1999 Caribbean Series

The 1999 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the twenty-ninth edition of the second stage of the Caribbean Series. It was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from February 2 to February 8. The series featured four teams from Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. The Tigres del Licey of the Dominican League won the series - their eighth - after a dramatic final two games. The team was managed by Dave Jauss. The Most Valuable Player was, for a second year running, Neifi Pérez a shortstop with the Tigres del Licey.

In the final game of the round-robin round, saw Licey with a 4-1 record and facing the 3-2 Indios de Mayagüez, with Licey needing a win to take the title. The Tigres led 5-0 in the 8th inning but three errors (of six in the game by the Tigers) helped Mayagüez to a stunning comeback capped by a hit by Edwards Guzman to score Jose Cruz Jr.. This forced another matchup of the two teams as the The Cardenales de Lara and Águilas de Mexicali had both been eliminated at 2-4.

In the finale, Licey led 4-1 after three innings thanks to a 2-run homer by David Ortiz, who had only hit 4 for 21 in the Series until that point). Mayagüez scored twice in the 8th to come within one and then Wil Cordero homered off of Manny Aybar in the 9th to tie the score. In the top of the 12th, Boi Rodriguez homered to put the Indios ahead and almost give them a second straight dramatic win. In the bottom of the inning, Luis Castillo hit a pinch-hit single and stole second. A wild pitch by Miguel Alicea put Castillo on third and Ronnie Belliard was walked. Eddie Priest relieved Alicea and Belliard swiped second. Ortiz then hit a two-run liner than won it for Licey.

Licey's leading hitters were Series MVP Neifi Perez (.400), Adrian Beltre (.280), and pitcher Dario Perez 1-0, 1.80). Mayagüez's near-hero Rodriguez hit .308 with 9 runs, 3 home runs and a .731 slugging percentage. Jose Rosado was the top Indios pitcher at 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA. Ever Magallanes (.381, 7 RBI, .762 SLG) and Karim Garcia (.500, 1.07 SLG) paced Mexicali's hitting while Carlos Mendoza (.500) and Wes Chamberlain (.389, 7 R, 1.000 SLG) were the best hitters with the Venezuelan club.

Final Standings[edit]

Team	League	G	W	L	WPCT	Manager
Tigres del Licey	DOM Dominican League	7	5	2	0.714	Dave Jauss
Indios de Mayagüez	PRI Puerto Rican League	7	4	3	0.571	Al Newman
Cardenales de Lara	VEN Venezuelan League	6	2	4	0.333	Omar Malavé
Águilas de Mexicali	MEX Mexican Pacific League	6	2	4	0.333	Francisco Estrada