Author: Monte Cely

por Ing. Monte Allan Cely J.

Your author with the two Juan Antonios, and with Mexican fanaticos Jhonny and Martín.

PUERTO RICO WINS SERIE DEL CARIBE 2017

Puerto Rico defeated Mexico 1-0 in ten innings to win their first Caribbean Series crown since the 1999-2000 Winter Season.  Yadiel Rivera doubled to lead off the top of the tenth, was sacrificed to third, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Morales.

Mexico was held to only four hits by the Criollos pitching staff.

Puerto Rican third baseman David Vidal was voted MVP of Serie del Caribe 2017.

REFLECTIONS ON SERIE DEL CARIBE 2017

This was my seventh Serie del Caribe and I feel that it was the best one yet.  Estadio Tomateros is a major-league quality facility, but with only half the capacity.  You are close to the action but have all the amenities of an MLB stadium.  The city of Culiacán, Club Tomateros, and the LMP rolled out the red carpet for the fans.  The stadium was filled to capacity every evening that the home team played.  Attendance at capacity was usually reported as 19,177 tickets sold, but the total figure from the pressbox was in excess of 24,000.

I felt that the level of competition was very equal across the five clubs, with the possible exception of Dominicana.  Cuba fielded a strong club and I was told that their roster would closely resemble the national team that will play next month in the World Baseball Classic.  Mexico and Venezuela were strong as usual.  And of course the Puerto Rican club got hot late in the tournament and took the crown.

A big muchas gracias to my good friend Juan Antonio Jasso (with me in picture below) and his wife Carmen for hosting me before and after Serie del Caribe.  They were very gracious to put me up at their beautiful home in Concordia, Sinaloa and take me back and forth to the Mazatlan airport, as well as to and from Culiacán.  Their kindness greatly added to my enjoyment.

¡ Adios ! from Culiacán.  Thanks for reading !

POSTSCRIPT – WHAT’S NEXT ? — Here are a few rumors and other topics that I read or heard while in Mexico:  Serie del Caribe 2018 is scheduled for Barquisimeto, Venezuela.  Should the political and social concerns in Venezuela not settle down somewhat, there was much discussion as to where the upcoming Serie del Caribe might be relocated.  The most common alternative, should it be needed, is to return to Mexico.  The best bets among LMP venues are either Ciudad Obregón (new stadium) or Guadalajara (large city, lots of accommodations for incoming fans).

There was also talk about when Cuba might be expected to take its turn in hosting a Serie del Caribe.  The Cubans would have to first rejoin the Caribbean Baseball Confederation, as they have been participating as an invited guest since 2014.  That will supposedly happen in 2018.  So the current thinking is that the Cubans will host no earlier than 2020.

Another topic concerns what other countries may enter (or re-enter) the Caribbean Baseball Confederation and send a representative to a future Serie del Caribe.  Newspaper articles in Culiacán speculated that Panama may re-enter the competition in the next few years.

¡ Vamos a ver !  We shall see!

DAY SIX February 6, 2017

Puerto Rico and Mexico advance to the finals of Serie del Caribe 2017 !

Puerto Rico defeated Venezuela 9-6 in Game One today to qualify for tomorrow´s final.  The Puerto Rican club will be looking for their first Serie del Caribe title since 2000.  The home team from Mexico will provide the opposition as they defeated Cuba 1-0.  Mexico will strive to win their fifth title in the past seven series.

Puerto Rico 9 – Venezuela 6 — Puerto Rico´s offense continued to fire on all cylinders as they jumped to a 8-0 lead and held on for the win.  Six Puerto Rican starters had at least one RBI, with David Vidal slugging his third homer of the series.  Venezuela tallied 16 hits and 4 walks but could not overcome the early Criollos outburst.

Mexico 1 – Cuba 0 — in a rematch of last night´s game, Mexico was able to prevail on the strength of starter Miguel Pena´s five innings and shutout relief from the bullpen.  The Mexican pitching staff allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks.  Cuban starter Lazaro Blanco allowed only one run in 7 innings, but took the tough loss.

