Venezuelan League
From BR Bullpen
The Venezuelan League, in Spanish Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP), is a winter league based in Venezuela. The league's champion represents the nation in the Caribbean Series, which it has won six times (1970, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2006). The league was founded in late 1945, played its first season in 1946 before moving to a fall schedule later that year. The LVBP currently has eight teams in two divisions. The teams play an elimination series from October to December and a round-robin semifinal series in January to determine the league's champion.
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[edit] History
[edit] League Founding
On December 27, 1945 the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional was founded by Martin Tovar Lange, Carlos Lavau, Juan Rafael Regetti, and Juan Antonio Yánez. The four founding teams were Cervecería Caracas, Navegantes del Magallanes, Vargas and Venezuela.
The first season began on January 12, 1946. At first, all games were played on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at Estadio Cerveza Caracas in San Agustín during the day. After Cerveza Caracas (Caracas Brewery) provided the stadium with lighting, games were added on Tuesday nights. Vargas, managed by Daniel Canónico,won the first championship with 18 wins and 12 loses. The league's second season took place across two calender years, which the league has continued to do since the 1946-1947 season.
The first Caribbean Series featured the league's 1948/1949 season champion, Caracas. On July 16, 1952 Cerveza Caracas sold its team to Pablo Morales and Oscar Prieto Ortiz who renamed it to the Leones del Caracas. During the same year, Estadio Universitario was built.
[edit] League Growth
The 1953/1954 season saw the replacement of two teams, Vargas and Venezuela, which had both left the LVBP due to economic difficulties. Taking their place were two teams, Gavilanes and Pastora, based in Estado Zulia in the far northwest of the country. The far-flung league would only last for a year. After the season, both Zulia-based teams were dropped. New investors bought back Venezuela and a new team Santa Maria was founded, based in La Guaira. The LVBP began its tenth season, in 1954, with four teams. However, the two Zulia teams formed their own Western league with four teams: Gavilanes, Pastora, Rapiños, and Centauros.
Once again for the 1955/1956 season the LVBP's two teams other than Caracas and Magallanes changed. Industriales de Valencia was added to the league and Pampero replaced the Santa Maria and Venezuela franchises. For the 1956/1957 season the Magallanes was renamed Oriente after Joe Novas and Joe Cruz bought the team.
The 1957/1958 season saw the introduction of a post-season series between the two Venezuelan leagues, the Liga Central based around Caracas and the Liga Occidental, based in Zulia. The winner would then be the representative of Venezuela in the Caribbean Series. Up until this season the Venezuelan representitive always came from the Liga Central. The first winner of this new playoff format was Industriales which swept Rapiños in four games.
[edit] First Strike
The 1959/1960 Liga Central season was marred by a labor dispute between the Player's Association the team owners. The players had demanded the termination of the recently insituted playoffs system, because the alleging that the players on the eliminated teams were not paid during the semi-finals. The league decided to eliminate playoffs.
In mid-December, Alejandro Carrasquel, manager of Pampero, struck Eduardo Moncada, journalist and a team director. The league suspended Carrasquel for two years and the Player's Association threatened to go on strike in support of Carrasquel, whose penalty seemed overly harsh.
The dissent escallated when the players refused to participate in the All-Star game on December 24 in Maracaibo. In response, several players were suspended by the League and the rest of the season was was cancelled. Rapiños, winners of Liga Occidental, would represented Venezuela in twelth the Caribbean Series in 1960. This would be the last series featuring Cuba or Panama and would be the last series played until 1970.
[edit] League Expansion
Before the 1962/1963 season Pampero franchise became the Tiburones de La Guaira and Oriente became the Orientales in the following season after being purchased by Alfonso Carrasquel and Humberto B. Lozano. That team became the Navegantes del Magallanes once again for the 1964/1965.
