Tigres del Licey defeats Leones del Caracas to win record 11th Caribbean Series
César Valdez, a 37-year-old veteran right-hander with a “dead fish” pitch, dominated over more than six innings Friday, and Tigres del Licey returned to the peak of winter baseball with a 3-0 victory over Leones del Caracas in the “Gran Final” championship of the Caribbean Series. Tigres won a record 11th title in the historic tournament that played its 65th edition this year, returning the trophy to the Dominican Republic after Caimanes de Barranquilla of Colombia wrested away the title last year. Here’s what you need to know:
- Tigres is now the most celebrated team among the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, a league of leagues in the Western Hemisphere.
- Licey’s victory exacted some long-delayed revenge after Caracas defeated them in the “Gran Final” in 2006 on home turf in Venezuela.
- Valdez, who first appeared in Major League Baseball with the Diamondbacks in 2010, will report to Angels spring training on a minor league contract next week.
República Dominicana Campeon de la #SerieDelCaribe2023 🇩🇴🙌🏽🇩🇴 #Licey pic.twitter.com/yeUZhz4YdE
— Mike Rodriguez (@mikedeportes) February 11, 2023
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
How did the championship game play out?
Valdez gave up just three hits over 6 1/3 innings against Caracas in front of its home crowd, striking out six with no walks. When he pitched for the Orioles in 2020-21, Valdez threw an arsenal heavily weighted with changeups and his teammates nicknamed that sludgy pitch the “dead fish.”
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Licey found its runs in the second and fifth off Leones’ 27-year-old right-hander Erick Leal. In the second, Tigres third baseman Kelvin Gutiérrez scored Henry Urrutia with a sacrifice fly. They extended the lead in the fifth when first baseman Yamaico Navarro singled in shortstop Gustavo Núñez.
In the seventh, Caracas brought the tying run to the plate with José Rondón. But Licey’s Jonathan Aro, who came in to relieve Valdez, struck out Rondon with a high fastball.
Tremendo ponche para mantener en 0 carreras a los Leones del Caracas e irnos a la octava entrada 😳.
República Dominicana 🇩🇴 2-0 🇻🇪 Venezuela #SerieDelCaribe2023 pic.twitter.com/ymrz6aXzgV
— ESPN Béisbol ⚾️ (@ESPN_Beisbol) February 11, 2023
In the ninth, outfielder Luis Barrera, also in the Angels’ system, scored on a throwing error by Hernán Pérez for insurance.
What’s the history here?
The Caribbean Series is a kind of club championship similar to soccer’s Champions League in Europe. Licey moved further in front of their Dominican rivals, Águilas Cibaeñas, whose six Caribbean titles are second-most.
Since the Caribbean Series was first contested in 1949 in Havana, Cuba, teams from the Dominican Republic have won 22 titles, followed by Puerto Rico with 16. Criollos de Caguas was Puerto Rico’s most recent champ, after winning back-to-back in 2017-18. A year ago, Caimanes de Barranquilla became a surprise champ, winning Colombia’s first title, and they did it in the Dominican.
In 2006, Caracas took down Licey on Henry Blanco’s walk-off bloop-turned-error before his home crowd in Maracay went wild.
How’d they get here?
Licey and Caracas each finished the tournament with 6-3 records and Leones had defeated Tigres earlier in the tournament, in a wild 3-2 victory in 12 innings Sunday.
In the third-place game, Cañeros de Los Mochis, champs of the Mexican league, topped Colombia’s Vaqueros de Montería, 1-0.
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Tigres veteran Robinson Canó, now 40 and long a fixture of the Dominican winter league, won his first Caribbean Series title.
(Photo: Federico PARRA / AFP)
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