DAY FIVE February 5, 2017

Venezuela 4 – Dominicana 3 — Rene Reyes homered with Ronnie Cedeño aboard in the bottom of the 8th to give Venezuela a come-from-behind victory over Dominicana.  For the second consecutive year the Dominican team was swept in the Serie del Carie round-robin.

Cuba 4 – Mexico 0 — Alfredo Despaigne broke out of a slump with the 3-run homer to power the Cuban squad past defending champions Mexico.  The home team could not solve Cuban starter Vladimir Banos, who pitched 8.2 innings for the win.

This concludes the round-robin phase of Serie del Caribe 2017.  The standings are:

Team	W	L	Qual?
Cuba	3	1	Y
Mexico	3	1	Y
Venezuela	3	1	Y
Puerto Rico	1	3	Y
Dominicana	0	4	N

The Cuban team was awarded first place in the round-robin due to tie-breaker rules.

The semi-finals will pit Cuba vs. Puerto Rico and Mexico vs. Venezuela.

Both semi-finals will be played February 6, with the finals slated for February 7.  Stand by …

DAY FOUR February 4, 2017

Pre-game, we took a field trip to the Sinaloa Baseball Museum and Academy.

This facility is a state-of-the-art interactive baseball museum and also a baseball development academy.  My understanding is that it was built with funding by the state of Sinaloa and MLB serves in an advisory capacity.  The museum was impressive.  I was able to walk out among the ball fields, however the coaches were not interested in seeing me take a few swings …

 

Puerto Rico 10 – Dominicana 2 — the Dominican club is eliminated, for the second straight year, and Criollos de Caguas advance to the semi-finals.  Rusney Castillo led the PR attack with a homer and three RBIs.  Ivan de Jesús, Jr. added two RBI and scored three times.  Eight Licey pitchers could not stop the Puerto Rican offensive outburst.

Venezuela 8 – Cuba 3 — Venezuela mounted a 15-hit attack, led by Freddy Galvis and Ronnie Cedeno with three each.  Cuban starter Freddy Alvarez was lifted with only one out in the first inning after Venezuela jumped out to a 3-0 lead.  Cuban 2B Carlos Benitez tied the game in the second with a 3-run homer.  However, Venezuela continued to chip away at the Cuban bullpen and took advantage of two Cuba errors to post the win.  Wil Ledezma was the winner in relief for Zulia.

DAY THREE February 3, 2017

Today was the induction ceremony for the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame.

The inductees, from left to right, are:

Vinnie Castilla, Erubiel Durazo, Miguel Flores, Benjamin Reyes (accepted posthumously by his son), Alfonso Araujo Bojórquez, and Juan Manuel Ley (accepted posthumously by his son)

 

 

 

Cuba 6 – Puerto Rico 1 — Cuban pitching was sharp again, with starter Vladimir Garcia going six innings for the win and the Cuban bullpen again held their opponents scoreless.  William Saavedra´s 2-run homer in the 7th sealed the win for Cuba.  The Cuban squad continued to look strong on both offense and defense.

Mexico 5 – Venezuela 1 — This game was Águilas contra Águilas – Eagles vs. Eagles.  Sebastián Valle´s walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth won the game for Méxicali.  Barry Enright started for Mexico and pitched 5 strong innings allowing only one run.  The Mexican bullpen wrapped up with four scoreless innings and Oliver Perez got the win.

With these results, the standings for todos-contra-todos – the round robin phase – after three days of play are:

Team	Won	Loss
Mexico	3	0
Cuba	2	0
Venezuela	1	1
Puerto Rico	0	2
Dominicana	0	2

DAY TWO February 2, 2017

We were joined at breakfast by Eduardo Almada, a fellow SABR member and well-known broadcaster and columnist.  Eddie is also the son of Baldomero “Melo” Almada, the first Mexican-born pelotero to play in the U.S. major leagues.  We had a far-ranging discussion with Eddie on baseball topics both north- and south-of-the-border.