The LVBP expanded by two teams for the 1965/1966 season, the Cardenales de Lara based in Barquisimeto and the Tigres de Aragua based in Maracay. Valencia moved outside of Caracas in the same year, three years later the team moved to Acarigua, Portuguesa becoming the Llaneros de Acarigua. The Llaneros lasted one year before being bought by Luis Rodolfo Machado, who had owned the Centauros. They became the Águilas del Zulia and moved to Maracaibo. During the same season (1969/1970), the Navegantes moved Valencia after being bought by a local ownership group. The newly moved team won the league's championship, and represented Venezuela in the reformed Caribbean Series, and become the first Caribbean champion in ten years.
[edit] Recent Years
The 1973/1974 season cancelled due to a player's strike.
Before the 1975/1976 season the two Caracas-based teams could not reach an agreement to play in the Central University of Venezuela's Estadio Universitario. The Leones del Caracas and Tiburones de La Guaira merged their rosters to form the Llaneros de Portuguesa, nicknamed the Tibuleones. The teams unmerged after the season when they returned to the capital.
In 1991, the LVBP expanded to eight teams with the addition of the Caribes de Oriente and Petroleros de Cabimas. The league also split into two four-team divisions, Oriental (East) and Occidental (West). The top teams from both divisons would play in the semifinals and then the finals to determine the league's champion. The divisional set up was:
| Oriental | Occidental |
|---|---|
| Leones del Caracas | Tigres de Aragua |
| Tiburones de La Guaira | Petroleros de Cabimas |
| Navegantes del Magallanes | Cardenales de Lara |
| Caribes de Oriente | Águilas del Zulia |
The Caribes would change their name to the Caribes de Anzoátegui before the start of the season. The Petroleros changed their name prior to the 1995/1996 season to the Pastora de Occidente and again before the 2001/2002 to their present name of Pastora de los Llanos.
[edit] Current Teams
[edit] League Champions
[edit] Championships by Team
- Leones del Caracas: 16 (1952/1953, 1956/1957, 1961/1962, 1963/1964, 1966/1967, 1967/1968, 1972/1973, 1977/1978, 1979/1980, 1980/1981, 1981/1982, 1986/1987, 1987/1988, 1989/1990, 1994/1995, 2005/2006)
- Navegantes del Magallanes: 10 (1949/1950, 1950/1951, 1954/1955, 1969/1970, 1976/1977, 1978/1979, 1993/1994, 1995/1996, 1996/1997, 2001/2002)
- Tigres de Aragua: 7 (1971/1972, 1974/1975, 1975/1976, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2007/2008
- Tiburones de La Guaira: 7 (1964/1965, 1965/1966, 1968/1969, 1970/1971, 1982/1983, 1984/1985, 1985/1986)
- Águilas del Zulia: 5 (1983/1984, 1988/1989, 1991/1992, 1992/1993, 1999/2000)
- Industriales de Valencia: 5 (1955/1956, 1957/1958, 1958/1959, 1960/1961, 1962/1963)
- Cardenales de Lara: 4 (1990/1991, 1997/1998, 1998/1999, 2000/2001)
- Cervecería Caracas: 3 (1947/1948, 1948/1949, 1951/1952)
- Equipo Vargas: 2 (1946, 1946/1947)
- Pastora de Occidente: 1 (1953/1954)
[edit] Seasonal Champions
| Team won the Serie del Caribe |
[edit] Famous Players/Managers
- Teolindo Acosta
- Luís Aparicio
- José Bracho
- Alejandro Carrasquel
- Alfonso Carrasquel
- José Casanova
- David Concepción
- Víctor Davalillo
- Víctor Davalillo
- Baudilio Díaz
- Andrés Galarraga
- Luis García
- Adrian Garrett
- Enzo Hernández
- Luis Leal
- Vidal López
- Gonzalo Márquez
- Oswaldo Olivares
- Robert Pérez
- Luis Salazar
- Diego Seguí
- Luis Sojo
- César Tovar
[edit] Sources
- Historia de la Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (in Spanish)
- Historial de Campeones (in Spanish)
- Venezuela Años 60 (in Spanish)
- Breve Reseña Histórica (in Spanish)
- Historia del Beisbol Profesional en Venezuela (in Spanish)
- Equipos del Béisbol de Venezuela (in Spanish)
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