1979 Caribbean Series

Twenty-second edition of baseball tournament; held in San Juan, Puerto Rico The twenty-second edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1979. It was held from February 4 through February 9 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic (Aguilas Cibaeñas), Mexico (Mayos de Navojoa), Puerto Rico (Criollos de Caguas) and Venezuela (Navegantes del Magallanes). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which boosted capacity to 18.000 seats. Summary Navegantes de Magallanes of Venezuela clinched its second team Caribbean Series title and second as a country with a 5-1 record. Guided by manager/DH Willie Horton (.261 BA, .414 OBP) and Series Most Valuable Player Mitchell Page (.417 BA, two home runs, 11 RBI, six runs, .875 SLG), the Venezuelan club took the top spot despite a 1–0 defeat to Dominican Republic in Game 1. The rest of the way, the team won the next five games outscoring their rivals 38-13. Center fielder Jerry White, who was the only player in the series with at least one hit in each game, led the hitters with a .522 BA and a .607 OBP, including five runs, four RBI, a .783 SLG and 1.370 OPS. Other contributions came from outfielder Oswaldo Olivares (.435 BA, .536 OBP, seven RBI), infielder Dave Coleman (four runs, six RBI, .357 OBP), catcher Bo Díaz (.273 BA, four RBI, .429 OBP) and second baseman Rodney Scott (.308, eight runs). The strong pitching staff was led by Mike Norris, who posted a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts (including a one-hit shutout and three innings of relief), while reliever Manny Sarmiento went 2-0 with a 2.16 in 8 1 3 of work and Ben Wiltbank won his only start in 8.0 scoreless innings. Larry Rothschild, Jim Umbarger and Alan Wirth also bolstered the staff. Aguilas Cibaeñas represented the Dominican Republic and finished second with a 4-2 record. Managed by Johnny Lipon, the team got wins from reliever George Frazier (2-0) and starters Nino Espinosa (a four-hit shutout) and Ken Kravec, but with no help from a shaky defense, which committed nine errors for a series high, and lacking a clutch hitter in crucial situations. Other players in the roster included Joaquín Andújar (SP), Bob Beall (RP), Bill Castro (RP), Ted Cox (IF), Miguel Diloné (OF), Al Holland (RP), Juan Jiménez (RP), Silvio Martínez (SP), Omar Moreno (OF), Nelson Norman (IF) and Rennie Stennett (IF), among others. The Criollos de Caguas of Puerto Rico, managed by Félix Millán, wasted home field advantage, ending in third place with a 2-4 mark. The team was first in fielding percentage (.970, five errors), but posted poor numbers in pitching (5.65 ERA) and hitting (.249). DH Tony Pérez (.333) paced the offense, while Jackson Todd and Sheldon Burnside collected the two wins. A high point in the series was the presence of José Cruz and his brothers Tommy and Héctor in the roster. The team also featured pitchers Larry Anderson, Dennis Martínez, Tim Stoddard and John Verhoeven; catchers Ellie Rodríguez and Don Werner; infielders Tony Bernazard, Iván de Jesús, Luis Rosado, Dave Rosello and Jim Spencer, and outfielders Jim Dwyer, Tony Scott and Rusty Torres. The Mayos de Navojoa of Mexico, managed by Chuck Goggin, finished last at 1-5. Pitcher Arturo González had their lone win, against Puerto Rico, while Antonio Pollorena dropped two decisions. Among others, the roster included players as Mike Easler (DH), Garry Hancock (OF), Jeffrey Leonard (OF), Mario Mendoza (IF), Randy Niemann (P), Dave Rajsich (P), Enrique Romo (P) Alex Treviño (C), Bobby Treviño (OF), and 20-year-old rookie outfielder Rickey Henderson, a future Hall of Fame member. Final standings Country Club W L W/L % GB 25px Venezuela Navegantes del Magallanes 5 1 .833   – 25px Dominican Republic Aguilas Cibaeñas 4 2 .667 1.0 25px Puerto Rico Criollos de Caguas 2 4 .333 3.0 25px Mexico Mayos de Navojoa 1 5 .167 4.0 Individual leadersPlayer Statistic Jerry White (VEN) Batting average   .522 Mitchell Page (VEN) Home