Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation
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The Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (), or CPBC, is the body responsible for organizing 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 ...
, an annual club
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
tournament contested by the
winter league baseball Winter league baseball is baseball contested in sports leagues during what is generally considered the baseball off-season. Background Annually, the highest level of professional baseball competition, Major League Baseball (MLB), begins with spri ...
champions of the Caribbean and Latin American region. Four professional winter leagues are full members of the CPBC, and various others have been invited to participate in the tournament. It also administers the
Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame The Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame () was established in 1996 by Juan Francisco Puello Herrera, commissioner of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC). (Spanish) It honors the most prominent baseball players who have made signi ...
. The CPBC is an independent organization, not affiliated with the
World Baseball Softball Confederation The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international Sports governing body, governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, Baseball5 and Blind baseball. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseba ...
(WBSC), which is otherwise recognized as the authority for international baseball tournaments.


History

CBPC was formed in
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. This group would be joined shortly thereafter by Venezuela. At the time, the group considered expanding its membership to Nicaragua, Honduras, and Colombia, though this did not occur before the
first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
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 ...
was hosted in 1949. Its creation was sponsored by National Association president
George Trautman George M. "Red" Trautman (January 11, 1890 – June 25, 1963) was an American baseball executive and college men's basketball coach. Ohio State As an undergraduate at the Ohio State University, Trautman was a three-sport letterwinner in footba ...
, who ensured that the various winter leagues were affiliated with MLB-affiliated
Organized Baseball Organized baseball is an outdated term that collectively describes what is now known as Major League Baseball (MLB) and its various affiliated minor leagues, under the authority of the commissioner of baseball. Historically, these leagues were bo ...
. After the
Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...
was dissolved in the wake of the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
, the Caribbean Series was suspended, and the confederation went dormant. However, it was reorganized for the
1970 Caribbean Series After nine years of absence, the thirteenth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was revived in 1970 without the representing baseball clubs of Cuba and Panama. It was held in Caracas, Venezuela from February 5 to February 10 at ...
with three teams, the Dominican Republic replacing Cuba and Panama (whose professional league had also ceased operations).


Membership

The original
Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...
and the
Panamanian Professional Baseball League The Panamanian Professional Baseball League (, or LPBP), commonly known as Probeis, is a professional baseball winter league consisting of four teams based in Panama. Originally founded in 1946, the league has run in its current form since 2011. ...
were both founding members of the federation in 1948, but their membership lapsed when the Caribbean Series was suspended after 1960.


Controversies

The confederation has drawn controversy over the participation of non-CPBC members in the Caribbean Series. The
Latin American Series The Latin American Series (''Spanish: Serie Latinoamericana'') was an annual baseball competition contested by the champions of the professional baseball winter leagues in Latin America and the Caribbean. The tournament was organized by the Lat ...
was organized in large part due to the exclusion of Colombia, Panama, and other leagues from the Caribbean Series; Colombian league president
Édinson Rentería Édinson Rafael Rentería Herazo (born April 7, 1968) is a Colombian professional baseball executive and former player and manager. Originally signed by the Houston Astros organization, he played one season with the Brother Elephants of the Chine ...
said that the leagues were "tired of waiting for confirmation to play in the Caribbean Series." CPBC President Juan Francisco Puello Herrera said in 2013 the excluded leagues were "competitors" and were "burying their chance" to play in the Caribbean Series. After Colombia was not invited to the
2024 Caribbean Series The 2024 Caribbean Series was the 66th edition of the Caribbean Series club baseball tournament, played from February 1 to February 9, 2024, at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, United States. This was the first time since the 1991 series that t ...
in Miami, the Colombian Baseball Federation (FCB) claimed that the CPBC had requested a fee of $200,000 to enter the series, after Colombia had already paid a $100,000 fee with the expectation of joining the CPBC as a full member. FCB president Pedro Salzedo Salom accused the CPBC of selling invitations to the highest bidder. Salzedo also alleged that the regime of
Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...
offered $1 million to secure the participation of a Nicaraguan team in the 2024 tournament. Reportedly, CPBC organizers were unhappy with Cuba and Colombia's participation in the
2023 Baseball Champions League Americas The 2023 Baseball Champions League Americas was the first edition of the Baseball Champions League Americas, an international competition for baseball clubs organized by the WBSC Americas, part of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). ...
, a WBSC-sponsored club tournament. Commenting on the exclusion of Cuba from the 2024 tournament, CPBC President Puello Herrera acknowledged that commercial factors were taken into account, but denied that they were the main reasons. "Economic factors are essential, as is the sporting aspect, since good baseball will make this stadium fill up again like it did during the
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...
." The CPBC also saw backlash after it announced in June 2024 that the
2025 Caribbean Series The 2025 Caribbean Series was the 67th edition of the Caribbean Series club baseball tournament, scheduled from January 31 to February 7, 2025, at Estadio Nido de los Águilas in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. The series featured the winners ...
would include a team from Japan. Many commentators noted that the organization invited an Asian team while neglecting to invite other winter league champions from the Caribbean (including those of Cuba, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, and Curaçao). In response, the excluded countries announced the formation of the Americas Baseball Association (ABAM) on September 20, 2024, to organize a rival competition to the Caribbean Series (the " Serie de las Americas"); ABAM president David Salayandia said that its members were free to attend the Caribbean Series "if they receive an invitation," but added that "it will now be under different circumstances."


Commissioners

* Rafael Inclán (1948) * Rodrigo Otero Suro (1970–84, 1985–86) * Santiago Soler Favale (1987) * Horacio López Díaz (1987–91) * Juan Francisco Puello Herrera (1991–present)


See also

*
WBSC Americas WBSC Americas, formerly known as Pan American Baseball Confederation (COPABE, Spanish: ''Confederación Panamericana de Béisbol'', Portuguese: ''Confederação Pan-Americana de Beisebol''), is the governing body of baseball and softball within ...


References

{{Caribbean Series Baseball governing bodies Sports organizations established in 1949 Sports governing bodies in the Americas Baseball in the Americas