We had a late lunch at the stadium club at Estadio Tomateros:

Venezuela 4 – Puerto Rico 3 — Venezuelan catcher Jesus Flores´ 2-run homer in the top of the second put Zulia ahead to stay.  David Vidal homered for Caguas in the 8th to make it close at 4-3, but that was how the final score stood.

Mexico 7 – Dominicana 2 — Jason Bourgeois 2 RBI triple put Mexicali ahead in the fifth inning and CJ Retherford´s 3-run homer in the top of the seventh broke the game open.  Chris Roberson was 4-5 with two runs scored.  Starter Hector Velazquez pitched five innings for the win and the bullpen shut down Licey the rest of the way.  The game was another sellout with attendance over 19,000.

After the first two days of play, the round-robin phase standings are:

Team	Won	Loss
Mexico	2	0
Venezuela	1	0
Cuba	1	0
Puerto Rico	0	2
Dominicana	0	2

DAY ONE February 1, 2017

Cuba 4 – Dominicana 0 — Cuban leadoff hitter Roel Santos tripled and scored on a passed ball in the top of the first.  That was all the offense Cuba needed as they posted a shutout in the Series opener.  Granma starter Lazaro Blanco threw 6.1 innings and was relieved by Liran Moinelo who got all of the final eight outs.

Mexico 4 – Puerto Rico 2 — Mexicali stalwart Chris Roberson broke a 1-1 tie with a two run homer in the bottom of the seventh.  Yunieski Betancourt added a homer in the 8th to give Mexico an insurance run.  Mexican starter Daniel Rodriguez and three relievers allowed only five Criollos hits.

Opening Ceremonies — we were treated to a fantastic light show and Dodgers rookie pitcher Julio Urias threw out the ceremonial first pitch.  Attendance was announced at 19,177.

Your author and fellow SABR member Lewis Rubman doing some sight-seeing in downtown Culiacan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 31, 2017

I´ve arrived in Culiacan, Sinaloa and the city is hopping with anticipation of the start of Serie del Caribe.  On the TV news this morning, they are reporting that all hotels in the Culiacan metro area are lleno (sold out).

I will report further tomorrow or as there is any breaking news.

Stay tuned …

January 29, 2017

THE FINAL FIELD IS SET FOR SERIE DEL CARIBE 2017:

The five champions of the participating winter leagues have been determined, as follows:

Águilas de Méxicali wins its fourth LMP title.  The Eagles represent the Baja California city of Mexicali.  Their home park is Estadio B-Air.

 

Tigres del Licey is one of the most-storied of Dominican clubs.  The 2016-17 LiDOM title is their 22nd.  Their home field is Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal in the capital city of Santo Domingo.

Criollos de Caguas is a historic Puerto Rican team and this year’s title is the 17th in their history.  They play at Parque Yldefonso Sola’ Morales in the central Puerto Rican city of Caguas.

Águilas del Zulia won its sixth Venezuelan title and appear in Serie del Caribe for the first time in 17 years.  They play in Estadio Luis Aparacio in Maracaibo.

Alazanes de Granma won its first Serie Nacional title.  The Sorrel Colts play in Bayamo, the seat of Granma province.

Serie del Caribe 2017 will get underway Wednesday, February 1 in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, the capital city of the state of Sinaloa.  The tournament will run through February 7 (see the game schedule, below).  The site will be the one-year-old Estadio Tomateros (also known by its naming-rights as Estadio BBVA Bancomer).  The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 with dimensions of 322′ down both foul lines and 410′ in straight-away center field.

The winter league winners from Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba will again compete for the title of “The Caribbean World Series”.  The system of competition will be the same as in the past few years:

Phase 1 – A five-team, four-game round robin after which the bottom team will be eliminated.

Phase 2 – Two semi-final games pitting the #1 vs. #4 finishers and the #2 vs. #3 finishers from Phase 1.

Final – A single-game finale between the two semi-final winners.

The schedule for Serie del Caribe 2017 is as follows (note that Culiacán observes U.S. Mountain time during winter months):

Every year I make my travel arrangements with Travesias Mundiales, a travel agency in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.  The owner, Thelma Acosta, and her team always do a great job with the logistics and make my travel easy and enjoyable.  Their web site is here.

