Caribbean Series

The Caribbean Series is a baseball tournament, the brainchild of the Venezuelans Oscar "El Negro" Prieto and Pablo Morales, who devised the idea after the seeing the success of the Serie Interamericana (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 Interamericana, Prieto and Morales presented their idea for a CBWS 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-day series of doubleheader games to determine the winner.

The series ran annually from 1949 to 1960, with Cuba winning seven times. However, the CBWS was cancelled after Fidel Castro dissolved all professional baseball in Cuba in 1961, replacing the professional teams with a state-run amateur system. It wouldn't be until 1970 that the CBWS was revived.

The Series, which is usually played over six days, typically features up to six games per team, although some series have had games cut from or added to the schedule. The winner of the series is the team with the most wins after each team plays six games.

Leagues participating

Currently, the Caribbean Series 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. Also, ideas to include teams from Colombia and Nicaragua are currently on the table.

eries

Championships by team

* , 10 times: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008
* , 5 times: 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007
* , 5 times: 1951, 1953, 1955, 1993, 2000

Championships by country

* , 17 times: 1971, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1990-91, 1994, 1997-99, 2001, 2003-04, 2007, 2008
* , 14 times: 1951, 1953-55, 1972, 1974-75, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1992-93, 1995, 2000
* , seven times: 1949, 1952, 1956-59, 1960
* , six times: 1970, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2006
* , five times: 1976, 1986, 1996, 2002, 2005
* , one time: 1950

ee also

*Ballplayers who have played in the Series

Notes

ources

*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

* [http://www.ebeisbol.com Official site]
* [http://latinobaseball.com/cws-history.php Latino Baseball]
* [http://www.juanperez.com/baseball/series.htm Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish)]
* [http://latinobaseball.com/cws-history.html CWS History]
* [http://www.cubanball.com/caribe.html Cuba at the CWS]
* [http://www.elcentrochamber.com Series Visits Mexicali and Imperial Valleys]