2003 Caribbean Series

The 2003 Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe) was the thirtieth-third edition of the second stage of the Caribbean Series. It was held in Carolina, Puerto Rico from February 2 to February 8. The series featured four teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican League won the series and were managed by Felix Fermin. The Most Valuable Player was David Ortiz a first baseman with the Águilas Cibaeñas. Ortiz hit .462, slugged .885, scored 8 and drove in 11. In the final three games, he was 9 for 11.

This was only the second series without a Venezuelan League entry as political protests against president Hugo Chavez led to the season's early end. As a result, two teams from the host league participated. The Criollos de Caguas beat the LMP's Cañeros de Los Mochis twice, but lost their other four games; Los Mochis did not win at all.

The second Puerto Rican entry in the series was the Indios de Mayagüez, which started off 5-0. In game six, they faced off with the 4-1 Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican League, the champions in three of the prior six years. Mayagüez had beat Aguilas 10-0 in their first meeting thanks to 2-hit pitching by Kiko Calero and Fernando Cabrera. The second time, the Dominicans won 6-0 against Josue Matos to force an extra game. The Aguilas won again, 7-3, over Dicky Gonzalez to claim yet another title.

In addition to Ortiz, other notable Águilas were the middle infield of Rafael Furcal and Miguel Tejada (.462, .769 SLG, 9 R), outfielder Luis Polonia (.344), and reliever Hipolito Pichardo (2-0, 1.42). Mayagüez's top players were Jose Valentin (.429), Luis Lopez (.375, .688 SLG), and Kiko Calero (1-0, 0.00). The other Puerto Rican team had Hector Ortiz (.385, .615 SLG), Orlando Merced (.375, .875 SLG), and pitcher Angel Miranda. The only notable performance by the 0-6 Mexican club was by Ramon Orantes (.364).

Final Standings[edit]

Team	League	G	W	L	WPCT	Manager
Águilas Cibaeñas	DOM Dominican League	7	6	1	0.857	Félix Fermin
Indios de Mayagüez	PRI Puerto Rican League	7	5	2	0.714	Nick Leyva
Criollos de Caguas	PRI Puerto Rican League	6	2	4	0.333	Jerry Morales
Cañeros de Los Mochis	MEX Mexican Pacific League	6	0	6	0.000	Chico Rodríguez