2007 Caribbean Series

The IXIL edition of the Caribbean Series ("Serie del Caribe") was played in 2007. It was held from February 2 through February 7 featuring the champions teams from Dominican Republic (Aguilas Cibaeñas), Mexico (Naranjeros de Hermosillo), Puerto Rico (Gigantes de Carolina) and Venezuela (Tigres de Aragua). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice, and the games were played at Roberto Clemente Stadium in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Dominican Republic clinched the Series with a 5-1 record and was managed by Félix Fermín, who became the first manager in series history to win three titles. In their only defeat, the Dominicans were shut out, by Puerto Rico, 1–0, on three hits. Series MVP Tony Batista led the team with three home runs and eight RBIs. Also helping out were Miguel Tejada (.304, one HR, five RBI) and Anderson Hernández (.310, six runs, two doubles). The offense led the tournament with 37 runs, while the pitching staff provided a strong support by limiting opponents to eight runs (two unearned) in 62 ⅓ innings pitched for a .087 ERA. José Acevedo (1-0, six strikeouts, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP), Fabio Castro (1-0, four SO, 0.00, 5.0 IP), Julián Tavárez (1-0, six SO, 1.69, 5 ⅓ IP), Héctor Almonte (1-0, .214, five SO, 3 ⅔ IP), Julio De Paula (1-0, 0.00, three SO, 4 ⅓), José Capellán (.217 ERA, five SO, 6 ⅓ IP), José Vargas (one save, .267, two SO), and José Lima (0-1, 10 SO, 1.32 ERA, 13 ⅓ IP) headed the staff. Also on the roster were Alberto Castillo, Bernie Castro, Nelson Cruz, Pablo Ozuna and Luis Polonia. Overall, the Dominican Republic won the Series for the 16th time, one more than Puerto Rico. This was the fifth time that the Águilas Cibaeñas (Cibao Eagles) represented the Dominicans and took the title. The Puerto Rican team, managed by Lino Rivera, finished first with a 4-2 mark. The offense was clearly guided by Armando Ríos, who led the Series hitters in batting average (.545), hits (12), stolen bases (2), SLG (.682), OBS (.667) and OPS (1.349). Other contributions came from Juan González (.385, three runs, two RBI), Javier Valentín (.368) and Alex Cora (.364, two doubles, two runs, four RBI). Other than starters Giancarlo Alvarado (1-0, 0.73, 10 SO, 12 ⅓ IP) and Brian Edwards (1-0, 4.50, 6.0 IP), the pitching rotation resulted ineffective. Relievers Pedro Feliciano (2-0, 0.00, 5.0 IP, four SO), Edward Buzachero (1.80, one save, five SO, five IP) and Fernando Cabrera (0.00 ERA, 0.00 OBA, two SO, three IP) provided some support. Other players in the roster included Hiram Bocachica, Rubén Gotay, Luis Matos, José Santiago, and the brothers José and Yadier Molina.

Venezuela was guided by Buddy Bailey and finished 2-4 in third place. The two victories came at the expense of Mexico and Puerto Rico. The offense was guided by Oscar Salazar, who led the series batters with nine RBI, while hitting .346 (9-for-26) with two home runs and a .654 SLG. Other two hitters carried much of the offensive weight: José Castillo (.321, six doubles, four runs, three RBI) and Ronny Cedeño (.440, 11 hits, .481 OBP). Despite a 2.18 collective ERA, the pitching staff was victim of a lousy defense that committed 11 errors. Starters Josmir Romero (1-0, 0.00, Tim McClaskey (1-0, 3.60, five SO, five IP) and Horacio Estrada (0-0, 2.25, 12 IP) each turned in fine efforts, while Yohan Pino (0.00, 10 SO, 7 ⅓ IP) and Kevin Tolar (0.00, five SO, 3 ⅓ IP) did the job out of the bullpen. The Venezuelan team also featured players as Cory Bailey, Alex Delgado, Ramón Hernández, Luis Rodríguez, Randall Simon and Steve Torrealba. Piloted by Lorenzo Bundy, Mexico was outscored by their opponents 45-13 and finished in last place with an 1-5 record, getting his only victory against Venezuela. A one-man offensive performance was led by Luis Alfonso García, who finished second in the batting race with a .458 average (11-for-24) and hit four doubles with four RBI; Juan Cañizalez batted .333 (6-for-18), Alfredo Amézaga hit the team's only home run, and Pablo Ortega was the only pitcher to lose two games in the Series that year. The team also incluyed veterans players as Vinny Castilla, Elmer Dessens, Erubiel Durazo, Karim García, Gerónimo Gil and Derrick White.

