2006 Caribbean Series

The XLVIII edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) baseball tournament was played in 2006 in the neighboring cities of Maracay and Valencia in Venezuela, making it the first one to be played in two different cities. It was held from February 2 through February 7 featuring the champions teams from Dominican Republic (Licey), Mexico (Mazatlán), Puerto Rico (Carolina) and Venezuela (Caracas). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio José Pérez Colmenares (Maracay) and Estadio José Bernardo Pérez (Valencia).

Contents

Summary

The Venezuela home team won its first Caribbean Series title since 1989 after a dramatic rally with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning led them to a perfect 6-0 finish. Managed by Carlos Subero, Venezuela outscored opponents 45 to 15 and the defense committed three errors. Triple Crown winner Ramón Hernández was named the CBWS Most Valuable Player after leading all teams with a .542 batting average (13-for-24), eight RBIs and tying Mexico's Edgar González with three home runs. Hernández also hit for the cycle in Game Two. Other notable contributions came from Alex Cabrera (.360, 2 HR, 7 RBIs), Álex González (.409, 1 HR, 7 RBIs), Marco Scutaro (.304, 7 runs, 5 RBIs, 2 HR, including a grand slam), Luis Rodríguez (.310, 3 doubles, 5 runs, 8 RBIs) and Franklin Gutiérrez (.364, 4 runs, 4 RBIs). Overall, the Venezuelan club hit .327 with nine home runs. Geremi González led all teams with one victory and a 1.20 ERA over 15 innings pitched. He struck out 12 batters and walked three. Overall, the team finished with a 2.62 ERA.

The Dominican Republic finished the series in second place with a 4-2 record. Both losses were to Venezuela. The team was managed by Rafael Landestoy and included players as Alexis Gómez, who led his teammates with a .500 BA (10-for-20), and Miguel Tejada (.273, 1 HR, 8 RBIs), Sandy Martínez (.300, 1 HR, 5 RBIs), Napoleón Calzado (.321) and Rafael Belliard (.304, 1 HR).

Puerto Rico was guided by Lino Rivera and finished third at 2-4, both its wins coming against Mexico. Other than starter Willie Collazo (0-1) and relievers Iván Maldonado and Orlando Román, the pitching staff resulted ineffective. The offense was led by Luis Figueroa (.364, 1 HR, 5 RBIs), Rubén Gotay (.368, 1 HR), Alex Cintrón (.308, 1 HR) and José Valentín (.269, 1 HR).

The defending champion Mexico did not win a game in the series. Managed by Juan José Pacho, it was the fifth time a Mexican team had been held winless in Caribbean Series history. Edgar González led the attack with a .524 BA (11-for-21) and three solo home runs. The team also incluyed veterans players as Trenidad Hubbard, Oscar Robles and Francisco Campos.

Final standings
Club W L W/L % GB
Leones del Caracas 6 0 1.000  --
Tigres de Licey 4 2   .667 2.0
Gigantes de Carolina 2 4   .333 4.0
Venados de Mazatlán 0 6   .000 6.0
Individual leaders
Player/Club Statistic
Ramón Hernández/VEN Batting average .542
Edgar González/MEX
Ramón Hernández/VEN
Home runs     3
Ramón Hernández/VEN Runs batted in     9
Marco Scutaro/VEN Runs     7
Ramón Hernández/VEN Hits   13
Ramón Hernández/VEN
Luis Rodríguez/VEN
Doubles     3
Five tied Triples     1
Manny Aybar/DOM Stolen bases     2
Twelve tied Wins     1
Geremi González/VEN Strikeouts   12
Geremi González/VEN Earned run average 1.20
Geremi González/VEN Innings pitched   15
Jorge Sosa/DOM Saves     2
Awards
Ramón Hernández/VEN Most Valuable Player
Carlos Subero/VEN Manager
All-Star Team
Name/Club Position
Sandy Martínez/DOM catcher
Ramón Hernández/VEN first baseman
Edgar González/MEX second baseman
Luis Rodríguez/VEN third baseman
Álex González/VEN shortstop
Napoleón Calzado/DOM left fielder
Alexis Gómez/DOM center fielder
Timo Pérez/DOM right fielder
Alex Cabrera/VEN designated hitter
Geremi González/VEN right-handed pitcher
Willie Collazo/PRI left-handed pitcher
Carlos Subero/VEN manager

