1983 Caribbean Series

The twenty-fifth edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was played in 1983. It was held from February 4 through February 9 with the champion teams from Dominican Republic (Tigres del Licey), Mexico (Tomateros de Culiacán), Puerto Rico (Lobos de Arecibo) and Venezuela (Tiburones de La Guaira). The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Estadio Universitario in Caracas, Venezuela. Bowie Kuhn, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, attended the Series, and the first pitch was thrown by Oscar Prieto, Leones del Caracas majority owner and one of the series brainchild.

Summary[]

The Puerto Rico team was piloted by Ron Clark. After being mauled by the Dominicans in the opening, 17-2, Arecibo crushed the Mexicans 9-1 and defeated Venezuela, 7-6, in 11 innings. Later, a solid effort came from Kevin Hagen and Rich Bordi, both pitching complete games, to beat Mexico and the Dominican Republic. By beating Venezuela and Mexico in their last two games, the Lobos ended with a 5-1 mark en route to winning one of the most celebrated victories in Puerto Rican baseball history. Outfielder was selected as Most Valuable Player and was chosen for the All-Star Team along Candy Maldonado and Dickie Thon. Other significant members of the roster included pitchers John Hobbs, Gary Lance and Edwin Núñez; catcher Orlando Mercado; infielders Ramón Avilés, Onix Concepción and Wayne Tolleson, as well as utilities Henry Cruz, Carmelo Martínez and Ken Phelps.

Venezuela, managed by Ozzie Virgil, finished in second place with a 4-2 record and also had the only shutout in the Series, by Rick Anderson, who limited the Mexicans to five hits while striking out nine. Second baseman Derrel Thomas paced the Tiburones offense, hitting .476 (10-for-21) to win the batting title and slugged .714. Other contributions came from right fielder Tony Armas (.269 BA, 3 HR, 6 RBI, .654 SLG), first baseman Ron Jackson (.360, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .680 SLG) and reliever Luis Aponte (1-0, one save, six SO in 6.0 innings of work). Other roster members included pitchers Bryan Clark, Luis Leal, Luis Sánchez, Albert Williams and Matt Young; catchers Bruce Bochy and Baudilio (Bo) Díaz; infielders Dave Concepción and Leo Hernández; outfielders Robert Marcano and Luis Salazar, and utilities Ozzie Guillén, Argenis Salazar and Manny Trillo.

The Dominican Republic, guided by Manny Mota, finished 3-3 and had to settle for a modest third place. The most prominent players were catcher Luis Pujols, third baseman Howard Johnson and outfielder César Gerónimo, who were included in the All-Star Team. Meanwhile, pitchers Alejandro Peña, Cliff Speck and David Grier got the victories. The Licey team also featured players such as Steve Baker (P), Tony Fernández (SS), Alfredo Griffin (2B), Pedro Guerrero (1B), Mike Howard (IF/OF), Rafael Landestoy (OF), Ted Martínez (IF), Orlando Peña (P) and Rafael Santana (IF).

Tomateros de Culiacán, led by catcher/manager Francisco Estrada, presented an All-Mexican squad which included local legends such as Cy Acosta (P), Salomé Barojas (P), Nelson Barrera (1B), Bobby Cuellar (P), Maximino León (P), Aurelio López (3B), Mario Mendoza (SS), Vicente Romo (P) and (DH). But the opportune hitting and strong defense were undermined by below average running speed and poor bullpen support. Mexico finished with a 0-6 record, to become the second winless team in Series history.

Final standings
	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB
	Puerto Rico	5	1	.833	–
	Venezuela	4	2	.667	1.0
	Dominican Republic	3	3	.500	3.0
	Mexico	0	6	.000	5.0

Individual leaders
Player/Club	Statistic
Derrel Thomas / VEN	Batting average	.476
Tony Armas / VEN	Home runs	3
Howard Johnson / DOM	RBI	8
Candy Maldonado / PRI	Runs	8
Derrel Thomas / VEN	Hits	10
Eight tied	Doubles	2
Bo Díaz / VEN	Triples	1
Four tied	Stolen bases	1
Twelve tied	Wins	1
Rick Anderson / VEN Odell Jones / VEN	Strikeouts	9
Rick Anderson / VEN	ERA	0.00
Three tied	Saves	1
Odell Jones / VEN	Innings pitched	11 ⅔
Awards
/ PRI	Most Valuable Player
Ron Clark / PRI	Manager