Thelma (red jacket) and her team at Travesias Mundiales in Hermosillo.

WINTER LEAGUE PLAYOFFS 2017

January 28, 2017

MEXICO – Méxicali clinched the LMP crown with a 13-1 victory at Los Mochis.  Águilas took the series 4 games to 2.  This is the fourth league championship for the Eagles and their first since the 1998-99 season.

 

DOMINICANA – the LiDOM final series went all the way to a ninth and final game.  Emilio Bonifacio’s three-RBI double in the decisive top of the 6th inning powered Tigres del Licey to the win over Águilas Cibaeñas 6-2.  This is Licey’s 22nd Dominican league title.

 

January 25, 2017

PUERTO RICO – Caguas defeated Santurce 6-5 in 12 innings before a standing-room-only home crowd of 11,200 at Parque Yldefonso Sola Morales.  Los Criollos thereby clinch the Puerto Rican winter crown, 5 games to 3, and advance to La Serie del Caribe 2017.

 

VENEZUELA – Águilas del Zulia clinched the Venezuelan title with a 5-2 win at home over Cardenales de Lara.  Zulia prevailed four games to one in the finals.  Over 19,800 fans were in attendance at Estadio Luis Aparicio in Maracaibo to see their club take their first Venezuelan title in 17 years.

 

In MEXICO, Los Mochis and Méxicali are tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven final series.  In the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Licey leads Águilas 4-2 in their best-of-nine finals.   Both series continue their action tonight.

January 23, 2017

CUBA – Granma swept by Ciego de Ávila four games to none and clinched its first-ever Serie Nacional championship.  Los Alazanes dispatched the defending SN champions in the finals after sending home the regular-season champion Matanzas club in the semi-finals.  This is the first corona for Granma in its 40 seasons competing in Serie Nacional.

If, like me, the name “Granma” sounds familiar, it is not only the name of the Cuban province where the club plays, but also the name of the yacht that brought Castro and his revolutionaries back to Cuba from Mexico in 1956.  El yate is featured in the team logo.  Furthermore, it is the name of the official party newspaper published in Havana.

Granma now advances to la Serie del Caribe and awaits the determination of the other four league champions.

PUERTO RICO – Caguas leads Santurce 4-3 in the best-of-nine finals.

DOMINICANA – Licey and Águilas are tied 2-2 in the best-of-nine finale.

VENEZUELA – Zulia leads Lara 2-0 in the best-of-seven finals.

MEXICO – Los Mochis and Méxicali are tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven finale.

January 20, 2017 – both Mexican Pacific League semi-finals went down to a deciding seventh game last night:

Méxicali prevailed over Hermosillo 4-3 in 16 innings at Estadio B-Air in Baja California.

Los Mochis defeated Culiacán 3-1 to join Méxicali in the LMP finals.  Los Cañeros will have the home-field advantage and will host the opening game of the best-of-seven finale in Los Mochis on Saturday, January 21.

The other four Winter League final series situations are:

CUBA – Granma leads Ciego de Ávila 2 games – none in their best-of-seven series.

DOMINICANA – Águilas lead Licey 1-0 in their best-of-nine series.

VENEZUELA – Lara and Zulia open the final series tonight.

PUERTO RICO – Santurce leads Caguas 3 games to 2 in their best-of-nine.  Fellow SABR member Angel Colon sends these action photos:

John Brownell (Criollos) and Adalberto Flores (Cangrejeros) on the mound

Update as of January 18, 2017 – two more semi-final series have been completed:

DOMINICANA – the LiDOM round-robin phase wrapped up last night with the final standings at:

Team	W	L	GB
Águilas	14	4	-5.0
Licey	9	9	—
Gigantes	8	10	1
Escogido	5	13	4

Águilas were in command of the todos-contra-todos from the beginning, opening up a comfortable lead and clinching a spot in the finals with several games to play.  Licey and Gigantes battled to the final game for the second ticket to the finals, with Licey prevailing by one game.

Águilas will have the home-field advantage in the best-of-nine final series and will host Licey at Estadio Cibao on Thursday January 19th.

VENEZUELA – Cardenales de Lara and Águilas de Zulia both prevailed in the semi-final rounds by dispatching their opponents 4 games to 1.  The seven-game final series will open on Friday January 20 with regular-season champs Cardenales opening at home in Barquisimeto hosting Zulia.

January 16, 2017

CUBA – after compiling a 70-win season and leading in the standings the entire way, los Cocodrilos de Matanzas were upset in a seven game semi-final series by Granma.  The “Chestnut Colts” now advance to the finals to play defending Serie Nacional champs Ciego de Ávila.  The SN56 finals begin Wednesday, January 18.

Here’s the latest in the Latin American Winter Leagues playoffs as of January 12, 2017

PUERTO RICO – the first round (semi-finals) of the LBPRC finished on Wednesday January 11.  Regular-season winner Santurce advances to the finals by defeating Carolina 4 games to 1.  Regular-season runner-up Mayaguez was upset by Caguas 4-2.

The LBPRC finals therefore will feature los Cangrejeros de Santurce holding the home-field advantage over Criollos de Caguas in the 9-game final series beginning Saturday, January 14.

Fellow SABR member Angel Colon sent these action photos from San Juan:

LBPRC batting champion Danny Ortiz (Mayagüez) (top left), ERA leader Adalberto Flores (Santurce) (top right), “Dice – K” in action with Carolina (bottom)

VENEZUELA – first round (quarter-finals) play also concluded Wednesday January 11 in the LVBP.  Results are:

Cardenales de Lara prevailed over Margarita, 4 games to 3.

Águilas de Zulia swept Tigres de Aragua 4-0.

Caribes de Anzoátegui prevailed over Tiburones de La Guaira 4-3.

In the LVBP, the wild card is determined by a one-game play-in pitting the two losing first-round teams with the best regular-season records.  This resulted in a loser-goes-home game between La Guaira and Aragua.  This game was held Wednesday night, January 11 in Maracay.  The Sharks won 4-2 and also advance to the semi-finals.

The LVBP semi-finals begin January 12 with Lara hosting La Guaira in Barquisimeto and with Caribes hosting Zulia in Puerto la Cruz.

MEXICO – first round action wrapped up in the LMP on Monday January 9.  The first round series concluded as follows:

Los Mochis defeated Mazatlan four games to one.

Mexicali defeated Navojoa four games to two.

Hermosillo prevailed over Culiacán four games to three.  Over 19,000 fans witnessed game seven at Estadio Tomateros, the site of the upcoming Serie del Caribe.  Both clubs advance to the semi-finals as los Tomateros qualify as the comodín (wild card) with the best record among the first-round losing teams.

The LMP semi-finals will commence on January 11, with the pairings as follows:

Los Mochis will host Culiacán and will have the home-field advantage in the 2-3-2 best-of-seven series format.

Likewise, Mexicali will host Hermosillo and have the home-field advantage.

DOMINICANA – the LiDOM first-round, round robin play continues with the standings at:

Team	W	L	GB
Águilas	10	2	-4.0
Licey	5	7	1.0
Escogido	5	8	1.5
Gigantes	4	7	1.5

After the 18-game round-robin is completed, the top two teams will advance to the Dominican finals.

CUBA – in the Serie Nacional semi-finals, defending champs Ciego de Ávila defeated Villa Clara 4 games to 2 and advance to the SN finals.  Regular-season leaders Matanzas currently lead Granma 3-2.

SERIE DEL CARIBE SALON DE FAMA – this year’s inductees will be players Vinny Castilla, Erubiel Durazo and Miguel Flores; executive Juan Manuel Ley; manager Benjamin Cananea-Reyes, and sportswriter Alfonso Araujo Bojórquez.  My good friend Juan Antonio Jasso advises that the induction ceremonies will be Friday February 3 in Culiacán.

—

WINTER REGULAR SEASON 2016-2017 – final regular season results as of January 1, 2017

MEXICO – the final standings for the second-half of the winter season are:

When the PTS earned are added to the first-half results, the resulting final positions are as follows:

According to the playoff rules for qualification in Mexico, the bottom two teams – Yaquis de Óbregon and Charros de Jalisco – are eliminated.  The remaining six teams will play best-of-seven series beginning on January 2 with the pairings as indicated above:  Mayos de Navajoa will host Águilas de Méxicali;   Cañeros de Los Mochis will host Venados de Mazatlán; and Tomateros de Culiacán will host Naranjeros de Hermosillo.

DOMINICANA – the regular season was a close-run affair from opening day to the close of the season.  The finals standings were:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB	Qualified?
Gigantes del Cibao	27	23	—	yes
Tigres del Licey	26	24	1	yes
Águilas Cibaeñas	25	25	2	yes
Leones del Escogido	25	25	2	yes
Toros del Este	25	26	3	no
Estrellas Orientales	23	27	4	no

The top four teams advance to a todos-contra-todos ronda (round-robin phase), where each club will play the other three qualifiers six times (18 games per team).   The top two clubs emerging from the round-robin will play each other in a final series to determine who will advance to La Serie del Caribe 2017.

CUBA – the final standings for the six teams participating in the second phase of Serie Nacional 56 are:

Team	W	L	GB	Qual?
Matanzas	70	20	—	yes
Ciego de Ávila	56	34	14	yes
Villa Clara	52	38	18	yes
Granma	50	40	20	yes
Holguín	43	47	27	no
Camagüey	39	51	31	no

Los Cocodrilos de Matanzas led the Serie Nacional throughout the first- and second-halves, finishing the season on a 9-game winning streak.  The Crocodiles set a SN 90-game season record with 70 victories.  The semi-final pairings will commence on January 4 and have the Crocodiles hosting Granma, and defending champions Ciego de Ávila hosting Villa Clara.

VENEZUELA – the final LVBP standings were:

Team	W	L	GB	Qual?
Lara	39	24	—	yes
Caribes	34	29	5	yes
Zulia	33	30	6	yes
Margarita	30	33	9	yes
La Guaira	30	33	9	yes
Aragua	30	33	9	yes
Magallanes	29	34	10	no
Caracas	27	36	12	no

The bottom five clubs in the LVBP battled to the final games to determine who would nail down the last three playoff spots.  Traditional power-houses and long-time rivals Magallanes and Caracas were left out of the January action.  For the first round of the playoffs, Lara will host Margarita, Caribes will host La Guaira, and Zulia will host Aragua in best-of-seven series.

PUERTO RICO – fellow SABR member Lewis Rubman advises that Daisuke Matsuzaka is trying to rejuvenate the gyro-ball in Puerto Rican winter league play.  Pitching for Gigantes de Carolina, Dice-K compiled a 2.70 ERA in 20 IP, with an opponents’ BA of only .197.  Perhaps a return to MLB?

The final standings from the enchanted island were:

Team	W	L	GB	Qual?
Santurce	28	12	—	yes
Mayagüez	26	14	2	yes
Caguas	19	21	9	yes
Carolina	16	24	12	yes
Aguadilla	11	29	17	no

The Cangrejeros and Indios were on top of the standings at 1-2 for most of the season.  Santurce will host Carolina and Mayagüez will host Caguas in semi-final action beginning on January 3.

—

WINTER REGULAR SEASON 2016-2017 — as of December 11, 2016

PANAMA – fellow SABR member Kit Crissey advises that his friend Bill Hockenbury passed away recently at age 92.  Hockenbury logged nine seasons in the U.S. minor leagues and played with the Carta Vieja Yankees in the Panama Winter League in the 1950s.  He pitched in la Serie del Caribe for the Yankees in 1954 and defeated Almendares 5-1, allowing just two hits.

PUERTO RICO – SABR member Angel Colon shared some pictures of this winter season’s action in the LBPRC.

 

Clockwise from upper left – Corey Black pitching for Santurce; game action Indios at Tiburones; Phil Evans batting for Caguas; Kasuma Okamoto and Ozzie Martinez in the field for Carolina.