coreboards

Game 1, February 2

Game 5, February 4

Linescore|
Road=Mexico|RoadAbr=MEX
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=1|R5=1|R6=1|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR= 3|RH=10|RE=2
Home=Venezuela|HomeAbr=VEN
H1=7|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=1|H6=5|H7=0|H8=0|H9=x|HR=13|HH=17|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Tim McClaskey (1-0)|LP=Justin Lehr (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=Oscar Salazar (1)|

Game 6, February 4

Linescore|
Road=Puerto Rico|RoadAbr=PRI
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR= 0|RH= 3|RE=1
Home=Dominican Republic|HomeAbr=DOM
H1=4|H2=2|H3=0|H4=3|H5=0|H6=0|H7=3|H8=0|H9=x|HR=12|HH=14|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Fabián Castro (1-0)|LP=Jonathan Albadalejo (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|

Game 7, February 5

Linescore|
Road=Dominican Republic|RoadAbr=DOM
R1=0|R2=2|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=2|R8=3|R9=0|RR=7|RH=11|RE=0
Home=Venezuela|HomeAbr=VEN
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=1|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|HR=1|HH= 6|HE=2
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Julián Tavárez (1-0)|LP=Vladimir Núñez (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 8, February 5

Linescore|
Road=Puerto Rico|RoadAbr=PRI
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=2|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|R10=2|RR=4|RH=10|RE=0
Home=Mexico|HomeAbr=MEX
H1=1|H2=0|H3=1|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|H10=0|HR=2|HH= 9|HE=3
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Pedro Feliciano (1-0)|LP=Luther Hackman (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 9, February 6

Linescore|
Road=Mexico|RoadAbr=MEX
R1=0|R2=1|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=1|R7=0|R8=1|R9=0|RR=3|RH=6|RE=0
Home=Dominican Republic|HomeAbr=DOM
H1=1|H2=0|H3=1|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=2|H8=1|H9=x|HR=5|HH=9|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Julio De Paula (1-0)|LP=Pablo Ortega (0-2)|SV=José Vargas (1)
RoadHR=|HomeHR=José Fernández (1)|HRH=|

Game 10, February 6

Linescore|
Road=Venezuela|RoadAbr=VEN
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=1|R7=1|R8=0|R9=1|RR=3|RH= 8|RE=1
Home=Puerto Rico|HomeAbr=PRI
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=0|HR=1|HH=11|HE=1
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Josmir Romero (1-0)|LP=William Collazo (0-1)|SV=Francisco Butto (1)
RoadHR=Oscar Salazar (2)|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 11, February 7

Linescore|
Road=Venezuela|RoadAbr=VEN
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=1|R6=0|R7=1|R8=1|R9=0|RR=3|RH=11|RE=1
Home=Mexico|HomeAbr=MEX
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=1|H8=1|H9=1|HR=4|HH= 7|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Mauricio Tequida (1-0)|LP=Juan Ovalles (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

Game 12, February 7

Linescore|
Road=Dominican Republic|RoadAbr=DOM
R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=0|RH=3|RE=1
Home=Puerto Rico|HomeAbr=PRI
H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=1|HR=1|HH=5|HE=0
RSP=|HSP=
WP=Pedro Feliciano (1-0)|LP=José Lima (0-1)|SV=
RoadHR=|HomeHR=|HRH=|

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)]