1988 Caribbean Series

The 1988 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the eighteenth edition of the second stage of the Caribbean Series. It was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from February 3 to February 8. The series featured four teams from Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Leones del Escogido of the Dominican League won the series and were managed by Phil Regan. The Most Valuable Player was Rufino Linares, an outfielder with the Leones del Escogido.

The champion Lions only hit .207, with Stan Javier (.421) and Linares (.389) their only players over the Mendoza line. Jose DeLeon and Luis Encarnacion 4-hit the favored Indios de Mayagüez in the opener and the Dominican club won 3 of their next four to clinch it before losing a meaningless finale. DeLeon and Encarnacion each worked 7 scoreless innings in the tourney to help Escogido post a 1.80 ERA. Ramon de los Santos faced six batters and recorded seven outs in a dazzling relief role.

Tom Pagnozzi (.474, 2 HR) of Mayagüez was the tourney's offensive star.

Final Standings

Team	League	G	W	L	WPCT	Manager
Leones del Escogido	DOM Dominican League	6	4	2	0.667	Phil Regan
Indios de Mayagüez	PRI Puerto Rican League	6	3	3	0.500	Jim Riggleman
Potros de Tijuana	MEX Mexican Pacific League	6	3	3	0.500	Jorge Fitch
Leones del Caracas	VEN Venezuelan League	6	2	4	0.333	Bill Robinson

Leaders

• Batting Average: .474 - Tom Pagnozzi, Indios de Mayagüez
• Home Runs: 2 - Tony Armas Sr., Leones del Caracas; Tom Pagnozzi, Indios de Mayagüez
• Runs Batted In: 5 - Nelson Barrera, Potros de Tijuana; Alfonso Jiménez, Potros de Tijuana; Rufino Linares, Leones del Escogido
• Wins: 1 - Ten tied

Sources

1989 Baseball Almanac