MIAMI.- This Thursday, February 1, the Caribbean Series begins at LoanDepot Park in Miami, where seven winter champions seek to win the most prestigious trophy in Caribbean baseball.
Curacao, with the WildCats KJ47, debuted in the competition last year in Caracas, where they left a 2-5 record. In this edition, the responsibility to improve and, why not, to win, falls to Curacao Suns. Another team that is eager to show that there is high-level baseball in their country are the Gigantes de Rivas, who represent Nicaragua. This will be the first participation of the Central American country.
The La Guaira Sharks, who ended their 38-year drought without being champions in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, have played seven Caribbean Series, but have never been able to win it.
For their part, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo – who were unstoppable in the Mexican league by only losing one game in the postseason – have two titles in the Caribbean Series. They were crowned in Santo Domingo 1976 and Margarita 2014.
Among the participants, the Criollos de Cagua – representatives of Puerto Rico – already know what it means to win the championship. They have achieved it five times, the last of them in Jalisco 2018, where they retained the championship they had achieved a year before in Culiacán, also on Mexican soil.
They began their record in 1954 and added two crowns by conquering Hermosillo in 1974 and 1987.
The Tigres del Licey, current monarchs of the competition after winning in Caracas 2023, came from behind in the final in the Dominican Republic and now, being the most winning currency in the Caribbean, they will seek to reach a dozen crowns.
The Dominican cats began their good run in the Caribbean Series in the 1971 edition and also won the tournaments of 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2023.
But they only achieved last year’s championship with the current format, where it is played with a final game. The other 10 titles were obtained when the team with the best balance was declared champion.
