Puerto Rico national baseball team

Puerto Rico national baseball team
Country  Puerto Rico
Federation Federación de Béisbol Aficionado de Puerto Rico
Confederation COPABE
Manager Eduardo Pérez (IBAF)
José Oquendo (WBC)
IBAF World Rank 10th
Uniforms

Home

Away
World Baseball Classic
Appearances 2 (First in 2006)
Best result 5th Place (2006 2009)
Olympic Games
Appearances 2 (First in 1988)
Best result 3rd Place (1988)
World Cup
Appearances 26 (First in 1940)
Best result 1st Place (1951)
Intercontinental Cup
Appearances 6 (First in 1973)
Best result 2nd Place (1973)
Pan American Games
Appearances 9 (First in 1959)
Best result 2nd Place (1959)

The Puerto Rico National Baseball Team (Puerto Rico National Baseball Selection or Puerto Rican National Baseball Selection) is a team that is selected by the Puerto Rican Baseball Federation to compete in major international events in representation of Puerto Rico. The team is usually ensembled with thirty players from the Professional Baseball League of Puerto Rico and Major League Baseball.

The team has participated in many international competitions, such as the Caribbean World Series, the Central American and Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games, the World Baseball Classic and others. They are currently the 10th ranked baseball team in the world.[1]

Contents

History

2008-present

Puerto Rico began this Olympic cycle participating in the 2008 America Baseball Cup. The team debuted on September 26, 2008, defeating Mexico 2:1, this game was won by Josué Matos.[2] Puerto Rico concluded the tournament's first round undefeated, with victories over Brazil (6:3), Aruba (7:0) and Guatemala (8:0).[3] In the first two games, Andy González scored four doubles and Carlos Rivera hit his second home run of the round. In the game against Aruba, Orlando Román threw a perfect game over seven innings.[4] In the second round, Puerto Rico defeated Panama (9:4) to qualify for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.[5] On the second date, the team lost their only game of the tournament to Venezuela (5:4). In the next game, the team defeated Netherlands Antilles by ten runs (14:4).[6] Puerto Rico won the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup on October 5, 2008, defeating Nicaragua in the final.

For the Baseball World Cup, Puerto Rico, once again led by Eduardo Pérez, created a rosted compossed of mostly professional players, including several Major League Baseball athletes. The final cut included infielders Alex Cintrón, Rubén Gotay, Melvin Falú, Carlos Rivera and Angel Sánchez; catchers Orlando Mercado Jr., Stephen Morales and Raúl Casanova; pitchers Luis Atilano, Mario Santiago, José Santiago, Orlando Román, Juan Padilla, Angel García, Richard Rodríguez, Miguel Mejía, Alexander Woodson, Nelvin Fuentes, Melvin Pizarro and Efraín Nieves as well as outfielders Miguel Negrón, Luis Matos y Miguel Abreu. José Valentín was selected to perform as both infielder and outfielder. Javier Valentín and Juan González were evaluated, but excluded from the final cut due to previous injuries.[7] The fact that most of the roster was professional received some criticism from the amateur circuit. Journalist Duldin Meléndez of Periodico La Cordillera wrote in a piece that "[Pérez] is not familiar with the [amateur] players and has not even seen them play" expressing a similar concern about the Federation's president, Israel Roldán. Juan Carlos Díaz, infielder of the Bravos de Cidra in Béisbol AA, openly expressed disappointment when he did not receive an invitation, noting that he deserved it after leading the Liga Caribe division with an average of .632 and the league's final in offensive.[8] Making its debut on September 10, 2009, Puerto Rico’s first opponent is Cuba.

For the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, the number of players per roster was limited to 20.[9] Consequently, players such as Juan González and José Valentín were not included in the final cut.[9] Carlos Delgado was included in the preliminary list, but was unable to compete due to injury. The team was mostly composed of profesional players such as Víctor Raúl González, Orlando Mercado, Jorge Jiménez, Philip Cuadrado, Adrián Ortiz, Efraín Nieves, Ricard Rodríguez Nick Ortiz, Armando Ríos, Christopher Amador, Edwards Guzmán and Mario Santiago, but also included three amateurs, Antonio Acevedo, Joycet Feliciano and Manuel Romero.[9][10] Amateur pitcher Jean Ortega was a last minute addition due to an injury suffered by Acevedo.[11] Puerto Rico debuted with a victory over Guatemala in seven innings. The following night the team recorded its second victory, 3:2, over Venezuela, in a game that extended to one extra inning.[12] Efraín Nieves debuted with a shutout victory over Panama, allowing only one hit.[13] Puerto Rico was the leader in its group, closing the first round with a 6:0 victory over the United States Virgin Islands.

