After a year of absence, the twenty-fourth edition of Baseball's Caribbean Series (12th edition of the second stage) finally took place in 1982. It was held from February 4 through February 9 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic, Leones del Escogido; Mexico, Naranjeros de Hermosillo; Puerto Rico, Leones de Ponce and Venezuela, Leones del Caracas. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Héctor Espino Stadium in Hermosillo, Mexico, which boosted capacity to 16.000 seats.

Summary

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The Venezuelan team, with Alfonso (Chico) Carrasquel at the helm, won the championship title with a 5–1 record. The Leones del Caracas were led by catcher and Series MVP Baudilio (Bo) Díaz (.412 BA, two home runs, five RBI, .500 OBP, .765 SLG), center fielder Tony Armas (.375, six RBI) and LF Luis Salazar (six runs, four stolen bases). Their best pitcher was Luis Leal, who posted a 2–0 record with a 2.08 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work. Behind him were Bud Black (1-0, 1.29), Dennis Burtt (1-0, one save, seven SO in 10+23 innings) and Tom Dixon (nine scoreless innings in Game 7). Venezuela also featured infielders Andrés Galarraga (1B), Danny Garcia (1B), Steve Sax (2B), Ron Gardenhire (SS) and Leonardo Hernández (3B), as well as pitchers Joe Cowley and Luis Peñalver, among others.

Puerto Rico was managed by Ed Nottle and ended second with a 3–3 mark. Ponce had no undefeated starters other than Edwin Núñez, who handed the Venezuelans only defeat, pitching a six-hit, one run complete game. Willie Hernández (1-1) and John Butcher (1-1) collected the other two wins. Other roster members included 2B Dickie Thon and outfielders Chili Davis, José Cruz and Candy Maldonado.

The highly favored Leones del Escogido, who won their second consecutive Dominican League title (eight since 1951), posted a disappointing record of 2-4--good enough to tie Mexico in third place. Despite Felipe Alou's best efforts at managing them, the Dominicans suffered both offensively and defensively, committing 12 costly errors and being outscored by their opponents 20-14. The pitching staff, led by Pascual Pérez (1-1), Elías Sosa (1-0) and Rick Mahler (0-1), collected a solid 3.24 ERA. In contrast, position players such as Tony Peña, Clint Hurdle, Alfredo Griffin, Julio Franco and Carmen Castillo combined for a .223 average with just two home runs.

Hermosillo was managed by Tom Harmon. The two Mexican victories came at the expense of Puerto Rico, 14–0 and 1–0, behind strong pitching efforts by rookie Fernando Valenzuela and veteran Manuel Ibarra with the help of a bullpen headed by Marty Decker. Notable Mexican legends such as slugger Héctor Espino, SS Mario Mendoza, P Vicente Romo and C Alex Treviño joined the team. Also in the roster were LF Dan Gladden, RF Jerry Hairston, Sr., 3B Junior Moore and 2B Wayne Tolleson.

Final standings

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Country Club W L W/L % GB Managers
  Venezuela 5 1 .833   – Alfonso Carrasquel
  Puerto Rico 3 3 .500 2.0 Ed Nottle
  Dominican Republic 2 4 .333 3.0 Felipe Alou
  Mexico 2 4 .333 3.0 Tom Harmon


Individual leaders
Player/Club Statistic
Baudilio Díaz / VEN Batting average .412
Baudilio Díaz / VEN Home runs     2
Tony Armas / VEN
Chili Davis / PRI
RBI     6
Luis Salazar / VEN Runs     6
Luis Salazar / VEN Stolen bases     4
Luis Leal / VEN Wins     2
Luis Leal / VEN Strikeouts   10
Tom Dixon / VEN ERA 0.00
Luis Leal / VEN Innings pitched   13
Awards
Baudilio Díaz / VEN Most Valuable Player
Alfonso Carrasquel / VEN Manager


All-Star Team
Name/Club Position
Baudilio Díaz / VEN catcher
Efraín Vásquez / PRI first baseman
Steve Sax / VEN second baseman
Alvin Moore / MEX third baseman
Mario Mendoza / MEX shortstop
Luis Salazar / VEN left fielder
Tony Armas / VEN center fielder
Don Gladden / MEX right fielder
Luis Leal / VEN RH pitcher
Fernando Valenzuela / MEX LH pitcher
Alfonso Carrasquel / VEN manager

Scoreboards

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Game 1, February 4

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 1 7 12 2
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 13 6
WP: Luis Leal (1-0)   LP: Pascual Pérez (0-1)   Sv: Dennis Burtt (1)
Home runs:
VEN: Baudilio Díaz (1)
DOM: None

Game 2, February 4

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0   2 3
Mexico 0 0 1 0 1 6 5 1 X 14 12 0
WP: Fernando Valenzuela (1-0)   LP: Willie Hernández (0-1)

Game 3, February 5

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 1
Puerto Rico 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 X 5 6 1
WP: John Butcher (1-0)   LP: Joe Edelen (0-1)

Game 4, February 5

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Mexico 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   1 10 4
Venezuela 0 0 1 3 1 4 1 0 X 10 16 3
WP: Bud Black (1-0)   LP: Alfredo Moreno (0-1)

Game 5, February 6

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 5
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 X 7 9 0
WP: Edwin Núñez (1-0)   LP: Joe Cowley (0-1)

Game 6, February 6

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Mexico 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 1
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 7 1
WP: Elías Sosa (1-0)   LP: Marty Decker (0-1)
Home runs:
MEX: None
DOM: José Moreno (1)

Game 7, February 7

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
Venezuela 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 2
WP: Ed Vandenberg (1-0)   LP: Rick Mahler (0-1)

Game 8, February 7

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Mexico 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
WP: Manuel Ibarra (1-0)   LP: Rich Rodas (0-1)

Game 9, February 8

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 10 1
Dominican Republic 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2   2 2
WP: Willie Hernández (1-1)   LP: Steve Ratzer (0-1)

Game 10, February 8

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Venezuela 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3
WP: Dennis Burtt (1-0)   LP: Vicente Romo (0-1)   Sv: Ed Vandenberg (1)

Game 11, February 9

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1   4 1
Venezuela 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 2 10 0
WP: Luis Leal (2-0)   LP: John Butcher (1-1)
Home runs:
PRI: None
VEN: Baudilio Díaz (2)

Game 12, February 9

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dominican Republic 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 3 7 14 1
Mexico 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2   6 3
WP: Pascual Pérez (1-1)   LP: Ernesto Escárrega (0-1)
Home runs:
DOM: Tony Peña (1)
MEX: None

 

See also

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Sources

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  • 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.
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