All-Star Team
Name/Club	Position
Luis Pujols / DOM	catcher
Ron Jackson / VEN	first baseman
Derrel Thomas / VEN	second baseman
Howard Johnson / DOM	third baseman
Dickie Thon / PRI /	shortstop
/ PRI	left fielder
Candy Maldonado / PRI	center fielder
Tony Armas / VEN	right fielder
César Gerónimo / DOM	designated hitter
Rick Anderson / VEN	RH pitcher
Bryan Clark / VEN	LH pitcher
Ron Clark / PRI	manager

Scoreboards[]

Game 1, February 4[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	7	3
Dominican Republic	4	4	0	0	0	1	0	8	X	17	16	0
WP: Alejandro Peña (1-0) LP: (0-1) Home runs: PRI: None DOM: Howard Johnson 2 (2), Luis Pujols (1)

Game 2, February 4[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	1
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	8	0
WP: Luis Aponte (1-0) LP: (0-1) Home runs: MEX: None VEN: Ron Jackson (1)

Game 3, February 5[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	9	10	1
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	7	1
WP: Cliff Speck (1-0) LP: Ernesto Escárrega (0-1) Home runs: DOM: Tony Fernández (1), Luis Pujols (2) MEX: None

Game 4, February 5[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Venezuela	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	6	11	1
Puerto Rico	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	7	14	3
WP: Gary Lance (1-0) LP: Luis Sánchez (0-1) Home runs: VEN: Tony Armas (1) PRI: Carmelo Martínez (1)

Game 5, February 6[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	6	1
Venezuela	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	X	3	9	0
WP: Bryan Clark (1-0) LP: Steve Baker (0-1) Sv: Albert Williams (1)

Game 6, February 6[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	8	0
Mexico	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
WP: Kevin Hagen (1-0) LP: (0-1)

Game 7, February 7[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	10	1
Puerto Rico	4	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	X	7	5	0
WP: Rich Bordi (1-0) LP: Jim Siwy (0-1) Home runs: DOM: None PRI: (1), Dickie Thon (1)

Game 8, February 7[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	5	7	0
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
WP: Rick Anderson (1-0) LP: Mercedes Esquer (0-1) Home runs: VEN: Ron Jackson (2) MEX: None

Game 9, February 8[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	1	1	6	7	2
Dominican Republic	0	0	3	0	5	4	0	1	X	13	12	0
WP: David Grier (1-0) LP: Vicente Romo (0-1) Home runs: MEX: (1), (1) DOM: None

Game 10, February 8[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	1	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	5	13	1
Venezuela	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3	7	1
WP: Jesús Hernáiz (1-0) LP: Odell Jones (0-1) Sv: Gary Lance (1) Home runs: PRI: (2), Jesús Vega 2 (2) VEN: Tony Armas (2)

Game 11, February 9[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	0	6	10	3
Puerto Rico	0	2	2	0	2	5	0	0	X	11	11	0
WP: (1-0) LP: Maximino León (0-1) Home runs: MEX: Nelson Barrera (1) PRI: Candy Maldonado (1)

Game 12, February 9[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	3	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	7	11	0
Dominican Republic	0	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	6	13	2
WP: Matt Young (1-0) LP: Joe Beckwith (0-1) Sv: Luis Aponte (1) Home runs: VEN: Tony Armas (3) DOM: Pedro Guerrero (1), Pedro Hernández (1)

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

v t Caribbean Series
Years	1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Circuits	Colombian Professional Baseball League Cuban National Series Dominican Professional Baseball League Mexican Pacific League Panamanian Professional Baseball League Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
Related articles	Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame Caribbean Series Most Valuable Player Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame List of players who have played in the Series Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame
1961 to 1969 - The Series was not held during these years following the dissolution of Cuba's professional league. 1981 - The Series was not held due to a Venezuelan player's strike.