1998 Caribbean Series

The 1998 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the twenty-eighth edition of the second stage of the Caribbean Series. It was held in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela from February 5 to February 10. 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 Tony Peña. The Most Valuable Player was Neifi Pérez, a shortstop with the Águilas Cibaeñas.

The Águilas stretched their Series winning streak from 4 to 10 as they won their second straight series with a 6 - 0 record. They did not dominate the series however. The team needed 14 innings to win the opener, won one in the 9th when Oscar Henriquez had a two-running throwing error for the Cardenales de Lara and edged the Venados de Mazatlán by one run in another game.

The Dominican club was managed by Tony Pena, who had played for the club during the Dominican League season but did not appear in the Series. Instead, the team was led by MVP Neifi Perez, who hit .444, slugged .778, scored 9 and drove in 5, hitting six doubles in six games. Other All-Tournament players on the Dominican club were major leaguers Alex Arias (.400, .680 SLG), Miguel Tejada (.381, .667 SLG), Luis Polonia (.308), Julian Tavarez (1-0, 0.00 in 12 IP), and Guillermo Garcia.

The Indios de Mayagüez went 4-0 in games against teams other than the Aguilas to place second. The team was led by infielder Jose Hernandez (.333, .778 SLG, 4 HR, 6 R, 8 RBI) and DH Pedro Munoz (.400, .750 SLG). Former series MVP Darryl Brinkley (.375, .625 SLG) was the top hitter with the 1-5 Mazatlán club, while Dennys Reyes had a 0.00 ERA in 7 innings. Lara's best hitter was Magglio Ordonez (.316, .737 SLG).

Final Standings

Team	League	G	W	L	WPCT	Manager
Águilas Cibaeñas	DOM Dominican League	6	6	0	1.000	Tony Peña
Indios de Mayagüez	PRI Puerto Rican League	6	4	2	0.667	Tom Gamboa
Cardenales de Lara	VEN Venezuelan League	6	1	5	0.167	Omar Malavé
Venados de Mazatlán	MEX Mexican Pacific League	6	1	5	0.167	Raúl Cano

All-Tournament Team

• C: Guillermo Garcia, Cibaeñas
• 1B: Alex Arias, Cibaeñas
• 2B: Neifi Perez, Cibaeñas
• SS: Jose Hernandez, Mayagüez
• 3B: Miguel Tejada, Cibaeñas
• RF: Magglio Ordonez, Lara
• CF: Darryl Brinkley, Mazatlán
• LF: Luis Polonia, Cibaeñas
• DH: Pedro Munoz, Mayagüez
• RHP: Julian Tavarez, Cibaeñas
• LHP: Dennys Reyes, Mazatlán
• RP: Jose Cabrera, Cibaeñas

Leaders

• Batting Average: .444 - Neifi Pérez, Águilas Cibaeñas
• Home Runs: 4 - José Hernández, Indios de Mayagüez
• Runs Batted In: 8 - José Hernández, Indios de Mayagüez
• Wins: 1 - Four tied

Sources

• 1999 Baseball Almanac