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Santurce	20	8	—
Mayagüez	17	10	2.5
Caguas	13	14	6.5
Carolina	12	18	9
Aguadilla	7	19	12

With about three weeks to play in the regular season, Santurce has widened its hold on first place.  The top four teams will advance to the January play-offs.

Royals prospect Emmanuel Rivera leads the league in hitting at .386.

MEXICO – LMP league standings for la segunda vuelta are:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Mayos (Navajoa)	11	6	—
Venados (Mazatlan)	11	6	—
Águilas (Mexicali)	10	7	1
Cañeros (Los Mochis)	9	8	2
Naranjeros (Hermosillo)	9	8	2
Yaquis (Cd. de Obregón)	7	10	4
Charros (Jalisco)	6	11	5
Tomateros (Culiacán)	5	12	6

First-half winners Tomateros are now in the basement during second-half play.  The points earned in the first half will be added to the points earned by the second-half finish to determine the top six teams to advance to post-season play in January.

Former Dodgers farmhand Javier Solano leads LMP pitchers with 7 wins.

CUBA – Serie Nacional 56 play resumed December 4 after the mourning period for Fidel Castro.  With about 20 games left, the remaining six clubs are positioned as follows:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Matanzas	55	16	—
Ciego de Ávila	48	22	6.5
Villa Clara	41	28	13
Granma	41	29	13.5
Holguín	33	37	21.5
Camagüey	32	38	22.5

The top four teams will advance to post-season play in January.  Matanzas has already qualified for the semi-finals due to their outstanding first-half record.

DOMINICANA – the current LIDOM standings are:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Gigantes del Cibao	22	16	—
Tigres del Licey	21	18	1.5
Águilas Cibaeñas	20	20	3
Estrellas Orientales	20	20	3
Leones del Escogido	17	21	5
Toros del Este	17	22	5.5

The regular season race remains close among the Dominican clubs.  With the top four teams qualifying for the post-season, all the teams are still in the playoff hunt.

Ronnie Rodriguez leads the league with a .336 average.  Rodriguez played this past summer for the Cleveland Indians’ AAA affiliate in Columbus.

VENEZUELA – the top six clubs in the final regular season standings will advance to the in-country postseason playoffs.  The current situation is:

Team	Wins	Losses	GB
Cardenales	30	22	—
Águilas	28	23	1.5
Caribes	27	25	3
Tiburones	25	24	3.5
Bravos	26	25	3.5
Tigres	22	26	6
Leones	21	27	7
Navegantes	21	28	7.5

With about three weeks to play, the two most iconic of the Venezuelan franchises – Leones de Caracas and Navegantes de Magallanes – are in danger of missing the post-season.

 

WINTER REGULAR SEASON 2016-17 — as of November 27, 2016

MEXICO – the first half of the LMP “split season” finished on November 20.  The complete first-half standings are as follows:

The points (“PTS” column) assigned for the first-half finish will be added to the corresponding points earned for the second half to determine qualification for and seeding in the LMP post-season.

PUERTO RICO – the current standings in the LBPRC are as follows:

Team	Wins	Losses
Santurce	12	5
Caguas	11	6
Mayagüez	10	7
Carolina	9	12
Aguadilla	3	15

The poor showing on the field for the new Aguadilla Tiburones franchise has led to financial difficulties as well.  The club failed to make payroll earlier in November.  The situation was rectified over the next few days and management is hopeful this was a one-time occurence.

CUBA – the second phase of Serie Nacional 56 play has been suspended due to the death of Fidel Castro.  Play will resume on December 4 as the six qualifying teams play for positions in the post-season.  Current standings (which are cumulative of phase one play) are as follows:

Team	Wins	Losses
Matanzas	51	14
Ciego de Ávila	43	21
Granma	39	25
Villa Clara	38	26
Camagüey	31	33
Holguín	31	34

VENEZUELA – only two games separate the top four teams in the LVBP standings, and the top seven clubs are only 5 1/2 games apart:

Team	Wins	Losses
Zulia	24	17
Lara	23	18
La Guaira	21	18
Margarita	22	19
Anzoátegui	19	21
Magallanes	18	21
Aragua	17	21
Caracas	15	24

MLB journeyman Jose Castillo and Cardinals farmhand Breyvic Valera lead the LVBP in batting with .382 marks.

