Liga de B.C3.A9isbol Profesional Roberto Clemente Baseball in Puerto Rico

1 liga de béisbol profesional roberto clemente

1.1 inception , years of league (1938–1940)
1.2 professional status
1.3 new stadiums built
1.4 emergence of clemente , cepeda
1.5 economic , political factors
1.6 new leagues, series , stadiums

liga de béisbol profesional roberto clemente

puerto rico has winter baseball league named liga de béisbol profesional roberto clemente, formerly known liga de béisbol profesional de puerto rico (lbppr) , puerto rico baseball league, has operated since 20th century. champion of puerto rico league represents puerto rico in annual caribbean world series.

the lbprc has 6 teams:

atenienses de manatí (manatí athenians)
cangrejeros de santurce (santurce crabbers)
criollos de caguas (caguas creoles)
gigantes de carolina (carolina giants)
indios de mayagüez (mayagüez indians)
leones de ponce (ponce lions)

in 2007, lbppr recessed first time since creation. in 2008, organization resumed operations, several structural changes. these included reducing league 4 teams, renaming league puerto rico baseball league , , establishing website.

currently, league s champion participates in caribbean series.

in 2008, lbppr participated in first inter-league series lbpdr, otherwise known liga de beisbol profesional de la republica dominicana (professional baseball league of dominican republic).

inception , years of league (1938–1940)

enrique huyke, professor mayagüez, suggested establishment of organized baseball league in puerto rico. idea adopted teofilo maldonado, president of commission on recreation , sports. gabriel castro helped huyke scouting of organizations, had pay $1,000 prior being admitted. guayama rotary club collaborated in raising funds teams. liga de béisbol semiprofesional de puerto rico (lbspr) founded in 1938, semi-professional league. new league consisted of 6 teams: senadores de san juan (san juan senators), leones de ponce (ponce lions), indios de mayagüez (mayagüez indians), criollos de caguas (caguas creoles), brujos de guayama (guayama witch doctors), , grises orientales de humacao (humacao oriental grays).

maldonado named league s commissioner. league set deadlines changes in rosters, allowed during first half of season, , number of games played has historically varied 40 80 games per season. all-star game scheduled coincide traditional 3 kings day, january 6, idea suggested angel colón proceeds used buy toys. date used decades, until emergence of television forced league comply dates requested networks.

hiram bithorn stadium in san juan. named after first puerto rican ever play in major leagues, hiram bithorn

.the first puerto rican players play in u.s. major league baseball, hiram bithorn , luis olmo, active in rosters of san juan , caguas. bithorn became youngest manager in league s history, named position in 1938 @ age of 22. enrique huyke served manager mayagüez less month, because team‘s owner threatened remove entry if did not take office. 1 of main figures of league in stage negro leagues’ veteran, emilio navarro.

in 1939-40 season, cangrejeros de santurce (santurce crabbers) , tiburones de aguadilla (aguadilla sharks) joined original teams. on january 8, 1939, humacao , san juan played 18-inning game lasted 4 hours, establishing record.

between 1938 , 1941, lbspr part of national semi-professional baseball congress, titleholder guayama facing champions of congress’ united states branch in best-of-seven series in 1939, defeated duncan cementers, , again in 1940.

in 1939-40, perucho cepeda won league s batting championship on josh gibson, managed win following season. criollos de caguas won first championship in 1940/41, defeating cangrejeros in final series. santurce s luis cabrera last player win lbspr’ valuable player award.

in october, 1940, hall of fame pitcher satchel paige arrived in puerto rico, 4 weeks after start of 1939/40 winter season. joined brujos de guayama (guayama witch doctors), featured shortstop perucho cepeda , outfielder tetelo vargas. on november 5, paige pitched shut out against rival santurce, featured player-manager josh gibson, lopsided score of 23 0.

in december game against mayagüez, paige set league record striking out 17 batters. ended season 19–3 record, 1.93 era, , 208 strikeouts in 205 innings. 19 wins , 208 strikeouts set single-season league records, have never been broken. paige helped team win league championship playoff series, winning 2 games against san juan senadores. paige went on win league‘s valuable player award in 1940. town of guayama known santería, palo (religion), , other spiritualist religious practices. in legendary game in guayama, paige walked off mound, because saw ghost standing next him.

