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Tiburones de La Guaira#History

{{Short description|Venezuelan baseball team}}

{{Infobox baseball team

| name =Tiburones de La Guaira

| logo =Tiburones La Guaira logo.png

| league =Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

| location =Macuto, La Guaira

| founded =1962

| stadium =Estadio Jorge Luis García Carneiro
Estadio Universitario

| league_champs = 8 (1964-65, 1965-66, 1968-69, 1970-71, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1985-86, 2023–24)

| series = Caribbean Series

| series_champs = 1 (2024)

| h_pattern_cap=_redbill|h_cap=0000aa

| h_leftarm=0000aa|h_pattern_la=_redshoulders

| h_rightarm=0000aa|h_pattern_ra=_redshoulders

| h_body=0000aa|h_pattern_b=_baseball_blackpiping

| h_pants=FFFFFF

| h_socks=0000aa

| a_cap=c0c0c0

| a_leftarm=c0c0c0|a_pattern_la=_blackshoulders

| a_rightarm=c0c0c0|a_pattern_ra=_blackshoulders

| a_body=c0c0c0|a_pattern_b=_baseball_blackpiping

| a_pants=c0c0c0

| a_socks=009|

}}

The Tiburones de La Guaira ({{langx|en|La Guaira Sharks}}) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP). Though they nominally represent La Guaira (playing at the Estadio Jorge Luis García Carneiro), they also play home games at the Estadio Universitario in nearby Caracas.{{cite web | url=https://meridiano.net/beisbol/beisbol-venezolano/donde-se-juega-la-lvbp-2023-2024-sedes-ciudades-y-estadios-2023102022170/amp | title=¿Dónde se juega la LVBP 2023-2024? Sedes, ciudades y estadios (+Video) }} Tiburones have won eight national championships since their founding in 1962, most recently in 2024.

History

In 1962 the Licoreros de Pampero team, which was founded in 1955, was sold for the symbolic price of one Bolívar by his owner Alejandro Hernández to José Antonio Casanova, who was considered the greatest Venezuelan manager at the time. The new team changed its name to Tiburones de la Guaira.{{cite book|last1=González|first1=Javier|last2=Figueroa Ruiz|first2=Carlos|date=October 2019|title=Tiburones Tenaces|url=https://banesco-prod-2020.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/tiburones-tenaces.pdf|language=es|publisher=Fondo Editorial Banesco|pages=15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501063108/https://banesco-prod-2020.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/tiburones-tenaces.pdf|archive-date=1 May 2024}}

Casanova, who was also the first manager of the team, did not have enough financial resources to go through an entire season. He then talked to his friend, Dr. Jesús Morales Valarino, who suggested an alliance with an important group of personalities and traders such as Manuel Malpica, Jose Antonio Diaz, Mario Gomez y Pablo Diaz. In that moment Tiburones de la Guaira was born, taking the field for first time ever in the 1962–1963 season. It was Morales' idea to take the team to the city of La Guaira, in order to take advantage of a city with no team yet numerous baseball fans.

In their first season, the Tiburones finished with a 23–19 record, missing the finals disputed between the Leones del Caracas and Industriales de Valencia. The team struggled in 1963–1964, ending third with a 23–27 record, being locked out of contention. La Guaira club would have to wait until its third season to win the first league championship, in a five-game confrontation against the Leones.

La Guaira was managed by Casanova until that year, and had remarkable players such as MLB Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Rollie Fingers, and Ángel Bravo, José Herrera and Elio Chacón as top Venezuelan figures. Casanova's contract expired in 1965 and the board of directors decided to finish the work relationship buying all his stock. Then Pedro Padrón Panza, who was among the original founders, bought all the stock to become the single owner.

At the time, Padrón worked hard to settle an important base of players which was later known as "La Guerrilla", because –no matter the score of a game– they were a never-surrender bunch of players who gave all to the cause. Some notable names includes the likes of Ozzie Guillén, Carlos Martinez, Gustavo Polidor, Luis Salazar and Luis Mercedes Sánchez, among others.

