Dominican Professional Baseball League

{{See also|Baseball in the Dominican Republic}}

For his close involvement in the Dominican league's establishment and early development, Pedro Miguel Caratini has been called "the father of Dominican baseball".{{cite book|last1=Van Hyning|first1=Thomas E.|last2=Valero|first2=Eduardo |title=Puerto Rico's Winter League: A History of Major League Baseball's Launching Pad|year=1995|publisher=McFarland|page=1}} Four amateur clubs established in the early 1900s still exist today, and form the foundation of Dominican professional baseball: Tigres del Licey in 1907, Estrellas Orientales in 1911, Leones del Escogido in 1921, and Sandino (later renamed Águilas Cibaeñas) in 1937.

The first attempts at an organized professional league came about in the 1920s. Licey, the most successful of the existing amateur teams in Santo Domingo, played a series of 32 games against an all-star team known as "Escogido" ("the chosen ones"); that tournament was won by Escogido, though Caratini (Licey) took the batting title.{{cite web |title=Early History of Baseball in the Dominican Republic |url=https://sabr.org/research/article/early-history-of-baseball-in-the-dominican-republic/ |website=SABR.org |publisher=Society for American Baseball Research |access-date=27 October 2024 |date=2022}}{{cite web |title=1922: El primer campeonato o campeonato de la reina |url=https://www.licey.com/1922-el-primer-campeonato-o-campeonato-de-la-reina/ |website=Licey.com |publisher=Tigres del Liceey |access-date=27 October 2024 |language=es |date=1 November 2016}} A second tournament held the following year, now with four teams (Escogido, Licey, Santiago and San Pedro de Macorís) was suspended with only 34 games of the 48-game schedule played, after Escogido withdrew in protest of a controversial decision to nullify a victory over Licey.{{cite web |title=1923: Inconcluso |url=https://www.licey.com/1923-inconcluso/ |website=Licey.com |date=29 November 2016 |publisher=Tigres del Liceey |access-date=27 October 2024 |language=es }} Licey won the 1924 series, contested against Escogido, as they did in 1929. However, professional baseball saw a hiatus after the 1930 San Zenón hurricane destroyed both La Primavera and the Gimnasio Escolar, the two existing venues for baseball in Santo Domingo.

During the years 1930-1963, military dictator General Rafael Trujillo can be credited with furthering the sport of baseball in Dominican Republic. Trujillo encouraged many sugar refineries to create teams of cane cutting laborers to play baseball during the idle months of cultivation. Fostering high levels of competition, the organization structure continued to mature stimulating growth in the intensity and popularity of the game.{{cite book |last=Klein |first=Alan |title=Baseball as Underdevelopment: The Political-Economy of Sport in the Dominican Republic |publisher=Northwestern University |date=1989}} Another professional tournament was established in 1936, this time with four teams: Licey, Escogido, Santiago, and Estrellas Orientales, which won the 1936 tournament.

In 1937, Licey and Escogido, the two teams in Santo Domingo (now renamed "Ciudad Trujillo"), were merged into the "Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo," a team sponsored by the dictator Trujillo himself. teams of the Dominican Republic signed a large number of players from the Negro leagues of the United States, attracting them with large salaries by Dominicans with money and political power. Among these players were future Hall of Famers James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell, Josh Gibson, and Satchel Paige. Gibson won the batting title (.453) and Paige earned the most wins, as Dragones defeated Aguilas Cibaeñas.{{cite web |title=El Campeonato del 1937 |url=https://www.licey.com/el-campeonato-del-1937/ |website=Licey.com |publisher=Tigres del Liceey |access-date=27 October 2024 |language=es |date=1 November 2016}} However, the lavish contracts exhausted team finances, leading to a decline of Dominican baseball until 1950.

Many of the teams were nearly bankrupted after the 1937 season, and no professional tournament was attempted for the next 14 years. The best Dominican professionals left to play in Cuba, Puerto Rico, or in the American Negro leagues, while popular attention on the island turned to the amateur teams (which, in many cases, were effectively semi-pro teams). However, Dominican victories in the Amateur World Series and other international competitions spurred calls for a return to professional baseball.{{cite book |last1=Yoder |first1=April |title=Pitching Democracy: Baseball and Politics in the Dominican Republic |date=2023 |publisher=University of Texas |pages=17–19}}

{{location map+ |Dominican Republic|float=right|width=350|caption=Dominican Professional Baseball League team locations|places=

{{location map~ |Dominican Republic|lat=19.466944 |long=-70.708889 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=6 |label=Águilas|position=top}}

{{location map~ |Dominican Republic|lat=18.464167 |long=-69.303333 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=6 |label=Estrellas|position=top}}

{{location map~ |Dominican Republic|lat=19.3 |long=-70.25 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=6 |label=Gigantes|position=bottom}}

{{location map~ |Dominican Republic|lat=18.488161 |long=-69.926419 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=6 |label=Leones|position=bottom}}

{{location map~ |Dominican Republic|lat=18.488161 |long=-69.926419 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=6 |label=Tigres|position=top}}

{{location map~ |Dominican Republic|lat=18.434237 |long=-68.988858 |mark = Red pog.svg |marksize=6 |label=Toros|position=bottom}}

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• Azucareros del Este, 1983–2008, a former name of the current Toros del Este
• Caimanes del Sur (San Cristóbal), during 1983–1989
• Delfines del Atlántico (Puerto Plata), this team was never officially in the league and did not play
• Pollos del Cibao / Pollos Nacionales / Pollos Béisbol Club (San Francisco de Macorís) during 1999–2002, previously Gigantes del Nordeste, currently Gigantes del Cibao

*Championships won before LIDOM (1951)

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• {{section link|Baseball awards|Dominican Republic}}
• Dominican Summer League

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• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121103152555/http://www.sobreeldiamante.com/liga-de-beisbol-profesional-de-la-republica-dominicana About Dominican Republic Baseball]}}

{{Dominican Winter League}}

{{Baseball leagues}}

{{Professional Baseball}}

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Category:Dominican Professional Baseball League

Category:Sports leagues established in 1951

Category:Sports leagues in the Dominican Republic

Category:1951 establishments in the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic