Panamanian Professional Baseball League
The Panamanian Professional Baseball League (Spanish: Béisbol Profesional de Panamá), currently known as Probeis, is a professional baseball winter league consisting of four teams based in Panama. The league's winner takes part in the Caribbean Series.
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| CEO | Guy Nacchio |
| Director | Lauren Flores |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | Panama |
| Most recent champion(s) | Astronautas de Chiriquí (1st title) |
| TV partner(s) | Sertv |
| Sponsor(s) | +Movil |
| Related competitions | Caribbean Series |
History
Founded in 1946, the PPBL joined Organized Baseball in 1948 and operated continuously until 1972.[1]
A new Panamanian baseball league started the 2001–02 season as Probeis (Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá), but it lasted that season only. By 2010, Los Angeles Dodgers related businessmen restarted the league as LPB (Professional Baseball League), but had poor logistics and operations lasted only one season.
In 2011 Probeis made its second run since 2001.
1948–60
| Seasons | Clubs |
|---|---|
| 1948–49 through 1952–53 | Carta Vieja Yankees Cerveceria Nacional Chesterfield Smokers Spur Cola Colonites |
| 1953–54 through 1955–56 | Carta Vieja Yankees Chesterfield Smokers Spur Cola Colonites |
| 1956–57 through 1957–58 | Carta Vieja Yankees Cerveza Balboa Chesterfield Smokers |
| 1958–59 | Coclé Azucareros Carta Vieja Yankees Cerveza Balboa Marlboro Smokers |
| 1959–60 | Carta Vieja Yankees Cerveza Balboa Comercios Dodgers Marlboro Smokers[2] |
Champion teams
| Season | |
| 1948–49 | Spur Cola |
| 1949–50 | Carta Vieja |
| 1950–51 | Spur Cola (2) |
| 1951–52 | Carta Vieja (2) |
| 1952–53 | Chesterfield |
| 1953–54 | Carta Vieja (3) |
| 1954–55 | Carta Vieja (4) |
| 1955–56 | Chesterfield (2) |
| 1956–57 | Balboa |
| 1957–58 | Carta Vieja (5) |
| 1958–59 | Coclé |
| 1959–60 | Marlboro[2] |
Notes
- The Carta Vieja, Chesterfield, Comercios and Marlboro teams represented Panama City, while Spur Cola was based in Colon.
- The Azucareros and Cerveza Balboa teams were sponsored from the cities of Aguadulce and Balboa, respectively.
- More of the games were played at Estadio Olímpico de Panamá in Panama City.[2]
Carta Vieja Yankees
The league's champion team played in the Caribbean Series in its first stage from 1949 through 1960, before Fidel Castro dismantled the Cuban Winter League and replaced it with a new amateur circuit.
The Carta Vieja Yankees, one of the most distinguished clubs in the circuit, won five titles spanning 1950–58 and also captured the 1950 Caribbean Series, to become the only Panamanian team to a win a Series championship in the 20th Century.[2][3]
Throughout its 12-year history, the team featured players as Wayne Blackburn, Chet Brewer, Webbo Clarke, Jim Cronin, Jerry Davie, Carl Duser, Marion Fricano, Milt Graff, Bill Harris, Spook Jacobs, Connie Johnson, Spider Jorgensen, Héctor López, Bobby Prescott, Humberto Robinson, Jean-Pierre Roy, Pat Scantlebury, Billy Shantz, Joe Tuminelli and Jim Umbricht, among others.[2]
Probeis
2001–02
Four teams participated during the 2001–02 season: Canaleros de Panamá, Macheteros de Azuero, Roneros de Carta Vieja and Tiburones Atlas de Panamá Oeste. Carta Vieja was the champion team, while Olmedo Sáenz won the batting title (.331) and Miguel Gómez was the best pitcher (5-0).[4][5]
2012-13
Caballos de Coclé won first title and Javier Castillo was selected as MVP with 0.397 Avg.
Caballos de Coclé as champion represented Panama in the first Serie Latinoamericana held in Veracruz, Mexico, reaching third place.[8]
Industriales de Herrera replaced Diablicos de Azuero for the 2012 tournament.[9][10]
Teams for 2020-2021 season
- Astronautas de Los Santos
- Toros de Herrera
- Aguilas Metropolitanas de Panamá
- Federales de Chiriquí
The league cancelled the 2020-21 season due to Covid-19. A team was then put together of players from the four teams in the league to represent Panamá in the 2021 Caribbean Series.
2021 Caribbean Series roster
| Panama 2021 Caribbean Series Roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||
|
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches | |||||||
Champion teams
| Season | |
| 2001–02 | Roneros de Carta Vieja |
| 2011–12 | Roneros de Chiriquí |
| 2012–13 | Caballos de Coclé |
| 2013–14 | Indios de Urracá |
| 2014–15 | Caballos de Coclé |
| 2015–16 | Nacionales de Panamá |
| 2016–17 | Panamá Metro |
| 2017–18 | Caballos de Coclé |
| 2018–19 | Toros de Herrera |
| 2019–20 | Astronautas de Chiriquí |
| 2020–21 | cancelled (Covid-19) |
LPB 2010
In 2010, Major League Baseball authorized Augusto Ávila Penabad and Rafael Ávila (at the time a vice president with the Los Angeles Dodgers) to run a new winter professional baseball league. The Liga Profesional de Beisbol or known as LPB started under the sponsorship of Claro with four teams: Los Santos, Herrera, Veraguas and Panama. The league lasted only one season due to poor logistics, economics and no support from main TV stations. Only UHF RCM Television bought the TV rights.
Season ran from December 12, 2009 until February 15, 2010.[11]
References
- The Rise of the Latin American Baseball Leagues, 1947–1961 - Lou Hernandez. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2011. Format: Softcover, 412 pp. Language: English. ISBN 978-0-7864-6384-8
- The Rise of the Latin American Baseball Leagues
- Carta Vieja, Rey del Caribe Archived 2009-01-08 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish)
- "Sports&Health Magazine – La llama del béisbol profesional en Panamá vuelve a brillar con el torneo PROBEIS". (Spanish)
- Diamonds around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball – Peter C. Bjarkman. Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. Format: Hardcover, 656 pp. Language: English. ISBN 978-0-3133-2268-6
- 2011 Probeis Rosters Archived 2013-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
- 2011 Final Game
- es:Serie Latinoamericana 2013
- Probeis Teams 2012
- Probeis 2012
- LPB 2010 Info