Caribbean Series

Caribbean Series

Current season or competition: 2012 Caribbean Series
Sport	Baseball
Inaugural season	1949
No. of teams	4
Country(ies)	Dominican Republic Mexico Puerto Rico Venezuela
Most recent champion(s)	Leones del Escogido
Most titles	Tigres del Licey (10)
TV partner(s)	ESPN Deportes ESPN3
Related competitions	LIDOM LMP LBPPR LVBP
Official website	http://www.ebeisbol.com/

The Caribbean Series (Spanish: Serie del Caribe), also called the Caribbean World Series (CWS) is the highest baseball tournament at club level in Latin America. The league winners from the Winter Leagues of Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela participate in the tournament. The tournament is hosted annually at each country every fourth year and is normally played in February after all the leagues have ended their national tournaments.

The 2012 Caribbean Series took place at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Host Dominican Republic won the event, finishing with a 4-2 record.

History

The competition was the brainchild of Pablo Morales, who devised the idea after the seeing the success of the Serie Interamericana in 1946, which featured the Monterrey Sultans from Mexico; the All Cubans from Cuba; the Brooklyn Bushwicks from the United States; and Cervecería Caracas from Venezuela. The Bushwicks won each year from 1946 to 1949, but Cervecería Caracas won the final Serie Interamericana in 1950.

Inspired by the Serie Interamericana and his experience as a former president of the FIBA 1946–1947, Morales presented his idea for a Serie del Caribe to the Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe (CBC, Caribbean Baseball Confederation) conference in Miami on August 21, 1948. Cuba agreed to host the first series, which would feature the top team from each of the nations that were then CBC members – Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela – in a six-game round robin series to determine the winner.

The series ran annually from 1949 to 1960, with Cuba winning seven times. However, the Serie del Caribe was cancelled after Fidel Castro dissolved all professional baseball in Cuba in 1961 and it wasn't until 1970 that the CWS was revived.

Leagues participating

Currently, the Serie del Caribe is affiliated with the Winter League programs of Major League Baseball, featuring MLB players and prospects from the Dominican Winter League, Mexican Pacific League, Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In 2008 Puerto Rico failed to field a team for the series due to a one-year hiatus in their professional winter league. As a result the host country, the Dominican Republic, was able to field a second team – the eventual champion Licey Tigers. As of 2009, Puerto Rico resumed participation, and the Serie del Caribe is considered an important part of Puerto Rican Baseball.

Series

Year	Venue	Champion	Record
1949	Havana	Almendares	6–0
1950	San Juan	Carta Vieja	5–1
1951	Caracas	Cangrejeros de Santurce	5–1
1952	Panama City	La Habana	5–0
1953	Havana	Cangrejeros de Santurce (2)	5–0
1954	San Juan	Criollos de Caguas	4–2
1955	Caracas	Cangrejeros de Santurce (3)	5–1
1956	Panama City	Cienfuegos	5–1
1957	Havana	Marianao	5–0
1958	San Juan	Marianao (2)	4–2
1959	Caracas	Almendares (2)	5–0
1960	Panama City	Cienfuegos (2)	6–0
1961–1969	None held
1970	Caracas	Navegantes del Magallanes	7–1
1971	San Juan	Tigres del Licey	6–0
1972	Santo Domingo	Leones de Ponce	5–1
1973	Caracas	Tigres del Licey (2)	5–1
1974	Hermosillo	Criollos de Caguas (2)	4–2
1975	San Juan	Vaqueros de Bayamón	5–1
1976	Santo Domingo & Santiago	Naranjeros de Hermosillo	5–1
1977	Caracas	Tigres del Licey (3)	6–0
1978	Mazatlán	Indios de Mayagüez	5–1
1979	San Juan	Navegantes del Magallanes (2)	5–1
1980	Santo Domingo	Tigres del Licey (4)	4–2
1981	None held
1982	Hermosillo	Leones del Caracas	5–1
1983	Caracas	Lobos de Arecibo	5–1
1984	San Juan	Águilas del Zulia	5–1
1985	Mazatlán	Tigres del Licey (5)	5–1
1986	Maracaibo	Águilas de Mexicali	4–2
1987	Hermosillo	Criollos de Caguas (3)	5–2
1988	Santo Domingo	Leones del Escogido	4–2
1989	San Juan	Águilas del Zulia (2)	5–1
1990	Miami	Leones del Escogido (2)	5–1
1991	Miami	Tigres del Licey (6)	5–0
1992	Hermosillo	Indios de Mayagüez (2)	5–1
1993	Mazatlán	Cangrejeros de Santurce (4)	5–2
1994	Puerto la Cruz	Tigres del Licey (7)	5–1
1995	San Juan	Senadores de San Juan	6–0
1996	Santo Domingo	Tomateros de Culiacán	5–1
1997	Hermosillo	Águilas Cibaeñas	4–2
1998	Puerto la Cruz	Águilas Cibaeñas (2)	6–0
1999	San Juan	Tigres del Licey (8)	5–2
2000	Santo Domingo	Cangrejeros de Santurce (5)	6–0
2001	Culiacán	Águilas Cibaeñas (3)	4–2
2002	Caracas	Tomateros de Culiacán (2)	5–1
2003	Carolina	Águilas Cibaeñas (4)	6–1
2004	Santo Domingo	Tigres del Licey (9)	5–1
2005	Mazatlán	Venados de Mazatlán	5–1
2006	Valencia & Maracay	Leones del Caracas (2)	6–0
2007	Carolina	Águilas Cibaeñas (5)	5–1
2008	Santiago de los Caballeros	Tigres del Licey (10)	5–1
2009	Mexicali	Tigres de Aragua	5–1
2010	Margarita Island	Leones del Escogido (3)	5–1
2011	Mayagüez	Yaquis de Obregón	4–2
2012	Santo Domingo	Leones del Escogido (4)	4-2
2013	Hermosillo

Championships by team

• Tigres del Licey, 10 times: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008
• Cangrejeros de Santurce, 5 times: 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993, 2000
• Águilas Cibaeñas, 5 times: 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007
• Leones del Escogido, 4 times: 1988, 1990, 2010, 2012
• Criollos de Caguas, 3 times: 1954, 1974, 1987

Championships by country

• Dominican Republic, 19 times: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
• Puerto Rico, 14 times: 1951, 1953–55, 1972, 1974–75, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1992–93, 1995, 2000
• Cuba, 7 times: 1949, 1952, 1956–60
• Venezuela, 7 times: 1970, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2006, 2009
• Mexico, 6 times: 1976, 1986, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2011
• Panama, 1 time: 1950

See also

• Ballplayers who have played in the Series
• Caribbean Series Most Valuable Player
• Americas Baseball awards
• Asia Series
• World Series

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

• Official site
• Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish)
• CS History at latinobaseball.com
• Cuba at the CS
• Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2010-07-26.