1972 Caribbean Series

The XV edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1972. It was held from February 1 through February 6 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic (Aguilas Cibaeñas), Mexico (Algodoneros de Guasave), Puerto Rico (Leones de Ponce) and Venezuela (Tigres de Aragua). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, D.R., which boosted capacity to 14.000 seats, and the first pitch was thrown by Joaquín Balaguer, by then the President of Dominican Republic.

Summary

Puerto Rico won the Series with a 5-1 record and was managed by Frank Verdi. The Leones de Ponce was in the middle of the pack in runs scored (33), prevailing their strong pitching. The club got a fine offensive performances from 1B and Series Most Valuable Player Carlos May, who won the batting title with a .455 batting average (10-for-22), while three of the four series home runs were belted by outfielders Don Baylor (grand slam), Tommy Cruz and Rusty Torres. The pitching staff posted a collective 1.67 ERA, including two shutouts by Gary Neibauer (one-hit) and Daryl Patterson, and received fine efforts from Gary Jones (2-0, 0.81 ERA, 11.0 innings pitched), and Jim Magnuson (1-0, 1.00 ERA). Other significant players in the roster included Sandy Alomar (2B), Bernie Carbo (OF), Pat Corrales (C), José Cruz (OF), Jackie Hernández (SS), José Ortiz (OF), Santiago Rosario (PH) and Chris Zachary (P).

Dominican Republic and Venezuela finished tied for second place with a 3-3 mark.

The Dominican's Aguilas Cibaeñas squad was piloted by Ozzie Virgil. Other than Secundino Almonte (five-hit shutout), Gene Garber (1-1, 2.57 ERA) and Ed Acosta (1-0, 4.97), the pitching staff was inconsistent at times. Two hitters carried much of the offensive weight, RF César Cedeño (.348 BA) and LF Adrian Garrett (one home run, four RBI). The team also featured Ps Charlie Hough, Juan Jiménez and Ray Newman; C Charlie Sands; IFs Julián Javier, Winston Llenas, Ted Martínez and Frank Taveras, and OFs César Cedeño, Gene Clines and Sam Mejías.

The Venezuelan Tigres de Aragua debuted in the tournament, being guided by manager/second baseman Rod Carew (.400 BA, .500 SLG); C Faustino Zabala (.333 BA, .476 SLG) and SS Dave Concepción (.348 BA, /435 SLG). The pitching support came from starters Alan Closter (2-0, 3.38 ERA, nine strikeouts in 13 ⅓ IP) Earl Stephenson (1-0, 0/0.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts in 10 ⅔ IP) and Milt Wilcox (1-1, 1.76 ERA, 14 SO), and closer Roberto Muñoz (0-1, three saves in five games). The Venezuelan club also featured players as Ps Aurelio Monteagudo and Pablo Torrealba; IFs Brant Alyea, César Gutiérrez and Luis Salazar, and OFs Ted Ford, Pat Kelly and César Tovar.

Mexico was represented by the Algodoneros de Guasave and finished last at 1-5. The hapless Mexicans were piloted by Vinicio (Chico) García, as the team scored the fewest runs (12) and set a series record for most consecutive shutouts (2). Thor Skogan did an excellent job, pitching a five-hit shutout in Game 2 and losing a 1-0 decision in Game 9, after allowing just one hit and one unearned run. 3B Celerino Sánchez (.333) and OF Ramón Montoya (.312) led the attack for an otherwise weak offense. Were also included in the roster Héctor Espino (IF), Al Hrabosky (P), Sergio Robles (C) and Aurelio Rodríguez (IF)

Final standings
Country	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB
Puerto Rico	Leones de Ponce	5	1	.833	–
Dominican Republic	Aguilas Cibaeñas	3	3	.500	2.0
Venezuela	Tigres de Aragua	3	3	.500	2.0
Mexico	Algodoneros de Guasave	1	5	.167	4.0

