Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

Infobox sports league
logo=
pixels=142px
caption="Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional
sport=Baseball
founded=1945
teams=8
country=VEN
champion=Tigres de Aragua
website= [http://www.lvbp.com/ lvbp.com]

The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or "Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional" (LVBP) is the highest level baseball league in Venezuela.

The league houses eight teams in one single division which play 63 games from October to December in the elimination (opening) round. The top five teams move on to the 16 game round robin semifinals in January. The top two teams from the semifinals advance to a best of 7 series in a 2-3-2 homefield format at the end of January. The Venezuelan champion moves on to the Caribbean Series to face the champions of the baseball leagues of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Venezuela has won the CWS six times, most recently in 2006 by the Leones del Caracas (Caracas Lions), after having won the LVBP title during the 2005-06 LVBP season.

LVBP is affiliated with United States Minor League Baseball, and acts as one of its winter leagues.

Brief History

Baseball exploded in Venezuela in 1941, following the world-wide championships in Havana.

On December 27, 1945, the owners of the Caracas Brewers (present day Caracas Lions or Leones del Caracas), Vargas, the Magallanes Navigators (Navegantes del Magallanes), and Venezuela created the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

On January 12, 1946, the first champion was crowned.

In 1962, the La Guaira Sharks (Tiburones de La Guaira) are brought into the league to replace Pampero.

In 1964, the league added two more teams, the Lara Cardinals (Cardenales de Lara) and the Aragua Tigers (Tigres de Aragua).

In 1969, the Zulia Eagles (Águilas del Zulia) are brought into the league to replace the Valencia Industrymen (Industriales de Valencia); the original Venezuela team.

In 1991, the league expanded to 8 teams from 6, with the additions of the Eastern Caribbeans (Caribes de Oriente) who are now the Anzoátegui Caribbeans or (Caribes de Anzoátegui); and the Cabimas Oil Tankers, who became the Llanos Shepherds (Pastora de los Llanos) and since the 2007/08 season are the Margarita Braves (Bravos de Margarita).

For the 2007-2008 seasons, the West Division (Division Occidental) and the East Division (Division Oriental) were merged in one single division of 8 teams. Each team plays 9 games against the other 7 teams, for a total of 63 games.

In recent years, Tigres de Aragua has become the most dominant team of the league, winning the crown 4 times in 5 years.

Current Teams

*Caribes de Anzoátegui (Puerto La Cruz)
*Leones del Caracas (Caracas)
*Tiburones de la Guaira (Caracas)
*Navegantes del Magallanes (Valencia)
*Tigres de Aragua (Maracay)
*Cardenales de Lara (Barquisimeto)
*Bravos de Margarita (Porlamar)
*Águilas del Zulia (Maracaibo)

All Star Game

The league has scheduled All Star Games in early December of each year, sometime featuring criollos (Venezuelan) vs importados (foreigners) or West Division vs East Division.

Past Champions

ee also

*
*Players from Venezuela in MLB

External links

* [http://www.lvbp.com/ Official League Website]

* [http://www.aguilas.com/ Aguilas del Zulia]
* [http://www.cardenalesdelara.com/cardenales/index.php Cardenales de Lara]
* [http://www.bravosdemargarita.com/ Bravos de Margarita]
* [http://www.tigresdearagua.net/ Tigres de Aragua]
* [http://www.caribesbbc.com.ve/ Caribes de Anzoategui]
* [http://www.leones.com/ Leones de Caracas]
* [http://www.magallanesbbc.com.ve/ Navegantes del Magallanes]
* [http://www.tiburonesdelaguaira.com.ve/ Tiburones de la Guaira]