Caribbean Series
historyThe Serie del Caribe is a baseball tournament, the brainchild of the Venezuelan Pablo Morales, who devised the idea after the seeing the success of the Serie Internamericana (Inter-American Series) in 1946, which featured the Sultanes de Monterrey 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 Internamericana and his expirience as a former president of the FIBA 1946-1947 , Oscar Prieto Ortiz ¨El Negro Prieto¨ y Pablo Morales presented his idea for a Serie del Caribe to a Confederación de Béisbol del Caribe (CBC, Baseball Confederation of the Caribbean in English) conference in Miami in late 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. It wouldn't be until 1970 that the CBWS was revived.
The 2010 Caribbean Series was held in Estadio Nueva Esparta in Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela, on February 2010. »La Serie del Caribe del 2010 se celebrará en Isla Margarita en Venezuela»Margarita fue ratificada como sede de la Serie del Caribe 2010»Leones del Escogido es el campeón de la Serie del Caribe 2010
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 Tigers de Licey.
Series
{|class="wikitable"
!Year!!Venue!!Champion!!Record
|-
|1949|| La Habana|| Almendares||align="center"|6-0
|-
|1950|| San Juan|| Carta Vieja||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1951|| Caracas|| Cangrejeros de Santurce||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1952|| Ciudad de Panama|| La Habana||align="center"|5-0
|-
|1953|| La Habana|| Cangrejeros de Santurce (2)||align="center"|5-0
|-
|1954|| San Juan|| Criollos de Caguas||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1955|| Caracas|| Cangrejeros de Santurce (3)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1956|| Ciudad de Panama|| Cienfuegos||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1957|| La Habana|| Marianao||align="center"|5-0
|-
|1958|| San Juan|| Marianao (2)||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1959|| Caracas|| Almendares (2)||align="center"|5-0
|-
|1960|| Ciudad de Panama|| Cienfuegos (2)||align="center"|6-0
|-
|1961-1969||colspan="3" align="center"|None held
|-
|1970|| Caracas|| Navegantes del Magallanes||align="center"|7-1
|-
|1971|| San Juan|| Tigres del Licey||align="center"|6-0
|-
|1972|| Santo Domingo|| Leones de Ponce||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1973|| Caracas|| Tigres del Licey (2)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1974|| Hermosillo|| Criollos de Caguas (2)||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1975|| San Juan|| Vaqueros de Bayamón||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1976|| Santo Domingo & Santiago|| Naranjeros de Hermosillo||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1977|| Caracas|| Tigres del Licey (3)||align="center"|6-0
|-
|1978|| Mazatlán|| Indios de Mayagüez||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1979|| San Juan|| Navegantes del Magallanes (2)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1980|| Santo Domingo|| Tigres del Licey (4)||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1981||colspan="3" align="center"|None held
|-
|1982|| Hermosillo|| Leones del Caracas||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1983|| Caracas|| Lobos de Arecibo||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1984|| San Juan|| Águilas del Zulia||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1985|| Mazatlán|| Tigres del Licey (5)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1986|| Maracaibo|| Águilas de Mexicali||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1987|| Hermosillo|| Criollos de Caguas (3)||align="center"|5-2
|-
|1988|| Santo Domingo|| Leones del Escogido||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1989|| San Juan|| Águilas del Zulia (2)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1990|| Miami|| Leones del Escogido (2)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1991|| Miami|| Tigres del Licey (6)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1992|| Hermosillo|| Indios de Mayagüez (2)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1993|| Mazatlán|| Cangrejeros de Santurce (4)||align="center"|5-2
|-
|1994|| Puerto la Cruz|| Tigres del Licey (7)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1995|| San Juan|| Senadores de San Juan||align="center"|6-0
|-
|1996|| Santo Domingo|| Tomateros de Culiacán||align="center"|5-1
|-
|1997|| Hermosillo|| Águilas Cibaeñas||align="center"|4-2
|-
|1998|| Puerto la Cruz|| Águilas Cibaeñas (2)||align="center"|6-0
|-
|1999|| San Juan|| Tigres del Licey (8)||align="center"|5-2
|-
|2000|| Santo Domingo|| Cangrejeros de Santurce (5)||align="center"|6-0
|-
|2001|| Culiacán|| Águilas Cibaeñas (3)||align="center"|4-2
|-
|2002|| Caracas|| Tomateros de Culiacán (2)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2003|| Carolina|| Águilas Cibaeñas (4) The general strike against Hugo Chávez, results in Venezuela being unable to field a team. The Puerto Rican runner-up, Criollos de Caguas, plays instead.||align="center"|6-1
|-
|2004|| Santo Domingo|| Tigres del Licey (9)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2005|| Mazatlán|| Venados de Mazatlán||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2006|| Valencia & Maracay|| Leones del Caracas (2)||align="center"|6-0
|-
|2007|| Carolina|| Águilas Cibaeñas (5)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2008|| Santiago de los Caballeros|| Tigres del Licey (10)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2009|| Mexicali|| Tigres de Aragua ||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2010|| Margarita Island|| Leones del Escogido(3)||align="center"|5-1
|-
|2011|| Mayagüez|| TBA||align="center"|-
|}
- Tigres del Licey, 10 times: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008
- Águilas Cibaeñas, 5 times: 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007
- Cangrejeros de Santurce, 5 times: 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993, 2000
- Dominican Republic, 18 times: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1990-91, 1994, 1997-99, 2001, 2003-04, 2007-08, 2010
- Puerto Rico, 14 times: 1951, 1953-55, 1972, 1974-75, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1992-93, 1995, 2000
- Venezuela, seven times: 1970, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2006, 2009
- Cuba, seven times: 1949, 1952, 1956-60
- Mexico, five times: 1976, 1986, 1996, 2002, 2005
- Panama, one time: 1950
- Ballplayers who have played in the Series
- Caribbean Series Most Valuable Player
- 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.