The eighth edition of the

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 ...

(''Serie del Caribe'') was played in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. It was held from February 10 through February 15, featuring the champion baseball teams of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Elefantes de Cienfuegos Elefantes de Cienfuegos (English: Cienfuegos Elephants) is a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Based in the southern city of Cienfuegos, the Elefantes had their best season in their second year of existence, finishing fourth in the Nati ...

;

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, Chesterfield Smokers;

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, Criollos de Caguas and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Industriales de Valencia Industriales is a professional baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Located in Cerro, La Habana, it is known as the only team representing the country’s capital, Havana. Industriales is historically the most successful team in the Nati ...

. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio Olímpico de Panamá in

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

Summary

In this edition, Cienfuegos won the first of five consecutive Series titles for the Cuban team. Cienfuegos was managed by Oscar Rodríguez and finished with a 5-1 record. The pitching staff was guided by

Camilo Pascual Camilo Alberto Pascual Lus (born January 20, 1934) is a Cuban former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During an 18-year baseball career (1954–71), he played for the original modern Washington Senators franchise (which became the Mi ...

(2-0, 11

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s, 2.50

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

), Pedro Ramos (2-0, 1.59 ERA) and René Gutiérrez (1-0, 0.00 ERA in innings). The offense was clearly led by catcher and Series MVP

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United S ...

(.400 BA, one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, .654 OBP and 1B Bob Boyd (.304 BA, one HR, 11 RBI, .522 SLG). Other contributions came from 2B Curt Roberts (.375, one HR, six runs, .542 SLG),

Chico Fernández Humberto "Chico" Fernández Pérez (March 2, 1932 – June 11, 2016) was a Cubans, Cuban professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillie ...

(.269, 10 runs, one HR) and 3B Milt Smith (two HR, .522 SLG). The roster also included IF Ossie Alvarez, OFs Prentice Browne and Archie Wilson and Ps Sandalio Consuegra, Seth Morehead and

Gene Bearden Henry Eugene Bearden (September 5, 1920 – March 18, 2004) was an American professional baseball pitcher, a left-hander who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1947 to 1953 for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, ...

, among others. Panama, with Standford Graham at the helm, posted a 3-3 record to tie Puerto Rico for second place. Ps

Don Elston Donald Ray Elston (April 6, 1929 – January 2, 1995) was an American relief pitcher who appeared in 450 games in Major League Baseball, all but one of them as a member of the Chicago Cubs (1953, 1957–1964). Elston batted and threw right-hand ...

, Ross Grimsley and Wally Burnette got the victories while 1B Elías Osorio (.286, 3 HR, .762 SLG) led the offense. Grimsley made the All-Star team, as well as OFs Bobby Prescott and Bill Stewart. The line up was also filled with

Héctor López Héctor Headley López Swainson (July 8, 1929 – September 29, 2022) was a Panamanian professional baseball left fielder and third baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees from 1955 to 196 ...

(2B),

Humberto Robinson Humberto Valentino Robinson (June 25, 1930 – September 29, 2009) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1955 through 1960 for the Milwaukee Braves (1955, 1958), Cleveland Indians (1959) and Philadelphia Phillies (1959–60). L ...

(P), David Roberts (OF) and

Joe Tuminelli Joseph Louis Tuminelli (March 27, 1920 – April 30, 1980) was an American professional baseball third baseman in Minor League Baseball. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed. Biography During nine seasons after World War II, Tuminell ...

(3B). Puerto Rico was managed by Ben Geraghty and got wins from Taylor Phillips, Roberto Vargas and

Chi-Chi Olivo Federico Emilio Olivo Maldonado (March 28, 1928 – February 3, 1977) was a Dominican professional baseball player who appeared in 96 games in Major League Baseball as a relief pitcher for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1961; 1964–1966). Born ...

, while 1B

Lou Limmer Louis Limmer (March 10, 1925 – April 1, 2007) was a Major League Baseball player in 1951 and 1954 for the Philadelphia Athletics. Limmer was born in the Bronx, New York, and was Jewish. He graduated from Manhattan High School of Aviation in 1 ...

(.350, three HR, six runs, eight RBI) provided punch in the lineup. Also in the roster were Ps

Tom Lasorda Thomas William LaSorda, (born July 24, 1954 in Windsor, Ontario) is a Canadian-American automobile industry executive who was CEO and President of the Chrysler Group. In December 2011, he joined the board of Fisker Automotive and assumed the role ...

and Paul Stuffel, and Cs

Bill Cash Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1984 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in ...

and Ray Murray; IFs

Daryl Spencer Daryl Dean Spencer (July 13, 1928 – January 2, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and infielder who played shortstop, second base and third base in Major League Baseball between and for the New York / San Francisco Giants, ...

(2B), Víctor Pellot Power (3B) and Félix Mantilla (SS), as well as OFs Wes Covington and

Chuck Harmon Charles Byron Harmon (April 23, 1924 – March 19, 2019) was an American professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954–1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1957), and Philadelphi ...

. Venezuela was managed by Regino Otero and finished in last place with a 1-5 mark. The team was outscored by their opponents 47-14. Bright spots were Ps

Turk Farrell Richard Joseph "Turk" Farrell (April 8, 1934 – June 10, 1977) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , spending his entire 14-year MLB career in the National League (NL). He threw and ...

and Jim Pearce. Farrell recorded the lone win against Puerto Rico in a one-run, one hit effort, while Pearce took an 11-inning, 2-1 loss to Panama, striking out nine batters without giving a walk. Valencia also featured

Ed Bailey Lonas Edgar Bailey, Jr. (April 15, 1931 – March 23, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and later served on the Knoxville, Tennessee city council. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from through . A six-time All-St ...

(C), Tommy Brown (1B),

Elio Chacón Elio Chacón Rodríguez (October 26, 1936 – April 24, 1992) was a Venezuelan Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop who played in the National League from 1960 to 1962. He was the seventh baseball player from Venezuela to play ...

(CF), Emilio Cueche (P), Julián Ladera (P) and Ron Mrozinski (P).

Participating teams

Final standings

Scoreboards

Game 1, February 10

Game 2, February 10

Game 3, February 11

Game 4, February 11

Game 5, February 12

Game 6, February 12

Game 7, February 13

Game 8, February 13

Game 9, February 14

Game 10, February 14

Game 11, February 15

Game 12, February 15

Statistics leaders

Awards

References

Sources

*Antero Núñez, José. ''Series del Caribe''. Jefferson,

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987. *Gutiérrez, Daniel. ''Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela – 1895–2006 ''. Caracas, Venezuela: Impresión Arte, C.A., 2007.

External links

Official siteLatino Baseball
{{Caribbean Series , state=collapsed

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Caribbean Series International baseball competitions hosted by Panama 1956 in Panama 1956 in Caribbean sport Sports competitions in Panama City

20th century in Panama City