Padrón suffered a long illness starting in the early 1990s, which affected the level of his beloved team as well. He died in 1999, aged 78, leaving the control of the franchise to his son, Pedro Padrón Briñez, also known as "Peruchito". Nevertheless, Padrón Jr. and his son died in the 1999 Vargas tragedy that killed tens of thousands of people.

Marked by the death of three generations –past, present and future– of the team, the Tiburones tried to repeat their glorious performances of the 1970s and 1980s in the 2000–2001 season under manager and former player Luis Salazar, almost clinching a playoff spot. Since then, the Tiburones has become a competitive force again in the Venezuela league, missing the final series by taking a loss in an extra game in the 2008–2009 season against the Tigres de Aragua, and reaching the final series in 2011–2012, which they end up losing again to Aragua in six games.

Tiburones won the title in 2023—24 over Cardenales de Lara. At the 2024 Caribbean Series, Tiburones pitcher Ángel Padrón threw a nine-inning no-hitter against Nicaragua's Gigantes de Rivas, the first no-hitter in the tournament since 1952 (which was thrown against Venezuela).

Championship titles/managers

Caribbean Series records

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Year

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Venue

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Finish

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Wins

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Losses

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Win%

!scope="col" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF;" | Manager

1971align=left| {{flagicon|PRI}} San Juan2nd place{{efn|Tied with Naranjeros de Hermosillo and Cangrejeros de Santurce}}24.333align=left| {{flagicon|VEN}} Graciano Ravelo
1983align=left| {{flagicon|VEN}} Caracas2nd place42.667align=left| {{flagicon|DOM}} Osvaldo Virgil
1985align=left| {{flagicon|MEX}} Mazatlán3rd place{{efn|Tied with Metropolitanos de San Juan}}24.333align=left| {{flagicon|CUB}} Aurelio Monteagudo
1986align=left| {{flagicon|VEN}} Maracaibo2nd place33.500align=left| {{flagicon|CUB}} José Martínez
style="background:gold;"

| 2024

align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Miami1st place71.875align=left| {{flagicon|VEN}} Ozzie Guillén
style="text-align:center; background-color:#322F91; color:#FFFFFF;"

| colspan="3" | Total

1812{{winpct|18|12}}

{{notelist}}

Team highlights

  • 1964–1965 : Darold Knowles won the pitching Triple Crown
  • 2013–2014 : Alex Cabrera became the first batting Triple Crown winner in LVBP history

LVBP regular season leaders

=Hitting=

Batting average

class="wikitable"

!Season!!Player!!Total

align=center

| 1966–1967

Tony Curry.309
1973–1974    Al Bumbry .367
1974–1975    Al Bumbry .354
1988–1989Carlos Martínez  .331
1991–1992  Chad Curtis .338
2011–2012 César Suárez .349
2013–2014  Alex Cabrera .391

Home runs

class="wikitable"

!Season!!Player!!Total

align=center

| 1977–1978

Clint Hurdle18
1982–1983Darryl Strawberry  12
1995–1996  Carlos Martínez    7
2002–2003    Rob Stratton  10
2008–2009   Max Ramírez  15
2013–2014    Alex Cabrera  21

Runs batted in

class="wikitable"

!Season!!Player!!Total

align=center

| 1962–1963

Dave Roberts34
1965–1966  John Bateman  38
1981–1982   Gary Rajsich  48
1991–1992   Chad Curtis  37
1995–1996 Carlos Martínez    39
2000–2001    Chris Jones  48
2013–2014   Alex Cabrera  59

=Pitching=

Wins

class="wikitable"

!Season!!Player!!Total

align=center

| 1964–1965

Darold Knowles *13
1965–1966  Marcelino López  12
1966–1967  Gene Brabender **  13
1967–1968  Eddie Watt ***  12
1972–1973  Jim Rooker  13
1974–1975  Tom House  10
1979–1980  Odell Jones  11
2002–2003  Bill Pulsipher    6

   * Tied with Lew Krausse Jr. (Caracas)

  ** Tied with Jim McGlothlin (Valencia)

 *** Tied with Diego Seguí (Caracas)

Earned run average

class="wikitable"

!Season!!Player!!Total

align=center

| 1962–1963

Dale Willis          2.03
1964–1965Darold Knowles 2.37
1965–1966Marcelino López 1.57
1969–1970Mike Hedlund 0.75
1976–1977Steve Luebber 2.59