For the 2010 America Baseball Cup, Eduardo Pérez assembled an entirely different roster. Several players from the Minor Leagues who were unable to compete at the Central American and Caribbean Games, because this event was not sanctioned by the IBAF, now joined the pre-selection. Only few players, such as Irving Falú were kept from the CAC team. The most notable addition was González, who was joined by Fernando Cabrera, Kiko Calero, Federico Báez, Saúl Rivera, Ramón Vázquez, Gabriel (Gaby) Martinez, Luis Figueroa, Jorge Padilla, Alex Cora and Christian Colón. Puerto Rico was drafted to Group A, along Argentina, Aruba, Canada, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Caribbean Series

In 1995, the Senadores de San Juan managed by Luis "Torito" Meléndez, assembled one of the strongest teams in the history of the Caribbean Series.[14] The group, which was dubbed "Dream Team", featured Major League Baseball players in most positions, counting with a lineup that included Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Bernie Williams, Juan González, Edgar Martínez, Carlos Delgado, Rubén Sierra, Rey Sánchez and Carmelo Martínez.[14] Puerto Rico's offensive dominated the tournament, eventually winning the Caribbean Series' championship with an undefeated record of 6–0.[14] The team was responsible for the only two losses of the Dominican Republic, the country that finished second, scoring victories against Pedro Martínez and José Rijo in the third and sixth games respectively.[14]

World Baseball Classic

Puerto Rico competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, hosting the games of Pool D at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Juan. Puerto Rico secured advancement into Round 2 with wins over Panama and the Netherlands, but were eliminated by the USA.

Puerto Rico women's national baseball team

In November 2009, the Puerto Rico women's national baseball team made its international debut, participating in the first edition of the Women’s Pan American Baseball Cup, which was classificatory to the 2010 Women's Baseball World Cup. In its first game, the team defeated Venezuela with scores of 6:3.[15] Puerto Rico scored five runs in the first inning and one in the seventh, while Vezuela scored 1 in the first, second and fourth innings. The game was won by Johana Ramos.[16] In its second game, the team defeated Cuba 7:5. Cuba scored first with two runs in the first and one in the third, but Puerto Rico took the lead by scoring twice in the third and added two more runs in the fifth, in the seventh inning Puerto Rico scored three times and Cuba two. The game was won by Krizia Rivera, who only had fifteen years, while Elizabeth Santana registered a saved game.[17] For the team, Lisandra batted 3-2 with an RBI, Coralys Ortíz 4-2 and Yariam Rivera with an RBI. In the third date, the team participated in a double-header. In the first game Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic by mercy rule, 10:0. With this victory the team advanced to the finals, classifying to the World Cup. In the second game of the date, they defeated Cuba in a rematch 3:1.[18] After four games, Puerto Rico dominated the statistics in batting average (.347), earned run average (2.24) ans defensive percent (.950). In individual fields, first baseman Berríos, who was twenty years old, led in hits (6), RBIs (5), runs (7) and stolen bases (3) and was second in batting average (.500).[19] In their fifth game, Puerto Rico defeated the Dominican Republic by mercy rule in the third inning, 20:0. The game was won by Ariana Vélez.[20] The team concluded their first participation by winning the silver medal, only losing to Venezuela in the finals. In 2010, the team won the V Cuban Sports Olympics, defeating the Occidentales de Cuba seven runs to one in the final.[21] Yinoska Claudio was selected the tournament's Most Valuable Player, also finishing second in batting average (.571). The team compiled a record of 4-1, only losing to Centrales de Cuba.[21]

