2006 Caribbean Series

The ILVIII 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).

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), Alex 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 William 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.

coreboards

Game 1, February 2 at Maracay

Linescore|
Road=Dominican Republic|RoadAbr=DOM
R1=0|R2=0|R3=2|R4=0|R5=0|R6=1|R7=1|R8=0|R9=0|R10=0|R11=1|RR=5|RH=11|RE=1
Home=Puerto Rico|HomeAbr=PRI
H1=0|H2=0|H3=3|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=0|H10=0|H11=0|HR=4|HH=12|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Eddie Ramos (1-0)|LP=Federico Báez (0-1)|SV=Román Colón (1)
RoadHR=Pedro Valdéz (1)|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 2, February 2 at Valencia

Linescore|
Road=Venezuela|RoadAbr=VEN
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=3|R5=1|R6=0|R7=4|R8=2|R9=7|RR=17|RH=21|RE=2
Home=Mexico|HomeAbr=MEX
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=1|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|HR= 1|HH= 4|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Geremi González (1-0)|LP=Pablo Ortega (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=Ramón Hernández (1), Alex Cabrera (1)|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 3, February 3 at Valencia

Linescore|
Road=Dominican Republic|RoadAbr=DOM
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=6|R5=0|R6=0|R7=2|R8=0|R9=2|RR=10|RH=11|RE=2
Home=Mexico|HomeAbr=MEX
H1=0|H2=0|H3=4|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=2|H9=0|HR= 6|HH=11|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Wilton Chávez (1-0)|LP=Francisco Campos (0-1)|SV=Jorge Sosa (1)
RoadHR=Miguel Tejada (1) |HomeHR=Edgar González 2 (2)|

Game 4, February 3 at Maracay

Linescore|
Road=Venezuela|RoadAbr=VEN
R1=0|R2=6|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=6|RH=11|RE=0
Home=Puerto Rico|HomeAbr=PRI
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|HR=1|HH=10|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Orlando Trías (1-0)|LP=Jim Magrane (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=Marco Scutaro (1)|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 5, February 4 at Valencia

Linescore|
Road=Puerto Rico|RoadAbr=PRI
R1=0|R2=4|R3=1|R4=1|R5=1|R6=0|R7=2|R8=0|R9=1|RR=10|RH=14|RE=2
Home=Mexico|HomeAbr=MEX
H1=1|H2=0|H3=5|H4=0|H5=1|H6=0|H7=2|H8=0|H9=0|HR= 9|HH=18|HE=3
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Iván Maldonado (1-0)|LP=José Luis García (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=Luis Figueroa (1), Edwards Guzmán (1), Víctor Rodríguez (1)|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 6, February 4 at Valencia

Linescore|
Road=Venezuela|RoadAbr=VEN
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=1|R6=1|R7=5|R8=4|R9=0|RR=11|RH=15|RE=0
Home=Dominican Republic|HomeAbr=DOM
H1=2|H2=1|H3=1|H4=1|H5=1|H6=1|H7=1|H8=1|H9=0|HR= 9|HH=15|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Juan Ovalles (1-0)|LP=Román Colón (0-1)|SV=Francisco Rodríguez (1)
RoadHR=Henry Blanco (1), Alex Cabrera (2), Alex González (1)|HomeHR= |

Game 7, February 5 at Maracay

Linescore|
Road=Puerto Rico|RoadAbr=PRI
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=2|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=2|RH=6|RE=2
Home=Dominican Republic|HomeAbr=DOM
H1=0|H2=2|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=6|H8=0|H9=x|HR=9|HH=9|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Danny Tamayo (1-0)|LP=Josué Matos (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 8, February 5 at Maracay

Linescore|
Road=Mexico|RoadAbr=MEX
R1=0|R2=1|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=2|R10=0|RR=3|RH=6|RE=0
Home=Venezuela|HomeAbr=VEN
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=1|H6=1|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|H10=1|HR=4|HH=9|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Mauro Zárate (1-0)|LP=Ignacio Flores (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=Ramón Hernández (2)|

Game 9, February 6 at Maracay

Linescore|
Road=Dominican Republic|RoadAbr=DOM
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=2|R7=0|R8=1|R9=0|RR=3|RH=11|RE=1
Home=Mexico|HomeAbr=MEX
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=1|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|HR=1|HH= 3|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Daniel Cabrera (1-0)|LP=Walter Silva (0-1)|SV=Jorge Sosa (2)
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 10, February 6 at Valencia

Linescore|
Road=Puerto Rico|RoadAbr=PRI
R1=1|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=1|RH=2|RE=4
Home=Venezuela|HomeAbr=VEN
H1=0|H2=0|H3=1|H4=0|H5=0|H6=1|H7=2|H8=1|H9=x|HR=5|HH=9|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Albert Vargas (1-0)|LP=William Collazo (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=Rubén Gotay (1) |HomeHR=Rafael Alvarez (1)|

Game 11, February 7 at Valencia

Linescore|
Road=Mexico|RoadAbr=MEX
R1=0|R2=0|R3=1|R4=0|R5=0|R6=1|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|R10=0|R11=0|RR=2|RH= 3|RE=0
Home=Puerto Rico|HomeAbr=PRI
H1=1|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=0|H10=0|H11=1|HR=3|HH=12|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Orlando Román (1-0)|LP=José Luis García (0-2)|SV=
RoadHR=Trenidad Hubbard (1)|HomeHR=José Valentín (1)|

Game 12, February 7 at Maracay

Linescore|
Road=Dominican Republic|RoadAbr=DOM
R1=2|R2=0|R3=0|R4=1|R5=0|R6=0|R7=1|R8=0|R9=0|RR=4|RH=7|RE=1
Home=Venezuela|HomeAbr=VEN
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=2|H7=0|H8=0|H9=2|HR=5|HH=8|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Víctor Moreno (1-0)|LP=Jorge Sosa (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=Sandy Martínez (1)|HomeHR=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 WORDLD SERIES, 2006!"Fox Sports en Español narrator on the final out.

ee also

*Ballplayers who have played in the Series

ources

*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

* [http://www.ebeisbol.com Official site]
* [http://latinobaseball.com/cws-history.php Latino Baseball]
* [http://www.juanperez.com/baseball/series.htm Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish)]