The Colombian Professional Baseball League ( es, Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombiano, links=no or LPB), is a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

league based in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. It is a five-team winter league that plays during the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

offseason. The league's champion takes part in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is nor ...

History

Colombian Professional Baseball League is commonly divided into three eras: from 1948 to 1958, from 1979 to 1988, and from 1993 to the present.

Early incarnations (1948 - 1988)

Professional baseball in Colombia has its origins in 1948, when two foreign teams — the Havana Sugar Kings of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A followi ...

, and Chesterfield of the Panamanian League — played an exhibition series against the Colombian national team. Shortly thereafter, business interests in Cartagena created the country's two first professional teams: Torices of Cartagena and Indios of Cartagena. Indios would go on to be the league's most successful club in its early years, winning seven championships.

Modern era (1993 - present)

In 2004, the Colombian Professional Baseball League was provisionally accepted into the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, but were not allowed to participate in the

until the level of play and the quality of baseball facilities improve

The league added two teams for the 2010–11 season, both in non-traditional baseball markets in the country's central regions: Potros, based in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, and Águilas, based in the capital of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. Additionally, the Toros moved from Sincelejo to

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

for economic reasons. These changes were reversed in the 2012-13 season, after Toros moved back to Sincelejo and the two expansion teams folded. The league again added two new expansion teams for the 2019-2020 season: Gigantes de Barranquilla and Vaqueros de Montería. Vaqueros went on to become league champions in their inaugural season. They would also become the first team to represent Colombia in the

, after the LPB made its debut in the tournament's

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

edition (replacing the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. ...

, which could appear due to visa issues). After the outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the LPB established a "bubble" format for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, with all games being played in Barranquilla. The pandemic also saw both Leones and Toros withdraw from the league. Gigantes were expected to fold after the 2021-22 season, but managed to return the next year. In the 2022 Caribbean Series, Caimanes became the first LPB team to win the championship, defeating the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

's Gigantes del Cibao. Despite this victory, controversy ensued when the Colombian league was again denied full membership into the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. For the 2022-23 season, the league announced it was considering adding an expansion team in Bolívar. This was confirmed in September, when it was announced that the expansion team would be placed in Cartagena. Getsemaní Leones de La Trinidad had petitioned to join the league for over a year, but their entrance was delayed by COVID-19. Getsemaní's entrance marked the first time in seven years that Cartagena was home to two teams.

Partnerships

The league is televised by Cultiva Entertainment. The league had an affiliation with the Yuma Scorpions of the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

for the 2009 season.

Ownership

The league is owned by the Renteria Foundation, a charity run by former

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Édgar Rentería. In addition, players such as former

shortstop

Orlando Cabrera Orlando Luis Cabrera Ramírez, nicknamed "O-Cab" and "The OC", (born November 2, 1974) is a Colombian-American former baseball infielder. He won a World Series championship in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox. He also played for the Montreal Expos ...

have owned teams.

Format

The league has five teams around the country. The season is played from October to January. The top four teams at the end of the regular season, a first round robin phase of 50 games per team, advance to another round-robin (12 games for every team) with the two best teams contesting a best-of-seven final series to determine the league champion.

Teams and stadiums

Four teams from the country's

Caribbean region The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Official website
{{Professional Baseball Latin American baseball leagues Baseball competitions in Colombia Winter baseball leagues Baseball leagues in South America