1991 Caribbean Series

The XXXIII edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1991. It was held from February 5 through February 11 with the champion teams from the Dominican Republic, Tigres del Licey; Mexico, Potros de Tijuana; Puerto Rico, Cangrejeros de Santurce, and Venezuela, Cardenales de Lara. All games were held at Bobby Maduro Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Summary

Unlike previous years, the four teams played a six-game round robin schedule, each team facing the other teams once, followed by a three-game playoff round and a best-of-three series.

This time, the Tigres del Licey became the first Dominican Republic club to clinch two Caribbean Series titles with an undefeated record. The Tigres had won its first title in 1971 edition. As a result, the team joined the Cuban Alacranes del Almendares (1949; 1960) as the only teams with an undefeated record in two editions of the Series.

Licey, with John Roseboro at the helm, won the Series behind a strong offensive outburst and fine pitching performance, outscoring its rivals 50–8 to set a Series record. In the first round, the Dominican team defeated Puerto Rico 8–2, blanked Mexico 4–0, and crushed Venezuela 12–1. Then, they extended their overwhelming dominance over Venezuela in the final round with scores of 13–4 and 13–1.

Outfielders Gerónimo Berroa (.479 BA) and Jerry Brooks (.473) led the Series hitters and shared MVP honors. Licey also received offensive support from Henry Rodríguez, Andújar Cedeño, Francisco Cabrera, Gilberto Reyes, Juan Bell and Silvestre Campusano. The pitching staff was headed by Mélido Pérez, who posted a 2-0 record and a perfect 0.00 ERA in 12 innings pitched.

Other contributions came from Juan Guzmán (1-0, 2.35 ERA, 7⅔ IP) and Efraín Valdez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP), being backed by a bullpen that featured Rod Beck, Jeff Hartsock, Mel Rojas and José Tapia. Also in the roster were Pedro Astacio, Braulio Castillo, Stan Javier and José Rijo.

Each of the remaining teams finished 1-2 in the round-robin part of the tournament, leading to a semi final playoff in which Venezuela beat both Mexico and Puerto Rico once each. The Venezuelan Cardenales de Lara included players as Luis Aponte, Willie Banks, Derek Bell, William Cañate, Giovanni Carrara, Tony Castillo, José Escobar, Tobias Hernández, Alexis Infante, Randy Knorr, Robert Pérez, John Shea, Luis Sojo, Mike Timlin and Mark Whiten.

The Mexican Potros de Tijuana recorded their lone win against Venezuela during the round-robin with a 10-hit, 3–0 shutout, on a combined pitching effort. Their roster included Matías Carrillo, Vinny Castilla, Tommy Hinzo, José Tolentino and Ray Torres, among others.

Puerto Rico's Cangrejeros de Santurce disappointed, even though they fielded an impressive squad which included Eric Anthony, Luis Aquino, Kevin Brown, Jacob Brumfield, Casey Candaele, Mike Cubbage, Carlos Delgado, Tony Fossas, Leo Gómez, Mark Lemke, Jaime Navarro, Andy Tomberlin and David West. The Cangrejeros defeated Tijuana, 6–1, for their only victory in the tournament.

The playing format, which was named Winterball I, was not used again in the Series.

Final standings


Country	Club	W	L	W/L %	Managers
Tigres del Licey	Leones del Escogido	5	0	1.000	John Roseboro
Venezuela	Cardenales de Lara	3	4	.429	Domingo Carrasquel
Mexico	Potros de Tijuana	1	3	.250	Joel Serna
Puerto Rico	Cangrejeros de Santurce	1	3	.250	Mako Oliveras

Round-robin		Semifinals		Best-of-three series

Tigres del Licey	3–0	Cardenales de Lara	2–0	Tigres del Licey	2–0
Cardenales de Lara	1–2	Cangrejeros de Santurce	1–1	Cardenales de Lara	0–2
Cangrejeros de Santurce	1–2	Potros de Tijuana	1–1
Potros de Tijuana	1–2

Individual leaders


Player	Statistic
Batting
Gerónimo Berroa (DOM)	Batting average	.471
Nine tied	Home runs	1
Jerry Brooks (DOM)	RBI	10
Pitching
Mélido Pérez (DOM)	Wins	2

All-Star Team


Name	Position
Raúl Martínez (MEX)	Catcher
Henry Rodríguez (DOM)	First baseman
Luis Sojo (VEN)	Second baseman
Andújar Cedeño (DOM)	Third baseman
Juan Bell (DOM)	Shortstop
Gerónimo Berroa (DOM)	Left fielder
Derek Bell (VEN)	Center fielder
Edwin Alicea (PUR)	Right fielder
Randy Knorr (VEN)	Designated hitter
Mélido Pérez (DOM)	Right-handed pitcher
Mercedes Esquer (DOM)	Left-handed pitcher
Mike Timlin (VEN)	Relief pitcher
Awards
Gerónimo Berroa (DOM) Jerry Brooks (DOM)	Most Valuable Player
John Roseboro (DOM)	Manager

Sources

Nuñez, José Antero (1994). Serie del Caribe de la Habana a Puerto La Cruz. JAN Editor. ISBN 980-07-2389-7
Bjarman, Peter (1994). Baseball with a Latin Beat : A History of the Latin American Game. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-89-950973-0

Bjarkman, Peter (2005). Diamonds around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 031-3322-68-6

Van Hyning, Thomas E. (2008). The Santurce Crabbers: Sixty Seasons of Puerto Rican Winter League Baseball. McFarland & Company. ISBN 078-6438-95-9

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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