Scoreboards

Game 1, February 2 at Maracay

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Dominican Republic 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 11 1
Puerto Rico 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 12 1
WP: Eddie Ramos (1-0)   LP: Federico Báez (0-1)   Sv: Román Colón (1)
Home runs:
DOM: Pedro Valdéz (1)
PRI: None

Game 2, February 2 at Valencia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 2 7 17 21 2
Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0   1   4 1
WP: Geremi González (1-0)   LP: Pablo Ortega (0-1)
Home runs:
VEN: Ramón Hernández (1), Alex Cabrera (1)
MEX: None
  • Note: In this game, Ramón Hernández became the first player to hit for the cycle in Series history.

Game 3, February 3 at Valencia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 0 2 10 11 2
Mexico 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 0   6 11 1
WP: Wilton Chávez (1-0)   LP: Francisco Campos (0-1)   Sv: Jorge Sosa (1)
Home runs:
DOM: Miguel Tejada (1)
MEX: Edgar González 2 (2)

Game 4, February 3 at Maracay

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 11 0
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 1
WP: Orlando Trías (1-0)   LP: Jim Magrane (0-1)
Home runs:
VEN: Marco Scutaro (1)
PRI: None

Game 5, February 4 at Valencia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 4 1 1 1 0 2 0 1 10 14 2
Mexico 1 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 0   9 18 3
WP: Iván Maldonado (1-0)   LP: José Luis García (0-1)
Home runs:
PRI: Luis Figueroa (1), Edwards Guzmán (1), Víctor Rodríguez (1)
MEX: None

Game 6, February 4 at Valencia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 4 0 11 15 0
Dominican Republic 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0   9 15 0
WP: Juan Ovalles (1-0)   LP: Román Colón (0-1)   Sv: Francisco Rodríguez (1)
Home runs:
VEN: Henry Blanco (1), Alex Cabrera (2), Álex González (1)
DOM: None

Game 7, February 5 at Maracay

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 6 2
Dominican Republic 0 2 0 1 0 0 6 0 x 9 9 1
WP: Danny Tamayo (1-0)   LP: Josué Matos (0-1)

Game 8, February 5 at Maracay

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Mexico 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 6 0
Venezuela 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 4 9 0
WP: Mauro Zárate (1-0)   LP: Ignacio Flores (0-1)
Home runs:
MEX: None
VEN: Ramón Hernández (2)

Game 9, February 6 at Maracay

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 11 1
Mexico 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1   3 1
WP: Daniel Cabrera (1-0)   LP: Walter Silva (0-1)   Sv: Jorge Sosa (2)

Game 10, February 6 at Valencia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4
Venezuela 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 x 5 9 0
WP: Albert Vargas (1-0)   LP: Willie Collazo (0-1)
Home runs:
PRI: Rubén Gotay (1)
VEN: Rafael Alvarez (1)

Game 11, February 7 at Valencia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Mexico 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2   3 0
Puerto Rico 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 12 1
WP: Orlando Román (1-0)   LP: José Luis García (0-2)
Home runs:
MEX: Trenidad Hubbard (1)
PRI: José Valentín (1)

Game 12, February 7 at Maracay

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dominican Republic 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 7 1
Venezuela 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 5 8 1
WP: Víctor Moreno (1-0)   LP: Jorge Sosa (0-1)
Home runs:
DOM: Sandy Martínez (1)
VEN: Ramón Hernández (3)

Quotes

  • "Up to the bag, hits a very high fly, comfortable, to short left field. Back is the short (stop). Bonds, comes down, comes forward. THE BALL DROPS! THE BALL DROPS! VENEZUELA IS GOING TO WIN! VENEZUELA IS GOING TO WIN! VENEZUELA IS GOING TO WIN!...AND VENEZUELA HAS WON THE CARIBBEAN SERIES, 2006!

Fox Sports en Español narrator on the final play.

   

See also

Sources

  • Antero Núñez, José. Series del Caribe. Jefferson, Caracas, Venezuela: Impresos Urbina, C.A., 1987.
  • Gutiérrez, Daniel. Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela – 1895-2006 . Caracas, Venezuela: Impresión Arte, C.A., 2007.

External links