Brief History
Baseball exploded in Venezuela in 1941, following the world championship in Havana.
On December 27, 1945, the owners of the Caracas Brewery (Cervecería Caracas, present day Caracas Lions or Leones del Caracas), Vargas Wisemen (Sabios de Vargas), the Magellan Navigators (Navegantes del Magallanes), and Venezuela BBC created the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The league was formally registered as an institution during January 1946, and in the same month organized its first tournament, starting on January 3, 1946.
Vargas Wisemen, led by Daniel "Chino" Canónico, became the first champion, with a record of 18 wins and 12 loses.
During the first tournaments, games were played on Thursdays and Saturdays on the afternoons, and Sundays in the morning. This was the norm until Cervecería Caracas' park - located in the San Agustín del Norte zone of Caracas - was fitted with electric lights, enabling its use during nights. Thus, a game was added on Tuesday nights.
Eventually, the tournament was changed to accommodate two rounds, with the top team of each round having a best-of-5 play-off to determine the champion.
On August 8, 1952, Pablo Morales and Oscar Prieto Ortiz purchase the Cervecería Caracas team from Martín Tovar Lange, who had previously purchased the team form its previous owners, Caracas Brewery Co. The new owners renamed the team (reigning champions by that time) as Caracas Lions (Leones del Caracas), after the full name of the city, Santiago de Leon de Caracas. On October 17, 1952, the 1952-1953 tournament started, with the first game of Leones del Caracas vs. Venezuela BBC. Leones del Caracas would win their inaugural tournament.
The next tournament would see the departure of the teams Sabios de Vargas and Venezuela BBC due to economic problems, being replaced by two teams (Gavilanes and Pastora) from the professional league of the Zulia State, from western Venezuela.
In 1955 a new team was added in the place of the departed Vargas, named Pampero; while the Venezuela BBC was moved out of Caracas, and renamed the Valencia Industrymen (Industriales de Valencia)
The 1956-1957 tournament would see further changes: the Navegantes del Magallanes team was purchased by advertisers Joe Novas and Joe Cruz and renamed as Oriente, leaving the league made of: Leones del Caracas, Oriente, Pampero, Industriales de Valencia.
In 1962, the La Guaira Sharks (Tiburones de La Guaira) are brought into the league to replace Pampero.
In 1965, the league added two more teams, the Lara Cardinals (Cardenales de Lara) and the Aragua Tigers (Tigres de Aragua).
For the 1968-1969 tournament, the Industrymen left the city of Valencia and relocated to Acarigua as a new team: Los Llaneros. This left Valencia without a team, prompting the move of Navegantes del Magallanes from Caracas to Valencia, and their return to their original name for the 1969-1970 tournament.
In 1969, the Zulia Eagles (Águilas del Zulia) are brought into the league to replace the Valencia Industrymen (Industriales de Valencia); the original Venezuela team.
The 70s saw the first successes for Venezuelan teams outside of Venezuela since the amateur championships of the 1940s, with the Navegantes del Magallanes winning two Caribbean Series. It also saw problems for the league, in the form of the strike that prevented the 1973-1974 tournament; or the problems the Caracas Lions and La Guaira Sharks had in 1975-1976 to secure a baseball park to play their home games, which resulted in both teams merged into one, and forced to move to the city of Acarigua.
The 80s saw the Caracas Lions winning 5 tournaments, consolidating their lead as the most successful team in the league. The Lions also went on to win 3 championships in a row in 1982, and their first Caribbean Series. Also in the 80s, the Zulia Eagles won their first two championships, all the way to also winning their first two Caribbean Series.
In 1991, the league expanded from 6 to 8 teams, with the additions of the Eastern Caribbeans (Caribes de Oriente) who are now the Anzoátegui Caribbeans (Caribes de Anzoátegui); and the Cabimas Oilers (Petroleros), who became the Llanos Shepherds (Pastora de los Llanos) and from the 2007-08 season on, the Margarita Braves (Bravos de Margarita). This led to a change in format, with the 8 teams being organized in two divisions: the Eastern Division (División Oriental) with the teams Caracas, Magallanes, La Guaira and Oriente; and the Western Division (División Occidental) with the teams Zulia, Lara, Aragua and Cabimas. The first two teams from each division by the end of the first league phase of the tournament, would qualify to the round robin semifinals.
The format would change again some years later, with the addition of a wildcard team on the semifinals: the best placed third place from the two divisions, would accompany the other four teams in a round robin semifinal.
For the 2007-08 season, with the move of the Pastora team from the western city of Acarigua to the eastern city of Porlamar, the Western Division and the Eastern Division were merged in one single division of 8 teams, with the top 5 teams advancing to the semifinals.
In recent years, Tigres de Aragua has become the most dominant team of the league, winning the crown 6 times in the last decade, although Leones del Caracas and Navegantes del Magallanes remain the most victorious Venezuelan teams in the history of the league.
Read more about this topic: Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
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