The Colombian Professional Baseball League ( 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

league based in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

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

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

offseason. In the past, the league's champion has taken part in 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 ...

, and currently qualifies to the Serie de las Américas.

History

The history of Colombian

is commonly divided into three eras: from 1948 to 1958, from 1979 to 1988, and from 1993 to the present. Professional baseball in Colombia has its origins in 1948, when two foreign teams — the

Havana Sugar Kings The Havana Sugar Kings () were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class Triple-A (baseball), AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cinci ...

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 following ...

, 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. The first era of Colombian professional baseball continued until the 1957–58 season, when a national currency devaluation forced it to cease operations. Attempts to organize a new league in 1958 failed to materialize, despite fan interest. The professional league was revived in the late 1970s, and played host to some future major league stars including Cecil Fielder, Howard Johnson, and Jesse Barfield. However,

withdrew its support after the 1984 season, concerned about rising violence from the

illegal drug trade in Colombia The illegal drug trade in Colombia has, since the 1970s, centered successively on four major drug trafficking cartels: Medellín, Cali, Norte del Valle, and North Coast, as well as several ''bandas criminales'', or BACRIMs. The trade eventuall ...

. The Colombian league returned to operation in 1993 on a semi-pro basis, known as the Copa Kola Román- Davivienda, with seven brand-new teams from different

departments of Colombia Colombia is a unitary state, unitary republic made up of thirty-two administrative divisions referred to as departments (Spanish language, Spanish: ''departamentos'', sing. ) and one Capital District (''Capital districts and territories, Distri ...

. In 1994, it returned to a fully professional format, with Caimanes, Vaqueros, and Rancheros returning from the previous era as well as a new team, Tigres, based in Cartagena. 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 Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

, 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 Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. Additionally, the Toros moved from

Sincelejo Sincelejo () is the capital and largest city of the Colombian department of Sucre in the Caribbean region. It is also the capital of the department's subregion, ''Sabanas'', and is the 25th largest city by population of the country.http://www ...

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

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 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

edition (replacing the

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

, 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 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. 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, founded in 1933 as an amateur team, had petitioned to join the league for over a year, but their entrance was delayed by COVID-19. However, before the start of the season, the league announced that both Getsemaní and Gigantes would not play due to financial difficulties; instead, Toros returned after a two-year absence, keeping the league at four teams. In 2023, the league announced that Leones and Gigantes would return for the 2023–24 season, bringing the number of teams back to six.

Teams and stadiums

Five teams from the country's Caribbean region compete in the league.

Former teams

* Gigantes de Barranquilla (2019–2022) * Potros de Medellín (2010–2011) * Águilas de Bogotá (2010–2011) * Willard de Barranquilla (1953–1983) * Vanytor de Barranquilla (1953–1958) * Torices de Cartagena (1948–1988) *

Indios de Cartagena Indios de Cartagena (''Cartagena Indians'') were a baseball team active in the Colombian Professional Baseball League. Founded in the league's inaugural 1948 season by Juan González Cornet, the team was one of the most successful in Colombian b ...

(1948–2017)

League structure

The league is organized by the Colombian Professional Baseball Division (Diprobéisbol), under the auspices of the Colombian Baseball Federation. 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. The league was previously owned by the Renteria Foundation, an organization run by former

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

Édgar Rentería. Its president was Édinson Rentería (brother of Édgar), whose management of the league was controversial. Rentería was eventually replaced as the league's administrator by Pedro Salcedo Salom, causing a dispute that has been cited as an issue preventing Colombia's entry to the CPBC. Players such as former

shortstop Orlando Cabrera have owned teams.

International competition

In 2004, the Colombian Professional Baseball League was provisionally accepted into the

Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation The Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (), or CPBC, is the body responsible for organizing the Caribbean Series, an annual club baseball tournament contested by the winter league baseball champions of the Caribbean and Latin American re ...

(CPBC). However, the league was not allowed to participate in the

until the level of play and the quality of baseball facilities improved. LPB first participated in the Caribbean Series in

, and appeared in four editions of the tournament until

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. In the 2022 Caribbean Series, Caimanes became the first Colombian team to win the championship, defeating the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

's Gigantes del Cibao. Despite this victory, controversy ensued when the Colombian league was again denied full membership into the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CPBC). On April 22, 2023, it was announced that LPB would not participate in the 2024 Caribbean Series; it was dropped from the tournament along with Cuba's Elite League and Panama's PROBEIS league. The Colombian Baseball Federation said that the league refused to pay a $200,000 participation fee to enter as a guest, alleging that it had previously been promised full membership into the CPBC. Instead, the league champion was slated to participate in a new Intercontinental Series organized by the Team Rentería Foundation, to take place in Barranquilla in January 2024; however, that tournament was ultimately canceled

Champions

Championships by team

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Professional Baseball Latin American baseball leagues Baseball competitions in Colombia Winter baseball leagues Baseball leagues in South America