1985 Caribbean Series

The twenty-seventh edition of the Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) of baseball was played in 1985. It was held from February 2 through February 7 with the champion teams from Dominican Republic (Tigres del Licey), Mexico (Tomateros de Culiacán), Puerto Rico (Metropolitanos de San Juan) 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 Teodoro Mariscal in Mazatlán, Mexico.

Summary[]

The Dominican Republic team won the Series with a 5-1 record and was managed by Terry Collins. Their only defeat came from Mexico. The champions got fine offensive performances from 1B Glenn Davis and OF George Bell, while the pitching staff was led by José Rijo, who posted three saves and did not allow an earned run in six innings of work, to earn Series MVP honors. Other contributions came from pitchers Tom Brennan (2-0, 1.59 ERA), Salomón Torres (a four-hit shutout) and Burt Hooton (1-0, seven SO). Also in the roster were Ralph Bryant, Braulio Castillo, Tony Fernández, David Green, Luis Pujols, Julio Solano and José Uribe.

Managed by catcher Francisco Estrada, Mexico finished in second place with a 3-3 mark. 2B Juan Navarrete hit .533 to win the batting title while 3B Nelson Barrera led the Series hitters with seven RBI. The Mexican team also featured players such as Derek Bryant, Lorenzo Bundy, Houston Jiménez, Chris Jones, Aurelio López, Sid Monge, Junior Moore and Vicente Romo.

Puerto Rico and Venezuela tied for third place with a 2-4 record.

The Puerto Rican team, with Mako Oliveras at the helm, was a huge favorite to win the Series, thanks to a roster loaded with prominent players like Juan Agosto, Luis Aguayo, Iván Calderón, Henry Cotto, Jesús Hernáiz, Carmelo Martínez, Edgar Martínez, José Oquendo, Luis Rosado, Orlando Sánchez, Benito Santiago, Candy Sierra and Rubén Sierra, but the team faded just after the first half. The team's only victories came behind strong pitching efforts from Francisco Oliveras and José Guzmán, who threw complete games against Mexico and Venezuela.

Aurelio Monteagudo managed the Venezuelan club, which was characterized by a fairly average pitching staff and really poor hitting. A modest contribution came from pitcher Bryan Clark (1-0, nine SO in seven innings) and infielders Pat Dodson (.429 SLG) and Luis Salazar (.474 SLG, five RBI). Other members of the team included Bob Fallon, Ozzie Guillén, Gorman Heimueller, Luis Leal, Fred Manrique, Eddie Miller, Alfredo Pedrique, Gustavo Polidor and Argenis Salazar.

Final standings
	Club	W	L	W/L %	GB
	Dominican Republic	5	1	.833	–
	Mexico	3	3	.500	2.0
	Puerto Rico	2	4	.333	3.0
	Venezuela	2	4	.333	3.0

Individual leaders
Player/Club	Statistic
Juan Navarrete / MEX	Batting average	.533
Glenn Davis / DOM	Home runs	3
Nelson Barrera / MEX	RBI	7
George Bell / DOM	Runs	5
Juan Navarrete / MEX	Hits	9
Three tied	Doubles	2
Three tied	Triples	1
George Bell / DOM	Stolen bases	3
Tom Brennan / DOM	Wins	2
Tom Brennan / DOM	Strikeouts	12
Salomón Torres / DOM	ERA	0.00
José Rijo / DOM	Saves	1
/ MEX	Innings pitched	15.0
Awards
José Rijo / DOM	Most Valuable Player
Terry Collins / DOM	Manager

All-Star Team
Name/Club	Position
Francisco Estrada / MEX	catcher
Glenn Davis / DOM	first baseman
Juan Navarrete / MEX	second baseman
Nelson Barrera / MEX	third baseman
/ MEX	shortstop
George Bell / DOM	left fielder
Chris Jones / MEX	center fielder
David Green / DOM	right fielder
Orlando Sánchez / PRI	designated hitter
/ MEX	RH pitcher
Bryan Clark / VEN	LH pitcher
José Rijo / DOM	relief pitcher
Terry Collins / DOM	manager

Scoreboards[]

Game 1, February 2[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	5	0
Dominican Republic	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	X	4	7	1
WP: Tom Brennan (1-0) LP: Luis Leal (0-1) Sv: José Rijo (1) Home runs: VEN: None DOM: Glenn Davis 2 (2), George Bell (1), Ralph Bryant (1)

Game 2, February 2[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	5	9	1
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	7	0
WP: Francisco Oliveras (1-0) LP: (0-1) Home runs: PRI: Carmelo Martínez 2 (2) MEX: None

Game 3, February 3[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	1
Puerto Rico	1	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	X	6	10	2
WP: José Guzmán (1-0) LP: Bob Fallon (0-1)

Game 4, February 3[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	7	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	11	14	0
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
WP: (1-0) LP: Jeff Kaiser (0-1) Home runs: MEX: Nelson Barrera (1) DOM: None

Game 5, February 4[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	3	10	0
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
WP: Mike Torrez (1-0) LP: Jesús Hernáiz (0-1) Sv: José Rijo (2) Home runs: DOM: George Bell (2) PRI: None

Game 6, February 4[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mexico	0	1	0	0	1	3	0	1	1	7	13	1
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	5	7	4
WP: Aurelio López (1-0) LP: Fred Toliver (0-1) Sv: Alfonso Pulido (1) Home runs: MEX: Lorenzo Bundy (1) VEN: None

Game 7, February 5[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	5	10	1
Venezuela	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1
WP: Burt Hooton (1-0) LP: Gorman Heimueller (0-1) Sv: Julio Solano (1)

Game 8, February 5[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	4	8	1
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	0
WP: Aurelio López (2-0) LP: Candy Sierra (0-1)

Game 9, February 6[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	3
Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	15	2
WP: (1-0) LP: (0-1) Home runs: PRI: Orlando Sánchez (1) VEN: Pat Dodson (1)

Game 10, February 6[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	4	8	0
Mexico	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	9	2
WP: (1-0) LP: Juan Colorado (0-1) Sv: José Rijo (3) Home runs: DOM: David Green (1) MEX: None

Game 11, February 7[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	1
Dominican Republic	0	0	0	6	0	2	0	0	X	8	9	0
WP: Tom Brennan (2-0) LP: José Guzmán (1-1) Home runs: PRI: Orlando Sánchez (2) DOM: Luis Pujols (1), Glenn Davis (3), Braulio Castillo (1)

Game 12, February 7[]


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Venezuela	0	3	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	7	9	0
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	4	9	1
WP: Bryan Clark (1-0) LP: (1-1) Sv: Bob Fallon (1) Home runs: VEN: Luis Salazar (1), (1) MEX: None

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.

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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.