professional status

on september 14, 1941, rafael delgado márquez proposed league recognize move semi-professional professional status renaming liga de béisbol profesional de puerto rico (lbppr).

the league used format of vueltas (halves), winners of each half facing each other championship. however, ponce managed win 4 consecutive championships (1941–45), , in 3 of seasons (1941/42, 1943/44, 1944/45) won both halves , declared champions without participating in final. consequently, once other teams eliminated winning second-half title, fans tended lose interest. players dropped out after teams eliminated. deal issue, in 1948/49 league established new playoff format included top 4 teams.

estadio juan ramón loubriel

drafted chicago cubs in 1941, hiram bithorn first puerto rican ever play major league baseball. world took notice in 1943, when bithorn went 18–12 earned run average of 2.60, , completed 19 of 30 starts. led league in shutouts (seven), setting record puerto rican pitchers stands day.

francisco coímbre key member of ponce s success, winning 2 batting championships , valuable player award. went 3 consecutive seasons (1939–42) without striking out. other players participated ponce included juan guilbe , griffin tirado. in 1943/44 , 1944/45, ponce pitcher tomás planchardón quiñones won back-to-back valuable player awards.

world war ii affected league directly, reducing 1942/43 season s length 36 games , number of active teams four.the league continued 4 teams through 1945/46, played 48 games 1943–46. 1942 1944, teams not allowed bring in imported players. in 1944/45 season, luis canena márquez debuted in league , hit .361, setting record highest batting average rookie.

the senadores de san juan won first championship in 1945/46, defeating indios in finals. during season, joe buzas became first foreign mlb player manage in lbppr.

victor pellot, known vic power, made debut criollos on 1947-48 season, when team won league title. team roster included rafaelito ortiz, pitcher win ten or more games 3 different lbppr teams.

in 1947, new york yankees participated in five-game series against teams caribbean leagues. in puerto rico, ponce , all-star lbppr team defeated yankees on consecutive nights. josé pantalones santiago debuted in season, earning rookie of year recognition while canena marquez broke josh gibson s home run record of 13.

in 1948-49, lbppr joined caribbean series, beginning rivalry cuba lasted throughout next decade, until cuba ceased participate in event.

leon day, member of u.s. negro leagues, played los triburones de aguadilla (the aguadilla sharks) in puerto rico. when day inducted baseball hall of fame, became hall of famer enshrined cap of team outside mainland u.s. – plaque depicts him tiburon de aguadilla.

new stadiums built

estadio francisco montaner, in ponce

a decade after foundation league employing 80-game schedule, average season attendance of 750,000.

estadio sixto escobar oldest stadium, built in san juan in 1935. largest, 13,135 seats , maximum capacity of on 15,000.

by 1949-50 season, several new ballparks built, each containing 6,000 or more seats. largest new stadium ponce s estadio francisco montaner 9,718 seats. montaner has distinction of being first stadium in puerto rico installed artificial surface field. installation of lights, allowed night games, further boosted stadium attendances. stadium named honor francisco paquito montaner, 1 of greatest puerto rican pitchers of times.

perucho cepeda 1 of league s dominant figures during 1940s, winning 2 batting championships.

natalio irizarry won league s rookie of year recognition in 1949-50. 1949–1955, league featured participation of new mlb players, including johnny logan, harvey haddix , hank aaron among several others.

the mlb players kept returning, , encouraged more mlb join them, began of calibre of league play , because of warm climate during winter months. players negro leagues preferred due lack of racism towards players, opposed united states.

emergence of clemente , cepeda

a statue of clemente outside of pnc park in pittsburgh.

