Navegantes del Magallanes

From BR Bullpen

Navegantes del Magallanes
Magallanes Navigators
Navegantes del Magallanes Logo
League: Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional
Founding: 1917
First Season: 1946
City: Valencia, Carabobo
Stadium: Estadio José Bernardo Pérez
League Titles: 12
  1949/1950, 1950/1951, 1954/1955, 1969/1970, 1976/1977, 1978/1979, 1993/1994, 1995/1996, 1996/1997, 2001/2002, 2012/2013, 2013/2014
Serie del Caribe Titles: 2
  1970, 1979
Former Names: Magallanes de Catia, Oriente, Orientales
Future Names: {{{Future Names}}}
President: {{{President}}}
General Manager: Luis Blasini
Manager: Luis Sojo

The Navegantes del Magallanes are a Venezuelan winter league team that plays in the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional. The team was founded in 1917 and was one of the original teams in the first LVBP season in 1946. The team has won eleven championships, and is one of the most popular teams in the country (along with Leones del Caracas).

The Navegantes were founded in 1917 as the Magallanes de Catia. The team’s founders were Juan Carratú and Luis Carratú, the Fagre family and Turks Vicente Issa, Eduardo Kalil, Alberto Salomón, and Ricardo Salomón. Once the Liga Nacional de Béisbol was founded in 1927 the Navegantes soon entered the league.

After Venezuela won the 1941 Baseball World Cup, the sport of baseball increased in popularity throughout in the 1940s. In that same year Don Carlos Lavaud bought the team and renamed it as the Navegantes. During this time many new clubs appeared including Cervecería Caracas, Gavilanes, Pastora, and the Royal Criollos. In 1946 a new league was created, the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional, with the Navegantes as one of its four charter teams, along with Cervecería, Vargas and Venezuela. During the eight seasons between 1944 an 1950, the Navegantes were champions on two occasions, both over Cervecería, and placed second in two other seasons.

In 1956, Joe Novas and Joe Cruz bought the team renaming them Oriente; seven years later they became Orientales after being purchased by Alfonso Carrasquel and Humberto B. Lozano. The team returned to the moniker of Navegantes del Magallanes for the 1964/1965 season.

Following a down period in the 1980s, the Navegantes have returned as one of the top teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s, winning four titles from 1993 to 2001.

After an 11-year drought, Magallanes, led by 2012 World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval, and former MLB All-Stars Elvis Andrus and Carlos Zambrano defeated Cardenales de Lara 4-3 in the best of 7 final to secure title number 11.

Retired Numbers[edit]

Notable Players[edit]

Notable Managers[edit]

External Links[edit]

Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional
División Occidental: Tigres de Aragua · Cardenales de Lara · Bravos de Margarita · Águilas del Zulia
División Oriental: Caribes de Anzoátegui · Leones del Caracas · Tiburones de La Guaira · Navegantes del Magallanes
Related Articles: Salón de la Fama
Retrieved from "http://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Navegantes_del_Magallanes&oldid=898278"