Cardenales de Lara

Cardenales de Lara Lara Cardinals
League:	Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional
Founding:	1942
First Season:	1965/1966
City:	Barquisimeto, Lara
Stadium:	Estadio Antonio Herrera Gutiérrez
League Titles:	5
	1990/1991, 1997/1998, 1998/1999, 2000/2001, 2018/2019, 2019/2020
Serie del Caribe Titles:	0
	none
Former Names:
Future Names:
President:	Humberto Oropeza
General Manager:	Carlos Oropeza
Manager:

The Cardenales de Lara are a Venezuelan winter league team that plays in the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional. After Venezuela won the Serie del Caribe in 1941 and as baseball gained popularity in the country, Don Antonio Herrera Gutiérrez founded the club in the following year. The team was based in Carora, Lara. The team played in the Liga Occidental until its collapse and then joined the LVBP as part of league's first expansion in 1965. The Cardenales were the only Western team to make the jump. It took the team 25 years to win its first title, against the Leones del Caracas. In the late 1990s, the team won three titles in five years.

The team's fans are called the mar rojo (red sea) due to the distinct color of the team.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Manager	Playoffs
1965-66	23-37	Rodolfo Fernandez
1966-67	31-30	Hub Kittle
1967-68	25-35	Tony Castano
1968-69	26-34	Pedro Ramos
1969-70	30-30	Tony Pacheco	Semi-final
1970-71	33-26	Tony Pacheco	Semi-final
1971-72	26-34	Tony Pacheco
1972-73	30-40	Luis Aparicio
1973-74	20-40	Luis Aparicio
1974-75	24-36	Bobby Cox
1975-76	37-27	Bobby Cox	Runner-up
1976-77	31-35	Bobby Cox	Semi-final
1977-78	33-37	Leo Posada
1978-79	36-34	Tony Pacheco	Semi-final
1979-80	39-31	Vernon Benson	Runner-up
1980-81	35-25	Vernon Benson	Runner-up
1981-82	35-30	Vernon Benson	Runner-up
1982-83	32-33	Vernon Benson	Semi-final
1983-84	31-33	Jim Beauchamp	Runner-up
1984-85	36-29	Jim Beauchamp	Semi-final
1985-86	36-29	Ozzie Virgil Sr.	Semi-final
1986-87	37-28	Ozzie Virgil Sr.	Semi-final
1987-88	37-23	John McLaren
1988-89	24-36	Jose Martinez
1989-90	33-27	Domingo Carrasquel Sr.	Runner-up
1990-91	37-23	Domingo Carrasquel Sr.	Champions
1991-92	30-29	Domingo Carrasquel Sr.
1992-93	34-26	Garth Iorg
1993-94	33-27	John McLaren
1994-95	33-27	Mel Queen Jr.
1995-96	34-26	Nick Leyva	Runner-up
1996-97	31-21	Omar Malave
1997-98	43-21	Omar Malave	Champions
1998-99	35-26	Omar Malave	Champions
1999-00	34-26	Omar Malave
2000-01	38-24	Nick Leyva	Champions
2001-02	39-23	Nick Leyva
2002-03	21-22	Dan Rohn	Playoffs cancelled
2003-04	30-32	Dan Rohn / Alexis Infante
2004-05	33-29	Phil Regan
2005-06	27-35	Phil Regan / Luis Sojo
2006-07	27-35	Omar Malave
2007-08	34-29	Luis Sojo	Runner-up
2008-09	33-30	Luis Sojo
2009-10	29-35	Luis Sojo
2010-11	28-35	John Tamargo / Nelson Prada
2011-12	31-32	Pedro Grifol
2012-13	34-29	Pedro Grifol	Runner-up
2013-14	28-35	Pedro Grifol
2014-15	29-35	Felix Fermin
2015-16	33-31	Luis Dorante
2016-17	39-24	Luis Dorante	Runner-up
2017-18	38-25	Jose Moreno	Runner-up
2018-19	35-28	Jose Moreno	Champions
2019-20	24-18	Luis Ugueto	Champions
2020-21	25-15	Jose Moreno	Runner-up
2021-22	28-21	Carlos Mendoza

Caribbean Series Appearances

• 1991: 2nd place
• 1998: 3rd place (t)
• 1999: 3rd place (t)
• 2001: 2nd place (t)
• 2019: 4th place (t)
• 2020: Runner up

Notable Players

• Luis Aponte
• Miguel Cairo
• Giovanni Carrara
• Antonio Castillo
• Kelvim Escobar
• Edwin Hurtado
• Alexis Infante
• Luis Leal
• Robert Pérez
• Carlos Santeliz
• Luis Sojo
• Faustino Zabala

External Links

• Offical Page