1986 Caribbean Series

The XXVIII edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1986. It was held from February 4 through February 9 with the champions teams from the Dominican Republic, Águilas Cibaeñas; Mexico, Águilas de Mexicali; Puerto Rico, Indios de Mayagüez, and Venezuela, Tiburones de la Guaira. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio Luis Aparicio El Grande in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Summary

Ten years after their first Caribbean Series title, the Mexican club won again under the guide of veteran Cananea Reyes. Mexicali made history by winning three of four games in its last at-bat, two of them against the Dominican Republic.

Mexico was shut out twice in its first three games, but after four contests all four teams were tied at 2–2 for the first time in Series history. Mexicali finished strong and defeated the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to win the title, after host Venezuela was stopped by the Dominicans in the final contest of the tournament. Venezuela had crushed Mexico, 11–0, in their first confrontation, but the Mexicans took revenge in their second matchup with a 14–0 thumping. The other three victories of Mexicali were by one run difference.

Pitchers Jim Leopold and Jaime Orozco took two victories apiece, while the offense support came from C Francisco Estrada, SS Houston Jiménez and CF John Kruk. The inspired Mexican club also included DH Nelson Barrera, 1B Lorenzo Bundy, RF Roy Johnson, 2B Juan Navarrete, and Ps Salomé Barojas and Sid Monge, among others. In addition, Cananea Reyes joined Cuban skipper Nap Reyes as the only managers to win two Series titles.

The clubs from Dominican Republic and Venezuela tied for second place with a 3–3 record.

The Dominican's Águilas, managed by Winston Llenas, were a favorite to grasp the Series trophy, as the team was headed by players as C Tony Peña, 2B Juan Samuel, 3B Domingo Ramos, SS Alfredo Griffin, LF Miguel Diloné, 1B Rufino Linares and CF Luis Polonia. The Águilas outscored their rivals, 36 to 30, but also topped the tournament with 15 errors. Eric Plunk, who posted a 1-0 record and a 3.21 ERA in two starts, was a bright spot in a pitching staff that included José Bautista, Ravelo Manzanillo, Pascual Pérez and Bob Patterson.

The Venezuelan Tiburones, managed by José Martínez, wasted home field advantage and was the only team outscored, 34 to 27. 1B Andrés Galarraga hit .407 and slugged .703, driving in five runs while leading the batters in home runs (2) and doubles (2). RF Tony Armas batted .300 with one homer and three RBI, and was very solid at defense. Starters Ubaldo Heredia (1-0, 0.00 ERA), Bryan Clark (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and Odell Jones (1-0, 3.60 ERA) combined for the three victories of the team, receiving some strong bullpen support from Luis Aponte (two saves, 0.00, 5.0 IP), Wilfredo Flores (0.00, 6⅔ IP) and Luis Sánchez (1.00 ERA, 3.0 IP). Other players in the roster included P Bill Mooneyham, C Tobias Hernández, and IFs Carlos Martínez, Gustavo Polidor, Al Pedrique and Argenis Salazar.

Mayagüez of Puerto Rico was managed by Nick Leyva and finished last with a 2–4 record. The team scored a second-best 31 runs, but lost two one-run games. 3B Randy Ready went 14-for-30 and captured both the batting title (.467) and the RBI lead (7), winning Series Most Valuable Player honors. His 14 hits tied a tournament record, which was set by Pedro Formental in the 1953 Series. Another highlight came from Luis DeLeón, who hurled a two-hit, complete game shutout against the eventual champions. Among the other roster members were Ps Luis Aquino, Edwin Correa, Bill Earley, José Guzmán, Jesús Hernáiz, Dale Mohorcic, Ray Searage and Candy Sierra; C Angel Rodríguez; DH Luis Quiñones; IFs Wally Joyner, Willie Lozado, Al Newman and José Oquendo, as well as OFs Bobby Bonilla, John Cangelosi and Henry Cotto.

Final standings

Country	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB	Managers
Mexico	Águilas de Mexicali	4	2	.667	–	Cananea Reyes
Dominican Republic	Águilas Cibaeñas	3	3	.500	1.0	Winston Llenas
Venezuela	Tiburones de la Guaira	3	3	.500	1.0	José Martínez
Puerto Rico	Indios de Mayagüez	2	4	.333	–	Nick Leyva

Scoreboards

Game 1, February 4

Game 2, February 4

Game 3, February 5

Game 4, February 5

Game 5, February 6

Game 6, February 6

Game 7, February 7

Game 8, February 7

Game 9, February 8

Game 10, February 8

Game 11, February 9

Game 12, February 9

Sources

• Antero Núñez, José (1987). Series del Caribe. Jefferson, Caracas, Venezuela. Impresos Urbina, C.A.
• Gutiérrez, Daniel (2007). Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela – 1895-2006 . Caracas, Venezuela. Impresión Arte, C.A.
• EspnDeportes.com – Campeones de México en Series del Caribe