Caribbean League: Free Spirits and Raw Talent

One manager had to make a firm rule--positively no guns or knives in the locker room.

Another tried to fine a player and was told that he could not fine a star if he wanted to win games.

Kids jump on the field to congratulate players after a good play and bands play in the stands.

This is Caribbean baseball, the realm of free spirits, prima donnas, noisy fans and lots of raw talent.

And good baseball, according to men like Pete Mackanin, who managed the Zulia Eagles of Venezuela to the championship in the 1989 Caribbean Series this week.

“But you have to press the right button every day,” he said. “Some days it’s touch and go.”

Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Colombia make up the Caribbean grouping, but Colombia is not active because U.S. players are not permitted to play there. Too many drugs.

Winter ball under Caribbean sunshine has long been a cherished institution and a showcase for new Latin and U.S. talent.

But in recent years it has suffered from declining attandance caused in part by the region’s economic crisis but mostly because few established players take part in winter baseball and fans are not very enthusiastic about untested talent.

“The fans want to look at their idols,” said former major leaguer Felix Millan, who played winter ball during his career and is now a coach for the Mayaguez Indians of Puerto Rico. “They should have that satisfaction for at least a few weeks.”

“The major league teams should allow some of their players to participate in winter baseball, maybe let them report late to spring training so they can have a vacation after Caribbean baseball,” said Mexican Pacific League president Rafael Limon.

Under current rules, only major league players with fewer than 250 at bats or fewer than 100 innings pitched in the previous year can play winter baseball.

Probably the best known player in the Mexican Pacific League this year was Willie Mays Aikens, the former Kansas City Royals slugger who ran into drug problems while in the majors. He played for the Mazatlan Venados, or Deer, this year, and still hopes to get back to the big leagues some day.

Ironically, the winter leagues are having problems even while there are more players than ever with the ability to reach the majors.

“There is more talent now and the kids take better care of themselves because they see their countrymen in the majors every day and figure they can get there too,” said Ruben Amaro, another former major leaguer and one of the owners of the Venezuela team.

But there is still room to improve, according to some U.S. coaches.

“Our kids are better trained in the United States,” said Phil Regan, who managed the Dominican champion, Escogido, in the series, a six-day round robin. “The fundamentals are drilled into them when they are in Little League and then on through college. There is more mental discipline.”

Some of the stars feel they do not have to abide by the rules and are protected by the owners. “The kids see that and they imitate them,” said Regan.

But Mackinan, who played five years of winter ball in Venezuela, feels the leagues are improving. “As much as the players like to do their own thing,” he said, “they understand the common goal and work together.”

The manager who ordered players to check their weapons did not want to be identified but said there had been several fights in the locker room before he discovered many players were carrying small pistols. He said although none actually drew a gun, he was afraid things would get out of hand.

Probably the most star-studded team was Santurce of Puerto Rico’s 1955 club. Their top pitcher was Ruben Gomez, and in the outfield they had future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays, who was playing winter ball after winning the NL batting title and leading the New York Giants to victory over Cleveland in the World Series.

Mays went 0-for-12 in the series before he hit a home run, went on a streak and ended up 11-for-24. Santurce won going away.

The first Caribbean Series was played in 1949 when Cuba was the top provider of major league players in this area. It was suspended in 1961, after Fidel Castro’s communist revolution in Cuba, and started again in 1970.

Panama played in the series until 1960; Nicaragua has never fielded a team even though baseball fever is rampant there.

Attendance has suffered most in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, team officials said. Mexico did well this year, especially for teams that made the Pacific League playoffs, Limon said.

Major league teams have arrangements with Caribbean teams and provide some assistance with coaching and by lending some minor league players who need seasoning. Leonard Damian of the Chicago Cubs organization was sent to Venezuela “to work on my inside fastball and my slider.”

“I benefitted by playing winter baseball,” said Damian, who saved the championship game for Venezuela. “It is different playing in Venezuela. Fans are noisy and sometimes a bit rude to the visiting team. In Iowa they sit on the bleachers and drink beer.”