2006 Caribbean Series

2006 baseball tournament The forty-eighth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) baseball tournament was played in 2006 in the neighboring cities of Maracay and Valencia in Venezuela, making it the first one to be played in two cities. It was held from February 2 through February 7 featuring the champion teams from The Dominican Republic (Licey), Mexico (Mazatlán), Puerto Rico (Carolina) and Venezuela (Caracas). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio José Pérez Colmenares (Maracay) and Estadio José Bernardo Pérez (Valencia). Summary The Venezuela home team, represented by the Leones del Caracas, won its first Caribbean Series title since 1989 after a dramatic rally with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning led them to a perfect 6-0 finish, the 9th time this had happened in the Series. Managed by Carlos Subero, Venezuela outscored their opponents 45–15 while the defense committed only three errors. Triple Crown winner Ramón Hernández was named the Series Most Valuable Player after leading all players with a .542 batting average (13-for-24) and eight RBIs, while tying with Edgar González with three home runs. Hernández also hit for the cycle in Game Two, to become the first player to do it in the Series history. Other notable contributions came from Alex Cabrera (.360, 2 HR, 7 RBIs), Álex González (.409, 1 HR, 7 RBIs), Marco Scutaro (.304, 7 runs, 5 RBIs, 2 HR, including a grand slam), Luis Rodríguez (.310, 3 doubles, 5 runs, 8 RBIs) and Franklin Gutiérrez (.364, 4 runs, 4 RBIs). Overall, the Venezuelan club hit .327 with nine home runs. The pitching staff posted a collective 2.62 earned run average and was led by Geremi González, who went 1-0 and topped all pitchers in ERA (1.20) and innings pitched (15), striking out 12 batters while walking just three. In addition, Subero, at 33, became the youngest manager to win a Caribbean Series championship. Manny Acta was 34 when he guided the Dominicans to the title in 2004. The Dominican Republic finished the series in second place with a 4–2 record. Both losses were to Venezuela. The team was managed by Rafael Landestoy and included players as Alexis Gómez, who led his teammates with a .500 BA (10-for-20), and Miguel Tejada (.273, 1 HR, 8 RBIs), Sandy Martínez (.300, 1 HR, 5 RBIs), Napoleón Calzado (.321) and Rafael Belliard (.304, 1 HR). Puerto Rico was guided by Lino Rivera and finished third at 2–4, both its wins coming against Mexico. Other than starter Willie Collazo (0–1) and relievers Iván Maldonado and Orlando Román, the pitching staff was ineffective. The offense was led by Luis Figueroa (.364, 1 HR, 5 RBIs), Rubén Gotay (.368, 1 HR), Alex Cintrón (.308, 1 HR) and José Valentín (.269, 1 HR). The defending champion Mexico did not win a game in the series. Managed by Juan José Pacho, it was the fifth time a Mexican team had been held winless in Caribbean Series history. Edgar González led the attack with a .524 BA (11-for-21) and three solo home runs. The team also included veterans players such as Trenidad Hubbard, Oscar Robles and Francisco Campos. Final standings Country Club W L W/L % GB Managers 25px   Venezuela Leones del Caracas 6 0 1.000   –   Carlos Subero 25px   Dominican Republic Tigres del Licey 4 2   .667 2.0   Rafael Landestoy 25px   Puerto Rico Gigantes de Carolina 2 4   .333 4.0   Lino Rivera 25px   Mexico Venados de Mazatlán     0 6   .000 6.0   Juan José Pacho Individual leadersPlayer/Club Statistic Ramón Hernández/VEN Batting average .542 Edgar González/MEX Ramón Hernández/VEN Home runs     3 Ramón Hernández/VEN Runs batted in     9 Marco Scutaro/VEN Runs     7 Ramón Hernández/VEN Hits   13 Ramón Hernández/VEN Luis Rodríguez/VEN Doubles     3 Five tied Triples     1 Manny Aybar/DOM Stolen bases     2Twelve tied Wins     1 Geremi González/VEN Strikeouts   12 Geremi González/VEN Earned run average 1.20 Geremi González/VEN Innings pitched   15 Jorge Sosa/DOM Saves     2 Awards Ramón Hernández/VEN Most Valuable Player Carlos Subero/VEN Manager All-Star TeamName/Club Position Sandy Martínez/DOM catcher Ramón Hernández/VEN first baseman