The eleventh 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

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. It was held from February 10 through February 15 with the champions teams from

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 ...

( Almendares),

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 ...

( Coclé),

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 ...

( Santurce) 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 ...

( Oriente). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at UCV Stadium in

Caracas 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 ...

, which boosted capacity to 35.000 seats, and the first pitch was thrown by Edgar Sanabria, by then the

President of Venezuela The president of Venezuela (), officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (), is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan go ...

Summary

Cuba won the Series with a 5-1 record for a fourth straight championship. The Almendares club won for the second time guided by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Sungo Carrera and led by 1B

Rocky Nelson Glenn Richard "Rocky" Nelson (November 18, 1924 – October 31, 2006) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for all or parts of nine seasons between and for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh P ...

(.320 BA, six RBI), LF Carlos Paula (.462), 2B Tony Taylor (.346, .462 SLG) and RF Sandy Amorós (.333). The pitching staff included starters Camilo Pascual (2-0, 16

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, 1.50

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 ...

, 18 innings), Orlando Peña (1-1, innings) Art Fowler (1-0, 1.00, nine innings) and

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Mike Cuellar Miguel Ángel Cuellar Santana (; May 8, 1937 – April 2, 2010) was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in 1959 and from 1964 through 1977, most prominently as a memb ...

(1-0, 0.00). Other players for Cuba included pitchers

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Nation ...

, Cholly Naranjo and Carlos Pascual in addition to Bob Allison (OF), Jim Baxes (3B), Dick Brown (C), Miguel de la Hoz (2B),

Enrique Izquierdo Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk ( ...

(C),

Willy Miranda Guillermo "Willy" Miranda Perez (May 24, 1926 — September 7, 1996) was a Cuban-born professional baseball player who played shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1951–1959. Though he was often dazzling in the field, he was a notoriously ligh ...

(SS), Leonardo Posada (OF) and Angel Scull (OF). Venezuela, with a low-profile team, finished an honourable second place after going 4-2. Managed by Kerby Farrell, the offense was anchored by RF/1B and Series MVP Norman Cash, who finished with a .360 BA (9-for-25), 11 RBI and a .680 SLG. Oriente also received a considerable support from 3B Luis García and LF Jesús Mora, who tied for first place in the batting race with a .417 average (10-for-24). García added six runs, three doubles and slugged .625, while Mora collected four runs and a .583 SLG. Werner Birrer was the top pitcher with a 2-0 record, including a 13-inning victory, a 1.25 ERA and 18 SO in innings. He also set a Series record with 13 innings pitched in a single game (#2), while Cash set a new mark with six RBI in a single game (#8). Other players included

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 ...

(SS), Jim Owens (P), Ramón Monzant (P) and Jerry Snyder (2B). Puerto Rico, managed by Ramón Concepción, disappointed with a 3-3 mark to finish in third place. C Valmy Thomas (.381) and 1B

Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; September 17, 1937 – June 28, 2024), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", was a Puerto Rican first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco G ...

(.333) led the attack, while Marion Fricano and Julio Navarro each pitched 1–0

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s. Santurce also featured

Luis Arroyo Luis Enrique "Tite" Arroyo, (February 18, 1927 – January 13, 2016) was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball pitcher from 1955 to 1963. Arroyo was the first Puerto Rican player to appear for the New York Yankees and was a key part of their penn ...

(P),

Joe Black Joseph Black (February 8, 1924 – May 17, 2002) was an American right-handed pitcher in Negro league and Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs, and Washington Senators who became the first black pitcher to win a W ...

(P), Jackie Brandt (CF),

(1B), Nino Escalera (1B/OF), Rubén Gómez (P), Willie Kirkland (RF), Bob Lennon (LF),

Félix Maldonado Felix Juan "Felo" Maldonado (May 24, 1938 – June 12, 2010) was a scout and player development official for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. A 48-year veteran of the Red Sox organization starting as a minor league outfielder after be ...

(LF), Lloyd Merritt (P), José Pagán (3B), Victor Pellot Power (2B), José Santiago (P) and Pete Wojey (P). Panama finished in last place with a 0-6 record, to become the first winless team in Series history. The Coclé club was managed by Les Peden and benefited from a solid effort by RF Ken Hunt, who hit .304 with five RBI, home run,

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

and a .609 SLG. Other players included P

Bud Black Harry Ralston "Bud" Black (born June 30, 1957) is an American professional baseball manager and pitcher who most recently served as manager of the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB from 1981 through 1995, most not ...

, IF

Owen Friend Owen Lacey Friend (March 21, 1927 – October 14, 2007) was a Major League Baseball second baseman for five different teams between 1949 and 1956. Listed at 6'1, 180 lb., Friend batted and threw right-handed. Nicknamed "Red", he was born in ...

, SS Pumpsie Green, OF Gail Henley and IF/OF Joe Tuminelli, among others.

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 Venezuela Sport in Caracas 1959 in Caribbean sport 1959 in Venezuelan sport

20th century in Caracas