Strikeouts

class="wikitable"

!Season!!Player!!Total

align=center

| 1962–1963

George Brunet89
1964–1965  Darold Knowles155
1966–1967  Gene Brabender147
1974–1975  Doug Bird  82
1979–1980  Odell Jones103
1985–1986  Odell Jones  70
1998–1999  Lou Pote  67

Current roster

class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"

! colspan="10" style="background-color:#E21A22; color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;"| Tiburones de La Guaira 2023–24 Roster

colspan="4" style="background-color:#322F91; color:#FFFFFF"| Players

! colspan="1" style="background-color:#322F91; color:#FFFFFF"| Coaches

style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left;"|

Pitchers

{{player|98|VEN|Elvis Araujo}}

{{player|44|VEN|Anthony Castro}}

{{player|38|VEN|Will Changaroty}}

{{player|83|BRA|Tiago Da Silva}}

{{player|25|VEN|Junior Guerra}}

{{player|62|VEN|Emilker Guzman}}

{{player|67|VEN|Arnaldo Hernández}}

{{player|85|VEN|Eudis Idrogo}}

{{player|12|VEN|Luis Madero}}

{{player|66|VEN|Ángel Padrón}}

{{player|58|VEN|Eduardo Paredes}}

{{player|17|USA|Miguel Peña}}

{{player|46|VEN|Ricardo Pinto}}

{{player|49|VEN|Jesus Pirela}}

{{player|70|VEN|Pedro Rodríguez}}

{{player|68|VEN|Karlo Seijas}}

{{player|79|VEN|Carlos Suniaga}}

{{player|71|DOM|Jojanse Torres}}

[https://www.lvbp.com/roster.php?team=698] updated on 16 January 2024

| width="25px" |

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left;"|

Catchers

{{player|37|VEN|Francisco Arcia}}

{{player|35|VEN|José Briceño}}

{{player|20|VEN|Sebastián Rivero}}

{{player|96|VEN|Luis Torrens}}

Infielders

{{player|21|VEN|Ehíré Adríanza}}

{{player|2|VEN|Alcides Escobar}}

{{player|10|VEN|Wilson García}}

{{player|22|BRA|Leonardo Reginatto}}

{{player|5|VEN|Maikel Garcia}}

{{player|7|VEN|Carlos Rivero}}

{{player|4|VEN|Brayan Rocchio}}

Outfielders

{{player|13|VEN|Ronald Acuña Jr.}}

{{player|43|VEN|Lorenzo Cedrola}}

{{player|1|VEN|Franklin Barreto}}

{{player|16|VEN|Anthony Jiménez}}

{{player|31|CUB|Yasiel Puig}}

{{player|99|VEN|Danry Vásquez}}

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left;"|

| style="vertical-align:top;text-align:left;"|

Manager

{{player

-|VEN|Ozzie Guillén}}

Coaches

{{player

-|VEN|Carlos Zambrano}} (Pitching)

{{player

-|VEN|Enrique González}} (Bullpen)

{{player

-|VEN|Endy Chávez}} (First Base)

{{player

-|VEN|Ender Chávez}} (Hitting)

{{player

-|VEN|David Davalillo Sr}} (Bench)

{{player

-|VEN|Emilio Linares}} (Third Base)

(Coaching staff for 2023–24 season)

{{Cite web|url=https://www.lvbp.com/roster.php?team=698|title=LVBP.com :: Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional|website=www.lvbp.com}}

Major League alumni

{{div col|small=yes|colwidth=18em}}

{{div col end}}

All-time foreign players

{{div col|small=yes|colwidth=18em}}

{{div col end}}

: Sources: [https://web.archive.org/web/20101017043008/http://purapelota.com/ PuraPelota.com]

Retired numbers

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.tiburonesdelaguaira.com.ve/ Official Site] (Spanish)
  • [http://www.tiburones.net/museohistorico/ Museum on Line] (Spanish)

{{LVBP |state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiburones De La Guaira}}

La Guaira

Category:La Guaira

Category:Baseball teams established in 1962

Category:1962 establishments in Venezuela

Category:Venezuelan Professional Baseball League teams