1977 Caribbean Series

1977 baseball tournament The twentieth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1977. It was held from February 4 through February 9 with the champions teams from the Dominican Republic, Tigres del Licey; Mexico, Venados de Mazatlán; Puerto Rico, Criollos de Caguas and Venezuela, Navegantes del Magallanes. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice, and the games were played at UCV Stadium in Caracas, Venezuela. Summary The Dominican team was represented by the Tigres del Licey and finished with a perfect record of 6–0. Managed by Buck Rodgers, the team received strong support from Series MVP Rico Carty, who led the hitters in runs (8) and RBI (10), while setting a new Series record with five home runs. Starters Ed Halicki and Odell Jones both earned two wins apiece, and Stan Wall led a bullpen that included Pedro Borbón, Rob Dressler and Ike Hampton. Other players included C Freddie Velázquez, IFs Bob Beall, Mario Guerrero, Ted Martínez and Rennie Stennett, as well as OFs Jesús Alou, Jim Dwyer, Rafael Landestoy, Manny Mota and Sam Mejías. The Navegantes del Magallanes of Venezuela were managed by Don Leppert and finished second with a 3–3 record. LF Félix Rodríguez won the batting title (.522) and led the team in RBI (6), while receiving help from RF Mitchell Page (.381, two HRs, five RBI), DH Dave Parker (.346, one HR, three RBI) and 1B Cito Gaston (.300, four RBI). Other than SP Paul Reuschel (2–0, 0.50 ERA, two complete games) and RP Manny Sarmiento (1–0, 3.00 ERA), the pitching staff had an undistinguished performance. Also in the roster were Chris Batton (P), Bo Díaz (C), Jamie Easterly (P), Wayne Granger (P), Gus Gil (IF), Remy Hermoso (DH), Mike Kekich (P), Ken Macha (3B), Oswaldo Olivares (OF), Jimmy Sexton (SS), and Manny Trillo (2B). Managed by Alfredo Ortiz, the Venados de Mazatlán represented Mexico and went 2–4 to end in third place. The most significant contribution came from LHP George Brunet, who was credited with the two victories of Mexico, a team that batted a paltry .218, including homers by 1B Héctor Espino and OF Jeffrey Leonard, while committing a Series-leading 14 errors. Other members of the roster were Mike Dimmel (OF), Rex Hudson (P), Max León (P), Bobby Treviño (DH) and Ron Washington (SS), among others. The Criollos de Caguas of Puerto Rico finished last with a 1–5 record. Managed by Doc Edwards, the team batted a collective .253 average with five home runs and was outscored by their opponents 33–19, even though the roster was filled with Ps Mike Cuellar, Joe Henderson, Willie Hernández, Eduardo Rodríguez, Mike Krukow, Dennis Martínez and Ed Whitson; IFs Kurt Bevacqua, Julio González, Félix Millán and Eddie Murray; OFs José Cruz, Sixto Lezcano and Jerry Morales; C John Wockenfuss, and utilities Iván de Jesús, José Morales and Tony Scott. Final standings Club W L W/L % GB   Managers 25px Dominican Republic 6 0   1.000  –   Buck Rodgers 25px Venezuela 3 3     .500 3.0   Don Leppert 25px Mexico 2 4     .333 4.0   Alfredo Ortiz 25px Puerto Rico 1 5     .167 5.0   Doc Edwards Individual leadersPlayer/Club Statistic Félix Rodríguez / VEN Batting average .522 Félix Rodríguez / VEN Hits   12 Four tied Doubles     2 Three tied Triples     1 Rico Carty / DOM Home runs     5 Rico Carty / DOM Runs     8 Rico Carty / DOM RBI   10 Five tied Stolen bases     1 George Brunet / MEXEd Halicki / DOMOdell Jones / DOMRick Reuschel / VEN Wins     2 Rick Reuschel / VEN Strikeouts     8 Rick Reuschel / VEN ERA 0.50 Fernando López / MEX Saves     2 Rick Reuschel / VEN Innings pitched 18.0 Awards Rico Carty / DOM Most Valuable Player Buck Rodgers / DOM Manager All-Star TeamName/Club Position John Wockenfuss / PUR catcher Cito Gaston / VEN first baseman Félix Millán / PUR second baseman Ted Martínez / DOM third baseman Mario Guerrero / DOM shortstop Félix Rodríguez / VEN left fielder Albino Diaz / MEX center fielder Rico Carty / DOM right fielder Rico Carty / DOM designated hitter