Tournament placings

World Baseball Classic record

Olympic record

Baseball World Cup record

Americas Baseball Cup

Pan American Games record

Intercontinental Cup record

Central American and Caribbean record

Caribbean Series record

World University Baseball Championship record

1992 Haarlemse Honkbalweek

See also

References

Puerto Rico portal
Baseball portal
  1. ^ "IBAF World Rankings" (PDF). International Baseball Federation. 2 June 2010. http://www.ibaf.org/attachment-show.aspx?eid=26012717-93e5-47d7-ae45-88a89536ec6f&etype=d. Retrieved 5 October 2010. 
  2. ^ "Puerto Rico vence a México en premundial de béisbol" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-09-27. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/beisbol/acciondeportiva/puerto_rico_vence_a_mexico_en_premundial_de_beisbol/233732. Retrieved 2008-09-29. 
  3. ^ "Invicto Puerto Rico en premundial de béisbol" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-10-01. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/beisbol/acciondeportiva/invicto_puerto_rico_en_premundial_de_beisbol/234649. Retrieved 2008-10-01. 
  4. ^ "Boricuas avanzan con un "no-hitter"" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-09-30. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/beisbol/accion_deportiva/boricuas_avanzan_con_un_no-hitter/234217. Retrieved 2008-10-01. 
  5. ^ "Puerto Rico asegura una plaza a la Copa Mundial" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-10-04. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/beisbol/accion_deportiva/puerto_rico_asegura_una_plaza_a_la_copa_mundial/236005. Retrieved 2008-10-05. 
  6. ^ "A las puertas del triunfo Puerto Rico en el premundial" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2008-10-05. http://www.primerahora.com/noticia/beisbol/acciondeportiva/a_las_puertas_del_triunfo_puerto_rico_en_el_premundial/236116. 
  7. ^ "Puerto Rico anuncia su equipo al mundial de béisbol" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Herald. 2009-09-01. http://www.elnuevoherald.com/deportes/beisbol/story/532046.html. Retrieved 2009-09-05. 
  8. ^ Duldin Meléndez (2009-09-03) (in Spanish). Juan Carlos Díaz sin esperanza de ser nacional. Periodico La Cordillera. pp. 27. 
  9. ^ a b c Alex Figueroa Cancel (2010-07-13). "META: Mayagüez 2010" (in Spanish). Equipo Nacional de Béisbol quiere el oro. Primera Hora. 
  10. ^ Carlos Rosa Rosa (2010-07-16). "META: Mayagüez 2010" (in Spanish). Felices de jugar entre profesionales. Primera Hora. 
  11. ^ Carlos Narváez (2010-07-19). "Deportes: Mayagüez 2010" (in Spanish). ¡Play Ball! en el ‘Cholo’. El Vocero. 
  12. ^ Carlos González. "META: Mayagüez 2010" (in Spanish). Dramática victoria en el béisbol. Primera Hora. 
  13. ^ Carlos González (2010-07-23). "META: Mayagüez 2010" (in Spanish). Otra joya monticular. El Nuevo Día. 
  14. ^ a b c d "Dream Teams en la Serie del Caribe" (in Sanish). ESPN Deportes. 2006-01-31. http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/print?id=403752&type=story. Retrieved 2009-02-04. 
  15. ^ "Histórica victoria para el béisbol femenino" (in Spanish). El Vocero. 2009-11-16. http://vocero.com/noticia-34760-histrica_victoria_para_el_bisbol_femenino.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  16. ^ Ramón Luis Vázquez (2009-11-16). "Historica Victoria De Puerto Rico Sobre Venezuela En El Baseball Femenino Internacional" (in Spanish). Noticiasillescanos.com. http://sportprnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1919:victoria-de-puerto-rico-sobre-venezuela-en-el-baseball-femenino-internacional-&catid=139:titulares. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  17. ^ "Puerto Rico derrota a Cuba y obtiene segunda victoria en panamericano" (in Spanish). Tuislainforma.com. 2009-11-17. http://www.tuislainforma.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117:puerto-rico-derrota-a-cuba-y-obtiene-segunda-victoria-en-panamericano&catid=60:beisbol&Itemid=165. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  18. ^ "Puerto Rico gana doble jornada y lidera el I Panamericano" (in Spanish). Yahoo.com. 2009-11-18. http://es.eurosport.yahoo.com/18112009/21/puerto-rico-gana-doble-jornada-lidera-i-panamericano.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  19. ^ "Puerto Rico acapara lideratos en Panamericano de Béisbol Femenino" (in Spanish). TV Yumurí. http://www.tvyumuri.icrt.cu/index.php/deportivas/1076-puerto-rico-acapara-lideratos-en-panamericano-de-beisbol-femenino-.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  20. ^ "Puerto Rico clasifica al Mundial 2010 y va por el oro" (in Spanish). Primera Hora. 2009-11-20. http://www.primerahora.com/diario/noticia/beisbol/acciondeportiva/puerto_rico_clasifica_al_mundial_2010_y_va_por_el_oro/345416. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
  21. ^ a b Ramón Luis Vázquez (2010-05-25). "Peloteras boricuas consiguen el oro". El Nuevo Día. http://www.elnuevodia.com/peloterasboricuasconsigueneloro-711184.html. Retrieved 2010-07-09. 

External links

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Puerto Rico 1988 Olympics roster

Albert Bracero | Elliot Cianchini | Luis O. Davila | Jesus I. Feliciano | James C. Figueroa | Anthony Garcia | Efrain Garcia | Eddie Horrio | Jose Lorenzana | Victor L. Martinez | Roberto Mateo | Jose V. Melendez | Angel A. Morales | Jose Mateo | Benedicto Poupart | Angel A. Morales | Mariano Quinones | Luis Ramos | Jorge Robles | Abimael Rosario | Roberto Santana Wilfredo Velez
Puerto Rico 1992 Olympics roster

2 Abimael Rosario | 3 Albert Bracero | 4 Jorge Aranzamendi | 8 Jose Lorenzana | 11 Efrain Nieves | 12 Gualberto Lopez | 13 Luis Ramos | 15 Wilfredo Velez | 17 Manuel Serrano | 18 Angel Morales | 20 James Figueroa | 22 Rafael Santiago | 23 Jesus I. Feliciano | 25 Jose Mateo | 26 Roberto Lopez | 27 Efrain García | 29 Orlando Lopez | 32 Nelson Rodriguez | 34 Jose Sepulveda | 37 Silvio Censale |

Manager Jose M. Carradero Muriel Coach Milton L. Crespo Morales Coach Jose Garcia Cruz Coach Otto Velez
Puerto Rico 2006 World Baseball Classic roster
Puerto Rico 2009 World Baseball Classic roster
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