Individual leaders
Player	Statistic
Carlos May (PRI)	Batting average	.455
Don Baylor (PRI) Tommy Cruz (PRI) Adrian Garrett (DOM) Rusty Torres (PRI)	Home runs	1
Don Baylor (PRI)	RBI	6
Jackie Hernández (PRI)	Runs	7
Carlos May (PRI)	Hits	10
Brant Alyea (VEN) Ted Ford (VEN) Pat Kelly (VEN)	Doubles	2
Santos Alomar (PRI) Rod Carew (VEN) David Concepción (VEN) Faustino Zabala (VEN)	Triples	1
Seven tied	Stolen bases	1
Alan Closter (VEN) Gary Jones (PRI)	Wins	2
Alan Closter (VEN)	Strikeouts	16
Thor Skogan (MEX)	ERA	0.00
Thor Skogan (MEX)	Innings pitched	18.0
Roberto Muñoz (VEN)	Saves	3
Roberto Muñoz (VEN)	Games pitched	5
Awards
Carlos May (PRI)	Most Valuable Player
Frank Verdi (PRI)	Manager

All-Star Team
Name	Position
Faustino Zabala (VEN)	catcher
Carlos May (PRI)	first baseman
Rod Carew (VEN)	second baseman
Celerino Sánchez (MEX)	third baseman
David Concepción (VEN)	shortstop
Don Baylor (PRI)	left fielder
Ramón Montoya (MEX)	center fielder
César Cedeño (DOM)	right fielder
Thor Skogan (MEX)	starting pitcher
Roberto Muñoz (VEN)	relief pitcher
Frank Verdi (PRI)	manager

Scoreboards

Game 1, February 1


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	4	7	2
Venezuela	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	8	2
WP: Gary Jones (1-0) LP: Milt Wilcox (0-1) Sv: Gary Neibauer (1)

Game 2, February 1


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2
Mexico	0	0	2	0	3	0	2	3	X	10	13	4
WP: Thor Skogan (1-0) LP: Gene Garber (0-1)

Game 3, February 2


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	4
Puerto Rico	1	0	0	1	4	1	1	0	X	8	12	0
WP: Daryl Patterson (1-0) LP: Felipe Leal (0-1)

Game 4, February 2


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	0	2	0	0	2	2	0	0	6	10	1
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	6	0
WP: Alan Closter (1-0) LP: Charlie Hough (0-1) Sv: Roberto Muñoz (1)

Game 5, February 3


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	9	1
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
WP: Earl Stephenson (1-0) LP: Al Hrabosky (0-1) Sv: Roberto Muñoz (2)

Game 6, February 3


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	7	2
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	6	0
WP: Gary Jones (2-0) LP: Charlie Hough (0-2) Home runs: DOM: None PRI: Rusty Torres (1)

Game 7, February 4


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	2
Puerto Rico	0	3	0	4	3	0	0	3	X	13	14	3
WP: Jim Magnuson (1-0) LP: Pablo Torrealba (0-1) Home runs: VEN: None PRI: Don Baylor (1), Tommy Cruz (1)

Game 8, February 4


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	X	3	10	0
WP: Secundino Almonte (1-0) LP: Mike Baldwin (0-1) Home runs: MEX: None DOM: Adrian Garrett (1)

Game 9, February 5


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	0
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
WP: Gary Neibauer (1-0) LP: Thor Skogan (1-1)

Game 10, February 5


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	7	1
Venezuela	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	1
WP: Gene Garber (1-1) LP: Milt Wilcox (0-1)

Game 11, February 6


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
Venezuela	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	=2	X	4	12	0
WP: Alan Closter (2-0) LP: Raúl Gómez (0-1) Sv: Roberto Muñoz (3)

Game 12, February 6


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	5	9	1
Dominican Republic	0	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	X	6	10	2
WP: Ed Acosta (1-0) LP: Raúl Mercado (0-1) Sv: Charlie Hough (1)

Sources

Antero Núñez, José. Series del Caribe. Impresos Urbina, Caracas, Venezuela.
Araujo Bojórquez, Alfonso. Series del Caribe: Narraciones y estadísticas, 1949-2001. Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Sinaloa, Mexico.
Figueredo, Jorge S. Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History, 1878 - 1961. Macfarland & Co., United States.
González Echevarría, Roberto. The Pride of Havana. Oxford University Express.
Gutiérrez, Daniel. Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.

External links

Caribbean Series

Years	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Circuits	Dominican Professional Baseball League Mexican Pacific League Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

Related articles	Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame Caribbean Series Most Valuable Player Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame List of players who have played in the Series Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame

1961 to 1969 - The Series was not held during these years following the dissolution of Cuba's professional league. 1981 - The Series was not held due to a Venezuelan player's strike.

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