in 1952, roberto clemente made debut cangrejeros hitting .234. signed pedrin zorilla, debuting in league teenager. team won year s title , cot deal named mvp. clemente improved average .288 following season, santurce finished last in league. league s champions criollos, won caribbean series. roster included luis olmo, willie mays , rubén gómez, cangrejeros won 1954-55 championship defeating caguas in finals, 4-1. during season, clemente became first puerto rican player hit 2 home runs in league s all-star game. team went on win caribbean series, held in venezuela. jim rivera had average of .450 , named mvp. puerto rican fans received team parade upon landing , luis muñoz marín welcomed them in la fortaleza.

in 1955-56, criollos won league s championship, in season marked orlando cepeda s debut in league. clemente won season s batting championship average of .396. in 1956-57, league s championship won indios. during season, clemente went on break league s record games hits, established francisco coimbre in 1943-44.

orlando cepeda

the following season, criollos defeated cangrejeros win championship. clemente played caguas, hit .529 during final series. juan terin pizarro won valuable player award, leading league in wins, era, best win-to-loss margin , pitched lbppr s seventh no-hitter. in caribbean series, defeated carta vieja of panama (8:0), recording 17 strikeouts. both teams traded final 2 championships of decade.

in 1958-59, orlando cepeda, coming first season in majors selected rookie of year in national league, kept things on fire santurce winning batting title , mvp award, helping crabbers win fourth championship. 1959-60 season marked first instance lbppr games transmitted in 2 languages through radio. criollos won championship, while mayagüez s ramón luis conde won valuable player award.

in 1961-62, coming best season in big leagues, cepeda lbppr leader in home runs , rbis, , won second mvp award guiding santurce fifth championship.

economic , political factors

during 1950s, puerto rico s economy grew significantly, , encouraged baseball-related gambling. tendency experienced notable increase in 1960s. other changes arried in game s style, introduction of more player-managers such luis olmo, became first consistently employ pitching coaches , closers in league.

after cuban revolution, hotels , casinos in san juan benefited havana’ economic decay. during timeframe, puerto rico expanded presence in caribbean, , native team played again representation of st. thomas , saint croix in february. julio navarro drafted 1 of these exhibitions, becoming 1 of league s dominant pitchers.

in 1961-62, due political tension between u.s. , cuba, caribbean series planned in havana s estadio latinoamericano (latin american stadium) cancelled. event replaced interamerican series, san juan attended roster included pitcher florentino rivera.

new leagues, series , stadiums

during 1960s dominican winter league still not member of caribbean confederation, allowed uncommon interleague trades between , lbppr, have more trouble negotiating such deals member leagues. during decade, of league s teams provide import players houses , taxis transportation.

estadio latinoamericano in havana, cuba

the senadores de san juan, led clemente, had won mlb world series pittsburgh, won league s 1960–61 season, josé santiago, posted record of 10-2 era of 2.44 team. luis arroyo won season s valuable player award, registering record of 10-2 era of 1.64.

the interamerican series held 3 more times, each team winning on home field. mayagüez did in 1963, in series terin pizarro recorded no-hitter in history of event, in win on valencia @ opening night.

in 1961-62, lobos de arecibo joined league expansion team. on january 14, 1962, julio navarro pitched first regular season no-hitter.

for 1962-63 season, estadio sixto escobar replaced hiram bithorn stadium, larger capacity of 20,000 seats. field dimensions set match olympic stadium of montreal expos: 325 feet (99 m) down left field line, 325 feet (99 m) down right field line , 404 feet (123 m) center field. outfield fences set 8 feet (2.5 m) high.

in 1963-64, clemente finished second batting average of .345, leading senadores title. san juan once again played in interamerican series, held in nicaragua. in 1964-65, orlando cepeda joined cangrejeros, replacing jim beauchamp , helping team win league championship. during season, clemente named san juan s player-manager, leading them playoffs.

the following season featured debut of jerry morales, won league s rookie of year award. carlos bernier retired in 1966, having won 5 stolen base titles total of 285 stolen bases. on november 20, 1966, san juan s luis de leon pitched first perfect game in league s history.

caguas won league championship in 1967-68. nino escalera, finished career third on league s hit list, replaced vic power team s manager during season. on december 20, 1969, santurce , arecibo participated in lbppr game played outside of puerto rico, held in united states virgin islands honor elrod hendricks.