The thirty-sixth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was held from February 4 through February 9 of 1994 with the champion baseball teams of the Dominican Republic, Tigres del Licey; Mexico, Naranjeros de Hermosillo; Puerto Rico, Senadores de San Juan, and Venezuela, Navegantes del Magallanes. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice, and the games were played at Estadio Alfonso Chico Carrasquel in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela.
Summary
editThe Caribbean Series returned to Venezuela after seven years of absence. The Tigres del Licey club, managed by Casey Parsons, finished with a 5–1 record to obtain its seventh title in the Series and the ninth overall for the Dominican Republic since its inception in 1970. The pitching staff allowed only four earned runs in their first four games while winning five games in a row before losing a meaningless last contest. The offense was paced by first baseman Jim Bowie, who hit .444 (8-for-20) with three home runs and 11 runs batted in to claim Most Valuable Players honors. Meanwhile, outfielder Raúl Mondesí hit .450 (9-for-20) to win the batting title, while driving in six runs and scoring six times. The pitching rotation went 4–0 with a 1.00 ERA, and was led by Pedro Astacio (1-0, 0.00) and Julián Tavárez (1-0, 1.23). The team also featured pitchers Pedro Martínez, Yorkis Pérez and Efraín Valdez; catcher Gilberto Reyes and outfielder Bernardo Brito, as well as infielders Alex Arias, Juan Bell, Juan Guerrero, Francisco Matos, Junior Noboa and Henry Rodríguez, among others.
The host Navegantes del Magallanes of Venezuela, guided by Tim Tolman, ended in second place with a 4–2 mark. James Waring posted a 2–0 record and allowed only five hits in 13 innings of shutout ball, to lead all pitchers in ERA (0.00) and innings while tying for the most wins. DH Raúl Marcano hit .364 (8-for-22) and slugged .500, including five runs and five RBI, to command the offense of the team. Other contributions came from Bobby Abreu, Wilson Álvarez, Oscar Azócar, Alvaro Espinoza, Jason Grimsley, John Hudek, Juan Carlos Pulido and Luis Raven.
The Senadores de San Juan went 3–3 to finish in third place. With Luis Meléndez at the helm, the representing team of Puerto Rico received a fine pitching performance from Tom McCarthy (2-0, 1.29 ERA, two starts) and José Alberro (0.00, six innings). Their most productive hitters were Carlos Baerga, with a team-best average of .391 (9-for-23), and Carlos Delgado, who batted .364 and slugged .864, including three homers, seven RBI and six runs.
The hapless Naranjeros de Hermosillo of Mexico were managed by Marv Foley and ended with a 0–6 record. Besides first baseman Matt Franco (.348, .522 SLG) and pitcher Blaise Ilsley (1.29 ERA), the club was overmatched by its opponents from the start of the tournament, becoming the third winless team in Series history, as they joined the Coclé BBC from Panama (1959) and their fellow team Tomateros de Culiacán (1983). Also on the roster were Matías Carrillo, Narciso Elvira, Howard Farmer, Donald Harris, Marcus Moore, Antonio Osuna, Vicente Palacios, Tony Perezchica, Homar Rojas and Ed Vosberg.
Final standings
edit| Country | Club | W | L | W/L % | Managers |
 Dominican Republic |
Tigres del Licey | 5 | 1 | .833 | Casey Parsons |
.svg){kind=small} Venezuela |
Navegantes del Magallanes | 4 | 2 | .667 | Tim Tolman |
.svg){kind=small} Puerto Rico |
Senadores de San Juan | 3 | 3 | .500 | Luis Meléndez |
 Mexico |
Naranjeros de Hermosillo | 0 | 6 | .000 | Marv Foley |
Individual leaders
edit| Player | Statistic | ||||
| Batting | |||||
| Raúl Mondesí (DOM) | Batting average | .450 | |||
| Carlos Delgado (PUR) Raúl Mondesí (DOM) |
Runs | 6 | |||
| Carlos Baerga (PUR) Raúl Mondesí (DOM) |
Hits | 9 | |||
| Four tied | Doubles | 2 | |||
| Rey Sánchez (PUR) | Triples | 2 | |||
| Jim Bowie (DOM) Carlos Delgado (PUR) |
Home runs | 3 | |||
| Jim Bowie (DOM) | RBI | 11 | |||
| Five tied | Stolen bases | 1 | |||
| Pitching | |||||
| Tom McCarthy (PUR) James Waring (VEN) |
Wins | 2 | |||
| Four tied | Strikeouts | 6 | |||
| James Waring | ERA | 0.00 | |||
| James Waring | Innings pitched | 13.0 | |||
| John Kelly (DOM) | Saves | 2 | |||
All-Star team
edit| Name | Position | ||||
| Carlos Delgado (PUR) | Catcher | ||||
| Jim Bowie (DOM) | First baseman | ||||
| Carlos Baerga (PUR) | Second baseman | ||||
| Alex Arias (DOM) | Third baseman | ||||
| Alvaro Espinoza (VEN) | Shortstop | ||||
| Luis Raven (VEN) | Left fielder | ||||
| Raúl Mondesí (DOM) | Center fielder | ||||
| Bobby Abreu (VEN) | Right fielder | ||||
| Raúl Marcano (VEN) | Designated hitter | ||||
| Julián Tavárez (DOM) | RH pitcher | ||||
| Wilson Álvarez (VEN) | LH pitcher | ||||
| John Kelly (DOM) | Relief pitcher | ||||
| Awards | |||||
| Jim Bowie (DOM) | Most Valuable Player | ||||
| Casey Parsons (DOM) | Manager | ||||
Sources
edit- Nuñez, José Antero (1994). Serie del Caribe de la Habana a Puerto La Cruz. JAN Editor. ISBN 980-07-2389-7
External links
edit- Estadísticas Serie del Caribe 1994 (Spanish)