Wikipedia - Caribbean Series

The Caribbean Series (Spanish: Serie del Caribe) is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in February, after the various winter leagues have ended their national tournaments.

The Dominican Republic has won the most Caribbean Series championships (22), with Tigres del Licey being the most successful team in the tournament's history. The series has been won by 29 teams from seven different countries. Only two teams have won the tournament two years in a row, the most recent being Criollos de Caguas from Puerto Rico in 2017 and 2018.

History

The competition was the brainchild of Venezuelan baseball entrepreneur Pablo Morales and Oscar Prieto Ortiz, who devised the idea after seeing the success of the Serie Interamericana in 1946, which featured the clubs Brooklyn Bushwicks from the United States, Cervecería Caracas from Venezuela, Sultanes de Monterrey from Mexico, and an All-Star team composed of Cuban players.

Pablo Morales and Oscar Prieto founded the Caribbean Series

Inspired by the Interamerican Series and his experience as a former president of the International Baseball Federation, Morales joined Prieto and presented the idea to baseball representatives of Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico during a meeting held in Havana on August 21, 1948. The representatives then agreed to stage a four-country, round-robin tournament 12-game to be known as the Serie del Caribe, to be launched in Cuba from February 20–25 of 1949.

The Series ran annually from 1949 through 1960, with Cuba winning seven times. However, the event was suspended in 1961, as a result of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro dissolved all professional baseball in Cuba, and MLB Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that American major leaguers were barred from playing in Havana, where the 1961 series had been scheduled.

It was not until 1970 that the Caribbean Series was revived. Moreover, the 1981 Caribbean Series was not held due to a Venezuelan League player's strike.

The tournament featured the champions of the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela for over 40 years. Cuba returned in 2014. Panama returned to host the 2019 edition. Colombia was added for the 2020 edition, replacing Cuba who could not participate due to visa issues. Curaçao was invited as a guest in 2023.

Карибская серия — это ежегодный международный бейсбольный турнир, в котором участвуют команды-чемпионы профессиональных бейсбольных лиг стран Карибского бассейна. Турнир проводится с 1949 года, и в нем принимают участие следующие страны: Венесуэла, Доминиканская Республика, Мексика, Пуэрто-Рико, Колумбия и Панама.

Серия проводится в формате группового этапа и плей-офф. На групповом этапе команды делятся на две группы по три команды в каждой. В плей-офф выходят по две лучшие команды из каждой группы, которые проводят полуфиналы и финал.

Карибская серия — очень престижный турнир, и победа в нем считается большим достижением для любой бейсбольной команды. За всю историю турнира его чаще всего выигрывали команды из Доминиканской Республики (21 раз), Мексики (9 раз) и Венесуэлы (7 раз).

В 2023 году Карибская серия будет проходить с 2 по 8 февраля в столице Венесуэлы Каракасе. В турнире примут участие следующие команды:

* Leones del Caracas (Венесуэла)
* Tigres del Licey (Доминиканская Республика)
* Sultanes de Monterrey (Мексика)
* Criollos de Caguas (Пуэрто-Рико)
* Vaqueros de Montería (Колумбия)
* Federales de Chiriquí (Панама)