1997 Caribbean Series

The 1997 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the twenty-seventh edition of the second stage of the Caribbean Series. It was held at Estadio Héctor Espino in Hermosillo, México from February 4 to February 8. The series featured four teams from Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican League won the series and were managed by Mike Quade. The Most Valuable Player was Matt Stark, a designated hitter with the Tomateros de Culiacán.

The Indios de Mayagüez, with a pitching staff of 7 seven major leaguers, won their first two games, but dropped the last four. The Navegantes del Magallanes and Tomateros de Culiacán each went 3-3. The club that lost its first two by a 14-4 margin, the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican League, won their last four to start a strong stretch that would win them several more Series titles in the coming decade.

The Series was noted for its power output, as a record 48 homers were hit, breaking the mark set in the 1990 Caribbean Series of 46. Tony Batista of the Cibaeñas hit .385, slugged .692, drove in 13 and hit a 3-run homer to help the club to a 4-3 win in the finale. The Águilas also featured Guillermo Garcia (.348, 8 RBI, .826 SLG), Jesus Tavarez and Luis Polonia. Culiacán were led by pitchers Rigo Beltran (1.59 ERA), Julio Miranda (1-0, 0.00), Martin Hernandez (1-1, 3.12) and Teddy Higuera (1-0, 4.05) and the coincidentally-named Ever Magallanes (.480, 9 R). Magallanes had an all-tourney left-side of the infield with shortstop Luis Sojo (.478, 10 R, .739 SLG) and thirdbaseman Edgardo Alfonzo (.357). Also on the Venezuelans were outfielder Bobby Abreu (.588, .882 SLG) and pitcher Ramon Garcia (1-0, 0.00 in 8 IP).

Final Standings

Team	League	G	W	L	WPCT	Manager
Águilas Cibaeñas	DOM Dominican League	6	4	2	0.667	Mike Quade
Tomateros de Culiacán	MEX Mexican Pacific League	6	3	3	0.500	Francisco Estrada
Navegantes del Magallanes	VEN Venezuelan League	6	3	3	0.500	John Tamargo
Indios de Mayagüez	PRI Puerto Rican League	6	2	4	0.333	Tom Gamboa

All-Tournament Team

• C: Guillermo Garcia, Cibaeñas
• 1B: Luis Raven, Magallanes
• 2B: Ever Magallanes, Culiacán
• SS: Luis Sojo, Magallanes
• 3B: Edgardo Alfonzo, Magallanes
• OF: Bobby Abreu, Magallanes
• OF: Armando Rios, Mayagüez
• OF: Luis Garcia, Culiacán
• DH: Matt Stark, Culiacán
• P: Ramon Garcia, Magallanes
• P: Teddy Higuera, Culiacán

Leaders

• Batting Average: .588 - Bobby Abreu, Navegantes del Magallanes
• Home Runs: 4 - Armando Ríos, Indios de Mayagüez; Matt Stark, Naranjeros de Hermosillo
• Runs Batted In: 13 - Tony Batista, Águilas Cibaeñas
• Wins: 1 - Six tied

Sources

• 1998 Baseball Almanac