Leones del Caracas
The Leones del Caracas are a Venezuelan baseball team that currently plays in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In the 2015-16 season, they became the club with the highest average home attendance in the league, with an average of 10,845. The next season, the average attendance was 6,539.
History
Cervecería Caracas was founded in 1942, after Cervecería Princesa, an early team, was bought and transformed into Caracas. At first, the team played its home games at the old Estadio Cerveza Caracas, which was located in the capital city of Caracas. The team was founded by Martín Tovar Lange and managed by big leaguer Alejandro Carrasquel.
The Princesa team played its last game on May 7, 1942. Then, Caracas debuted four days later with a 7–3 victory over the Criollos. The game was played in Puerto Cabello, a city on the north coast of Venezuela. Caracas faced its later nemesis, the Navegantes del Magallanes for the first time on December 27 of that year, winning this now historic game by a 3–0 score.
In its first stage, the team won two championship titles before moving to the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in January 1946.
Since its inception, the Caracas team was characterized by having only Venezuelan players on their roster. The club changed its policy in 1950, after signing catcher Lester Fusselman and outfielder Maurice Mozzali, two St. Louis Cardinals prospects.
In 1952, the franchise was bought by the publicist and sport commentator Pablo Morales and christened Leones del Caracas as a new franchise. Since then, the team plays its home games at the Estadio Universitario in Caracas. Later, businessman Oscar Prieto Ortiz joined Morales as a legal partner.
Pete Rose was benched after a slump late in the 1964 MLB season, finishing with a.269 average, but continued to play winter ball in Venezuela with the Leones del Caracas team during the 1964–1965 season to improve his batting.
By 2001, the descendants of Morales and Prieto sold their shares to the Grupo Cisneros, giving it majority control of the team.
Through 2013, the Caracas team has won 20 championship titles, more than any other team in Venezuelan Professional Baseball League history.
Ballpark
The Estadio Universitario is a multi-use stadium located in Caracas, Venezuela. The stadium holds 22,690 people and was built in 1952.This stadium forms part of the Central University of Venezuela campus and was designed by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva. It is considered a masterpiece of urban planning and was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2000.
Championship titles/Managers
- 1947-1948: Jose A. Casanova*
- 1948-1949: Jose A. Casanova*
- 1951-1952: Jose A. Casanova*
- 1952–1953: Martín Dihigo Vs Magallanes
- 1956–1957: Clay Bryant Vs Industriales de Valencia
- 1961–1962: Regino Otero Vs Indios de Oriente
- 1963–1964: Regino Otero Vs Industriales de Valencia
- 1966–1967: Regino Otero Vs Tiburones de La Guaira
- 1967–1968: Regino Otero Vs Tigres de Aragua
- 1972–1973: Oswaldo Virgil Vs Águilas del Zulia
- 1977–1978: Felipe Rojas Alou Vs Águilas del Zulia
- 1979–1980: Felipe Rojas Alou Vs Cardenales de Lara
- 1980–1981: Alfonso Carrasquel Vs Cardenales de Lara
- 1981–1982: Alfonso Carrasquel Vs Cardenales de Lara
- 1986–1987: Bill Plummer Vs Tiburones de La Guaira
- 1987–1988: Bill Robinson Vs Tigres de Aragua
- 1989–1990: Phil Regan Vs Cardenales de Lara
- 1994–1995: Pompeyo Davalillo Vs Águilas del Zulia
- 2005–2006: Carlos Subero Vs Tigres de Aragua
- 2009–2010: Dave Hudgens Vs Navegantes del Magallanes
Caribbean World Series titles
On February 9, 1982, the Leones earned Venezuela's third Caribbean World Series and the franchise's first, by defeating Dominican Republics's Leones del Escogido with a 3-1 score. The Leones ended the series with a record of 5 wins and 1 defeat. The Venezuelan team, with Alfonso Carrasquel at the helm, gained the championship title with a 5-1 record. Leones was led by catcher and Series MVP Baudilio Díaz, CF Tony Armas and LF Luis Salazar. The pitching staff was led by Luis Leal, who posted a 2-0 record with a 2.08 ERA and 10 strikeouts and a in 13.0 innings of work. Behind him were Bud Black, Dennis Burtt and Tom Dixon. Venezuela also featured 2B Steve Sax, SS Ron Gardenhire, 1B Danny Garcia, 3B Leonardo Hernández, pinch-hitter Andrés Galarraga and pitcher Joe Cowley, among others.On February 7, 2006, the Leones earned Venezuela's first Caribbean World Series title in 16 years, by defeating the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Republic with a 5-4 score in the last game; this left the Leones with a record of six wins and no defeats at the 2006 Caribbean Series, ahead of Licey's four wins and two defeats record. With the victory, the Leones won Venezuela's sixth Caribbean Series title, and the franchise's second after the 1982 Caribbean Series. This also marked the first time a Venezuelan team sweeps the Caribbean Series, a feat previously accomplished only by teams from Cuba, from Puerto Rico and from the Dominican Republic.
Retired uniform numbers
| 23 Omar Vizquel SS Retired 2008 | 41 Andrés Galarraga 1B Retired 2008 |