Leones de Ponce

• Location: Ponce
• League: Puerto Rican League 1938-2014
• Stadium: Estadio Francisco Montaner

Team History

The Leones de Ponce (Ponce Lions) were a founding member of the Puerto Rico Baseball League in 1938. They won 11 league titles and the 1972 Caribbean Series. However, after the 2013-14 season they were replaced by the Senadores de San Juan. The team name is traced to a publicity photo where the owner is pictured with a whip, looking like a lion tamer.

Past players have included Pancho Coimbre, Jorge Tirado, Luis Arroyo, Hilton Smith, Rich Gossage, Raymond Brown, Frank Robinson, José Santiago, Steve Carlton, Nelson Briles, Tommy Cruz, Carlos May, Adrian Garrett, José Vidro, Iván Cruz, José Cruz, Sr., Jose Cruz Jr., Sandy Alomar, Sr., Roberto Alomar, José Hernández, Emilio Navarro, Héctor Cruz and Rickey Henderson.

The team's name is a play on that of Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Manager	Post Season
1938-39	20-20
1939-40	33-23
1940-41	19-23
1941-42	30-13	George Scales	Champions
1942-43	19-16	George Scales	Champions
1943-44	37-7	George Scales	Champions
1944-45	28-11	George Scales	Champions
1945-46	21-20
1946-47	38-22	George Scales	Champions
1947-48	24-36
1948-49	47-33	George Scales
1949-50	45-35
1950-51	43-35	Rogers Hornsby
1951-52	34-36	Benny Huffman
1952-53	36-36
1953-54	39-41
1954-55	26-46
1955-56	28-44
1956-57	18-54
1957-58	30-34
1958-59	26-38
1959-60	17-45
1960-61	29-35	Cal Ermer
1961-62	28-52
1962-63	26-44
1963-64	36-34	Johnny Lipon
1964-65	28-42
1965-66	38-33	Luis Arroyo	Runner-up
1966-67	46-25	Luis Arroyo	Runner-up
1967-68	34-36	Luis Arroyo
1968-69	43-25	Rocky Bridges	Champions
1969-70	44-25	Jim Fregosi	Champions
1970-71	34-33	Frank Verdi
1971-72	37-32	Frank Verdi	Champions
1972-73	38-33	Frank Verdi	Runner-up
1973-74	42-28	Pat Corrales	Runner-up
1974-75	40-30	Pat Corrales
1975-76	26-34	Harvey Kuenn
1976-77	38-22	Cal Ermer
1977-78	20-40
1978-79	33-27	Jose Pagan
1979-80	27-33
1980-81	24-36
1981-82	28-32	Ed Nottle	Champions
1982-83	34-27	Steve Boros	Runner-up
1983-84	32-29	Jim Napier	Runner-up
1984-85	25-35
1985-86	24-29
1986-87	34-19	Orlando Gomez	Runner-up
1987-88	27-27
1988-89	25-34	Duffy Dyer
1989-90	31-19	Sandy Alomar Sr.
1990-91	23-37
1991-92	27-23	Orlando Gomez
1992-93	22-26
1993-94	14-34
1994-95	26-28	Sandy Alomar Sr.
1995-96	25-26
1996-97	17-33
1997-98	30-32	Orlando Gomez / Carlos Lezcano
1998-99	29-18	Carlos Lezcano	Runner-up
1999-00	26-24	Carlos Lezcano
2000-01	16-34	Pete Mackanin / Jose Cruz Sr.
2001-02	31-22	Jose Cruz Sr.
2002-03	24-26	Jose Cruz Sr.
2003-04	28-21	Jose Cruz Sr.	Champions
2004-05	21-19	Jose Cruz Sr.
2005-06	21-22	Jose Cruz Sr.	Runner-up
2006-07	21-24	Jose Cruz Sr.	Runner Up
2007-08	League suspended
2008-09	27-15	Eduardo Perez	Champions
2009-10	15-27	Eduardo Perez
2010-11	29-19	Pat Listach	Runner-up
2011-12	21-20	Pat Listach
2012-13	17-23	Hector Ortiz
2013-14	21-19	Carmelo Martinez

Caribbean Series Appearances

• 1970: 2nd place
• 1972: Champions
• 1982: 2nd place
• 2004: Last place
• 2009: 3rd place (t)