Ed Halicki / DOM RH pitcher Stan Wall / DOM LH pitcher Buck Rodgers / DOM manager Scoreboards Game 1, February 4 Puerto Rico PUR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 1 Dominican Republic DOM 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 x 6 6 1 Ed Halicki (1-0) Eduardo Rodríguez (0-1) Rico Carty (1), Manny Mota (1) Game 2, February 4 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 Venezuela VEN 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 x 4 9 2 Paul Reuschel (1-0) Max León (0-1) Mitchell Page (1) Reuschel pitched a complete game shutout. Game 3, February 5 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0   7 2 Dominican Republic DOM 4 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 x 10 16 2 Odell Jones (1-0) Rex Hudson (0-1) Rico Carty (2) Game 4, February 5 Puerto Rico PUR 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 1 0 1 9 14 2 Venezuela VEN 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 8 16 2 Joe Henderson (1-0) Wayne Granger (0-1) José Cruz (1), Kurt Bevacqua (1) Dave Parker (1) Game 5, February 6 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 o 1 8 2 Mexico MEX 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 x 2 5 1 George Brunet (1-0) Ed Whitson (0-1) Fernando López (1) Jerry Morales (1) Game 6, February 6 Dominican Republic DOM 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 1 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 Pedro Borbón (1-0) Chris Batton (0-1) Stan Wall (1) Rico Carty (3) Borbón (5 H, 5 K, 1 W, 6.1 IP) and Wall (0 H, 5 K, 0 W, 2.2 IP) pitched a combined shutout. Game 7, February 7 Dominican Republic DOM 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 7 0 Puerto Rico PUR 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 Rob Dressler (1-0) Mike Krukow (0-1) Stan Wall (2) Rico Carty (4) Game 8, February 7 Venezuela VEN 2 0 3 0 2 1 0 1 0 9 10 3 Mexico MEX 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 5 12 3 Manny Sarmiento (1-0) René Chávez (0-1) Jeffrey Leonard (1) Game 9, February 8 Dominican Republic DOM 0 1 6 4 5 0 0 1 1 18 23 3 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2   4 13 5 Ed Halicki (2-0) Fernando López (0-1) Bob Beall (1) Héctor Espino (1) Game 10, February 8 Venezuela VEN 0 3 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 9 13 3 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1   4 4 Paul Reuschel (2-0) Eduardo Rodríguez (0-2) Mitchell Page (2) Sixto Lezcano (1) Reuschel pitched his second complete game. Game 11, February 9 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 5 8 1 Puerto Rico PUR 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 4 1 George Brunet (2-0) Dennis Martínez (0-1) Fernando López (2) Sixto Lezcano (2) Game 12, February 9 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1   7 1 Dominican Republic DOM 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 x 5 11 1 Odell Jones (2-0) Mike Kekich (0-1) Rico Carty (5), Jesús Alou (1) With his fifth home run, Carty surpassed the record of four homers in the Series set by Willard Brown in the 1953 edition. See also Ballplayers who have played in the Series 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 Las Series del Caribe (Spanish) https://archive.today/20130411065500/http://site.lasemanadeportiva.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=187 1977 Caribbean Series statistics el EspnDeportes.com – Campeones de RD en Series del Caribe (Spanish) BeisbolProfesional.net – Triple Play: Article by Humberto Acosta (Spanish) https://archive.today/20130412112204/http://www.hoy.com.do/deportes/2004/1/21/137922/print Hoy.com.do – Carty impuso récord jonronero en Serie del Caribe de 1977 de Venezuela el (Spanish) collapsed Caribbean Category:Caribbean Series Category:International baseball competitions hosted by Venezuela Category:Sports competitions in Caracas Category:1977 in Venezuelan sport Category:1977 in Caribbean sport Caribbean Series Category:20th century in Caracas