DOMINICANA – likewise, no one is running away from the field in the LiDOM.  The standings are:

Team	Wins	Losses
Gigantes	15	10
Escogido	15	12
Licey	14	13
Aguilas	14	16
Estrellas	12	15
Toros	13	17

Texas Rangers farmhand Hanser Alberto is leading the league in batting at .385.

 

OFF-SEASON/PRE-SEASON (Summer/early Fall) ITEMS OF NOTE

PUERTO RICO – la Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) is expanding to five teams for the 2016-17 winter season.  A franchise from Puerto Rico’s baseball past, Tiburones de Aguadilla, has been added to the mix for the winter league.  The Sharks last competed in Puerto Rico’s top league in the 1950-51 season.

MÉXICO – la Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (LMP) continues its building program with the debut of Nuevo Estadio Yaquis in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.  This new ballpark (opened October, 2016) joins other new or substantially rebuilt stadiums in Méxicali (to host 2009 Serie del Caribe), Hermosillo (to host 2013 Serie del Caribe) and Culiacán (2015).

To celebrate the opening of the new stadium in Cd. Obregón, the LMP is re-instituting a mid-season all-star game to be held there on Nov. 27.

Gracias to mi buen amigo Juan Antonio Jasso Rodriguez for his contribution to this post.  Juan Antonio (seated, right) is pictured hosting his radio show Peña Beisbolera in Hermosillo.

VENEZUELA – undeterred by political and economic challenges, la Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) announced that they intend to host the 2018 Serie del Caribe at Barquisimeto, home city of the Cardenales de Lara.

CUBA – sports authorities made further changes to the system of competition for Serie Nacional 56 (SN56).  In order to better align the ending of their season to the start of la Serie del Caribe (and eventually MLB spring training), and to improve the overall level of competition, the following changes were announced:

A First Phase of their schedule will be played from early August to late October.  All 16 teams in the top league will participate in this 45-game primera etapa.

A Second Phase of the schedule will commence November 1 and include only six clubs for the remainder of the season.  The top four finishers from Phase I will advance, as well as two clubs from positions 5-8 as determined by play-in games.  The six advancing clubs can be reinforced by players selected from the eliminated ten teams.  The Phase I won/loss records also carry over into the second phase.  Phase II will complete in late December.

Playoff Rounds will be held in January and will conclude in time for the SN56 champion to participate in Serie del Caribe 2017.

WINTER REGULAR SEASON 2016-17

— as of November 8, 2016 —

CUBA SN56 – as mentioned above, the current SN56 season began on August 7.  Of the 16 teams participating in Phase I, the following six advanced to Phase II play, which began on November 1:

Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila, Granma, Villa Clara, Holguín, and Camagüey.  The Matanzas Crocodiles have been playing outstanding ball, and currently are 46-5 with a 12.5 game lead over second place Ciego de Ávila.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – play began in la Liga Dominicana (LIDOM) on October 20.  Through the first 14 games, Gigantes del Cibao are in first place at 10-4.

VENEZUELA – LVBP play began on October 6. Águilas de Zulia (Maracaibo) have the early lead at 17-8.

White Sox fans in the U.S. should note that Ozzie Guillén is managing the La Guaira club this season.

MÉXICO – the LMP season began on October 11.  The LMP plays a split-season and la primera etapa has been very tight, with four clubs (Hermosillo, Méxicali, Navajoa, and Los Mochis) tied atop the standings at 13-10.

PUERTO RICO – play began for the LBPRC on October 27.  Mayagüez and Santurce are tied for the early lead at 6-2.

 

I will report periodically via this blog as to developments and results of the 2016-17 winter seasons, and then en vivo desde Culiacán.

Saludos,  Monte