Edgar González/MEX second baseman Luis Rodríguez/VEN third baseman Álex González/VEN shortstop Napoleón Calzado/DOM left fielder Alexis Gómez/DOM center fielder Timo Pérez/DOM right fielder Alex Cabrera/VEN designated hitter Geremi González/VEN right-handed pitcher Willie Collazo/PUR left-handed pitcher Carlos Subero/VEN manager Scoreboards Game 1, February 2 at Maracay Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 11 1 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 12 1 Eddie Ramos (1-0) Federico Báez (0-1) Román Colón (1) Pedro Valdez (1) Game 2, February 2 at Valencia Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 2 7 17 21 2 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0   1   4 1 Geremi González (1-0) Pablo Ortega (0-1) Ramón Hernández (1), Alex Cabrera (1) Venezuela's Hernández became the first player to hit for the cycle in Series history. Game 3, February 3 at Valencia Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 0 2 10 11 2 Mexico MEX 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 0   6 11 1 Wilton Chávez (1-0) Francisco Campos (0-1) Jorge Sosa (1) Miguel Tejada (1) Edgar González (2) Game 4, February 3 at Maracay Venezuela VEN 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 11 0 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 1 Orlando Trías (1-0) Jim Magrane (0-1) Marco Scutaro (1) Game 5, February 4 at Valencia Puerto Rico PUR 0 4 1 1 1 0 2 0 1 10 14 2 Mexico MEX 1 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 0   9 18 3 Iván Maldonado (1-0) José Luis García (0-1) Luis Figueroa (1), Edwards Guzmán (1), Víctor Rodríguez (1) Game 6, February 4 at Valencia Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 1 3 11 15 0 Dominican Republic DOM 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0   9 15 0 Juan Ovalles (1-0) Román Colón (0-1) Francisco Rodríguez (1) Henry Blanco (1), Alex Cabrera (2), Álex González (1) Game 7, February 5 at Maracay Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 6 2 Dominican Republic DOM 0 2 0 1 0 0 6 0 x 9 9 1 Danny Tamayo (1-0) Josué Matos (0-1) Game 8, February 5 at Maracay Mexico MEX 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 6 0 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 4 9 0 Mauro Zárate (1-0) Ignacio Flores (0-1) Ramón Hernández (2) Game 9, February 6 at Maracay Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 11 1 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1   3 1 Daniel Cabrera (1-0) Walter Silva (0-1) Jorge Sosa (2) Game 10, February 6 at Valencia Puerto Rico PUR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 Venezuela VEN 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 x 5 9 0 Albert Vargas (1-0) Willie Collazo (0-1) Rubén Gotay (1) Rafael Álvarez (1) Game 11, February 7 at Valencia Mexico MEX 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2   3 0 Puerto Rico PUR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 12 1 Orlando Román (1-0) José Luis García (0-2) Trenidad Hubbard (1) José Valentín (1) Game 12, February 7 at Maracay Dominican Republic DOM 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 7 1 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 5 8 1 Víctor Moreno (1-0) Jorge Sosa (0-1) Sandy Martínez (1) Ramón Hernández (3) Quotes "Up to the bag, hits a very high fly, comfortable, to short left field. Back in is the short (stop) Erick Aybar. The ball is coming down and hit Aybar in the head... THE BALL DROPS! THE BALL DROPS! VENEZUELA IS GOING TO WIN! VENEZUELA IS GOING TO WIN! VENEZUELA IS GOING TO WIN!...AND VENEZUELA HAS WON THE CARIBBEAN SERIES, 2006! (Translation of Fox Sports en Español narrator Beto Villa on the final play) See also Ballplayers who have played in the Series Sources 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 Official site Latino Baseball Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish)     collapsed Caribbean Series Category:Caribbean Series Category:International baseball competitions hosted by Venezuela Category:Sport in Aragua Category:Sport in Carabobo Category:2006 in Venezuelan sport Category:2006 in Caribbean sport Caribbean Series