WINTER BASEBALL – Radiography of the Dominican League teams

A few hours before the start of the 2021-22 season of the winter fall baseball tournament, the shout of “play ball” will return to the stadiums when six “champion” teams go to dispute a single crown.

This is an X-ray of each of the teams that will see action in the tournament that will feature 40 regular series games, 18 round robin games (four classified) and a best of 7-4 final.

Hard to kill

The Leones del Escogido, in their centenary season, will seek to raise their crown count to 16. The club born on February 17, 1921 will have Rodney Linares as their manager. The third base coach of the Tampa Bay Rays has already directed the Gigantes del Cibao, Estrellas Orientales and Águilas Cibaeñas on the circuit. The Escogido Baseball Club, SA once again has Luis Manuel Bonetti as president. It shares the Quisqueya Juan Marichal stadium (16,469 seats) with the Tigres del Licey. The management is in the hands of José Gómez, who wishes to transfer his success (bronze medal) in the Olympic Games, but exchanging it for gold.

The big team

The national and Caribbean champions, the Águilas Cibaeñas, return to action with their historical manager, Félix Fermín (six national crowns, four series from the Caribbean) and with the team of general manager Ángel Ovalles and the president, re-elected, Quilvio Hernández. The Cibao stadium, with its capacity for 18,077 people, will once again wear yellow in support of the club that has lifted the champion crown on 22 occasions. Águilas Baseball Club, C. by A. is born on January 2, 1933.

To distribute cocoa

The finalists Gigantes del Cibao are coming for revenge after letting go of a 3-1 lead in the Cibaeña final last tournament. With a single crown won in 2015, those born in 1996 return to the leadership of Luis Urueta, a well-known face after several years of working in different roles with the Licey, as well as the manager Jesús Mejía. Under the presidency of Samir Rizek Sued, the representative of San Francisco de Macorís plays his home games at the Julián Javier stadium (12,000 seats) in that city.

Owners of Torolío

Another formula that returns in search of a fourth crown is the one made up of manager Lino Rivera (exLicey, former champion Eagles), general manager Raymond Abreu (ex-chosen) and president Luis Emilio Rodríguez Amiama. The surviving team of a questioned or imposed expansion and that was born on February 1, 1983 under the name Azucareros del Este, SRL A total of 10 thousand fans can comfortably see the games sitting as the home club of the representative of the city of La Romana in the Francisco Micheli stadium.

The stellar glow

Fernando Tatis, the manager who broke the chain of 51 years without winning the champion’s crown, returns at the hands of a new general manager Felix Peguero, although he has a lot of experience in managing teams. The third of the centennial teams in the league (1910) has won the tiara three times. The Corporación Deportiva San Pedro de Macorís, SA receives its opponents at the Tetelo Vargas stadium (8,000 seats). Its president is Miguel Feris.

The glorious

With a new president (Ricardo Ravelo), a new general manager (Carlos José Lugo) and a new manager (Tony Díaz), the Tigres del Licey are going to resume their glorious pace that keeps them as the club with the most crowns (22, tied with the Eagles ). Diaz is the third base coach for the Minnesota Twins and has worked with the Bulls and Giants in the league. Lugo opens in office, but has been part of the operations corps for years. The Licey Athletic Club was born on November 7, 1907 and shares a stadium with the Leones del Escogido.

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Creoles dominate in managers

Four from here.

Rodney Linares, with the Leones del Escogido, Félix Fermín, with the Águilas Cibaeñas, Fernando Tatis, with the Estrellas Orientales and Tony Díaz, with the Tigres del Licey.

Two from outside.

The foreign leaders are two familiar faces and they repeat in their positions: the Colombian Luis Urrueta, with the Gigantes del Cibao and the Puerto Rican Lino Rivera, with the Toros del Este.

Centenary.

The Chosen One joins the club of the league’s centennial teams together with Licey and Estrellas and wants the crown to celebrate big.

Tie.

Águilas and Licey share the summit with 22 crowns won so they will resume their hand-to-hand fight for historical supremacy.