2 | 4 | 2014-15, 2021-22 | 2003-04, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2020-21 |
Trujillo City Dragons | 0 (1) | 0 | (1937) |
The number that appears in parentheses are the championships won by the team before the LIDOM was created, which DO NOT count as official. The Tigres del Licey had won two championships before the Dominican League was created, while the Leones del Escogido and Estrellas Orientales i> had won one each. However, these championships are not considered valid within the current league record. Therefore, when preparing the official list of championships obtained, the Dominican League omits them.
Records
Managers with the most Championships
Leaders
Battering for Life
Category | Name | Brand brand |
---|---|---|
Average batting | Manny Mota | .333 |
Home runs | Juan Francisco | 124 |
Driven races | Rafael Batista | 395 |
Hits | Luis Poland | 927 |
Doubles | Rafael Batista | 157 |
Triples | Luis Poland | 43 |
Stolen bases | Miguel Diloné | 395 |
Outputs | Luis Poland | 517 |
- In bold active player.
Pitching for Life
Category | Name | Brand brand |
---|---|---|
Gained games | Olivo Diómedes | 86 |
Effectiveness | Juan Marichal | 1.87 |
Ponches | Olivo Diómedes | 742 |
Saved Games | Jairo Asencio | 156. |
- In bold active player.
Accumulated records
Historical Ranking of Teams
Pos. | Equipment | Seasons | Players | Winners | Lost | Pct. | Regular Series Champion (times) | 10 Emp. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aguilas Cibaeñas | 69 | 3629 | 1948 | 1681 | .537 | 17 | 3 |
2 | Tigers of Licey | 69 | 3637 | 1911 | 1726 | .525 | 19 | 3 |
3 | Lions of the Chosen | 69 | 3640 | 1845 | 1795 | .507 | 15 | 2 |
4 | Eastern Stars | 68 | 3576 | 1661 | 1915 | .465 | 7 | 3 |
5 | Toros del Este | 38 | 1909 | 894 | 1015 | .468 | 5 | 4 |
6 | Cibao Giants | 27 | 1319 | 621 | 698 | .475 | 6 | 2 |
7 | South Cayman | 5 | 308 | 137 | 171 | .445 | 0 | 0 |
- Team records in the Regular Series from 1951 to the 2022-23 season.
Teams in Final Series
Pos. | Equipment | Final Series | Winners | Lost | Pct. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tigers of Licey | 38 | 23 | 15 | .605 |
2 | Aguilas Cibaeñas | 40 | 22 | 18 | .550 |
3 | Lions of the Chosen | 29 | 16 | 13 | .552 |
4 | Eastern Stars | 19 | 3 | 16 | .158 |
5 | Toros del Este | 6 | 3 | 3 | 500 |
6 | Cibao Giants | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 |
- Team records in the Final Series from 1951 to the 2022-23 season.
Caribbean Series
Caribbean Series
The Caribbean Series is a baseball competition that annually brings together the champions of the winter leagues of professional baseball in the Central American and Caribbean area. Currently Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba and more recently Colombia participate.
Equipment | Titles | Subcamponatos | Champions Years (Series) | Years underfield |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tigers of Licey | 11 | 2 | 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2023 | 2002, 2006 |
Aguilas Cibaeñas | 6 | 9 | 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2021 | 1972, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1993, 2000, 2008, 2018 |
Lions of the Chosen | 4 | 2 | 1988, 1990, 2010, 2012 | 2013, 2016 |
Toros del Este | 1 | 2 | 2020 | 1995, 2011 |
Cibao Giants | 0 | 2 | 2015, 2022 | |
Eastern Stars |
League Prizes
Offensive Leaders by Season
It denotes LIDOM record. |
- In bold players who are still active.
- AC = Aguilas Cibaeñas Δ AE/TE = Azucareros del Este (current Toros del Este) Δ EO = Oriental Stars Δ GC = Cibao Giants Δ LE = Leones del Escogido Δ TL = Tigers del Licey