runs       2 Mitchell Page (VEN) RBI     11 Rodney Scott (VEN) Runs       8 Jerry White (VEN) Hits     12 Jerry White (VEN) Doubles       4 Bo Díaz (VEN) Mitchell Page (VEN) Jerry White (VEN) Triples       1 Eight tied Stolen bases       1 Jerry White (VEN) OBP   .607 Mitchell Page (VEN) SLG   .875 Jerry White (VEN) OPS 1.370 George Frazier (DOM) Mike Norris (VEN) Manny Sarmiento (VEN) Wins       2 Mike Norris (VEN) Strikeouts     13 Mike Norris (VEN) ERA   0.00 Nino Espinosa (DOM) Innings pitched   15.0 Juan Jiménez (DOM) Saves       1 Seven tied Games pitched       3 Awards Mitchell Page (VEN) Most Valuable Player Willie Horton (VEN) Manager All-Star TeamName Position Bo Díaz (VEN) catcher Mitchell Page (VEN) first basemanRodney Scott (VEN) second baseman Dave Coleman (VEN) third baseman Nelson Norman (DOM) shortstop Rickey Henderson (MEX) left fielder Jerry White (VEN) center fielder Oswaldo Olivares (VEN) right fielder Tony Pérez (PRI) designated hitter Mike Norris (VEN) RH pitcher Sheldon Burnside (PRI) LH pitcher Manny Sarmiento (VEN) relief pitcher Willie Horton (VEN) manager Scoreboards Game 1, February 4 Venezuela VEN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 1 3 2 Nino Espinosa (1-0) Alan Wirth (0-1) Game 2, February 4 Mexico MEX 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2   7 1 Puerto Rico PRI 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 X 8 11 0 Jackson Todd (1-0) Randy Niemann (0-1) Luis Rosado (1) Game 3, February 5 Dominican Republic DOM 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 5   7 2 Mexico MEX 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 11 3 George Frazier (1-0) Dave Rajsich (0-1) Game 4, February 5 Puerto Rico PRI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 1 Venezuela VEN 0 0 4 0 5 0 2 0 X 11 15 2 Mike Norris (1-0) Dennis Martínez (0-1) Game 5, February 6 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   5 2 Venezuela VEN 0 0 6 0 0 1 0 1 X 8 13 1 Ben Wilbank (1-0) Antonio Pollorena (0-1) Game 6, February 6 Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 Puerto Rico PRI 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 X 3 8 0 Sheldon Burnside (1-0) Silvio Martínez (0-1) Game 7, February 7 Mexico MEX 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 4   7 2 Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 5 13 2 George Frazier (2-0) Antonio Pollorena (0-2) Game 8, February 7 Venezuela VEN 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 8 12 1 Puerto Rico PRI 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 10 1 Manny Sarmiento (1-0) Randy Scarbery (0-1) Mitchell Page (1) Game 9, February 8 Dominican Republic DOM 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1   7 3 Venezuela VEN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 10 1 Mike Norris (2-0) Bill Castro (0-1) Game 10, February 8 Puerto Rico PRI 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 5   7 3 Mexico MEX 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 3 X 8 12 0 Arturo González (1-0) Tim Stoddard (0-1) Héctor Cruz (1) Jim Obradovich (1) Game 11, February 9 Venezuela VEN 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 3 9 14 3 Mexico MEX 0 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 6 10 3 Manny Sarmiento (2-0) Ramón Guzmán (0-1) Rodney Scott (1), Mitchell Page (2) Game 12, February 9 Puerto Rico PRI 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 Dominican Republic DOM 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 3 5 0 Ken Kravec (1-0) Randy Scarbery (0-2) Juan Jiménez (1) Tom Silverio (1) See also Ballplayers who have appeared 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 Official site Latino Baseball Series del Caribe, Las (Spanish) collapsed Caribbean Category:Caribbean Series Category:International baseball competitions hosted by Puerto Rico Category:Baseball competitions in San Juan, Puerto Rico Category:20th century in San Juan, Puerto Rico Category:1979 in Puerto Rican sports Caribbean Series