The 65th edition of the regional tournament returns to Miami after 33 years. This is the third time that the Caribbean Series is played in the city of the sun, where it was also played in 1990 and 1991.
In the two previous events, the representatives of the Dominican Republic won the title. Will history repeat itself this year?
The Tigres del Licey, who triumphed in the Dominican winter league, in addition to trying to seek that Quisqueyan hegemony in Miami, also go out with the mission of retaining the crown they obtained last year in Caracas.
In the first edition of the tournament in South Florida, the first played outside the traditional venues, the Leones del Esgido – representatives of the Dominican Republic – won the title after completing the series with a balance of five wins and two losses. By then it was played with a different format than the current one, which has semi-final and final games.
This event was held from February 5 to 11 at the Orange Bowl, an American football stadium.
A year later, the Caribbean Series was also played in Miami. This time at the “Bobby Maduro” stadium, which was a genuine park to play baseball.
The Dominicans smiled again in the city of the sun, when the Tigres del Licey won the title undefeated.
In the first round, the Dominican team defeated Cangrejeros de Santurce (Puerto Rico) 8-2, blanked Potros de Tijuana (Mexico) 4-0 and crushed Venezuela 12-1. They then extended their overwhelming dominance over Venezuela – in the final round scores of 13–4 and 13–1.
Sharks seeks to end another drought, now for Venezuela
The Tiburones de La Guaira team won the Winter Baseball League championship in Venezuela after 38 years. Now, again led by Cuban Yasiel Puig, they will seek to give the Llanera nation the first title in 15 years.
The last falconer of a Venezuelan team in the Caribbean Series was in 2009, when the Tigres de Aragua – at the end of their dynasty – managed to win the crown in Mexicali.
The Sharks, meanwhile, won their eighth national title in recent days, but the club founded in 1962 has never won the Caribbean Series. Their best performance came in 1983 and 1986, when they were runners-up, with the presence of players of the stature of Tony Armas and Andrés Galarraga, among others.
With the large diaspora of Venezuelans in recent years, due to the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro, the Guairense team – like the national team in the Classic – is expected to play with the public in their favor.
Mexico, represented by the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, to win the title that they have not achieved since 2016, Puerto Rico – with the Criollos de Cagua – will try to repeat what was done in 2018, Panama – with the Federales de Chiriquí – want their second crown. While Curacao and Nicaragua – invited to the event – will try to write their names at the top of history.
Cuba and Colombia absent but with a future
The delegations of Cuba and Colombia will be absent in this edition of the Caribbean Series, but they could be present as soon as next year in Mexicali, according to the commissioner of the Caribbean Baseball Confederation Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, in statements offered to MLB .com. But now, the focus is on this new series in Miami, also with a view to a future in similar venues.
“The Caribbean Series is going to be relaunched, as a show that must be developed every year, according to the plans we have worked on for a long time,” he said.
Cuba will not be present in the contest because it was not invited to play in the tournament. It is not the first time that the island has been left out of the contest organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. Cuba lost the editions that were played when Fidel Castro banned baseball on the island. In 2014, Cuba returned to the Caribbean Series, but again missed the 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions.
United States, permanent home of the Caribbean Series?
Commissioner Puello Herrera pointed out that the Series in Miami will be a test to see how viable it is to organize other editions within the country.
We always entertain the idea of celebrating this with an agreement specifically with a team belonging to the Major Leagues,” said Puello Herrera. “The circumstances arose so that it could be done now in 2024 in Miami, specifically with the Marlins.”
The entity’s top executive also stated that in the future, the Confederation could try to organize other editions of the event at MLB headquarters.
“We are open to any other stadium. There is a great fan base in some places in California, where there are a large number of Latin fans,” said Puello Herrera. “We are thinking about that. But we are going to do this now, as a kind of model project, to be able to replicate it now, if possible, in another stadium in the Major Leagues.”
Calendar
Friday February 2
Panama vs Curacao 10:30 AM
Dominican vs Nicaragua 3:30 PM
Puerto Rico vs Mexico 8:30 PM
Saturday February 3
Venezuela vs Curacao 10:30 AM
Mexico vs Panama 3:30 PM
Dominican vs Puerto Rico 8:30 PM
Sunday February 4
Panama vs. Nicaragua 10:30 AM
Puerto Rico vs Venezuela 3:30 PM
Mexico vs Dominican 8:30 PM
Monday February 5
Nicaragua vs CuraçaoSer 10:30 AM
Venezuela vs Mexico 3:30 PM
Puerto Rico vs Panama 8:30 PM
Tuesday February 6
Mexico vs Nicaragua 10:30 AM
Curacao vs Dominican 3:30 PM
Panama vs Venezuela 8:30 PM
Wednesday, February 7
Curacao vs Puerto Rico 10:30 AM
Dominican vs Panama 3:30 PM
Nicaragua vs Venezuela 8:30 PM
Thursday, February 8: semi-finals
Semifinal 1: 3:00 PM
Semifinal 2: 8:00 PM
Friday February 9
Third place 3:00 PM
Final 8:00 PM
