Tiburones de La Guaira

The Tiburones de La Guaira (English: La Guaira Sharks) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, the Tiburones have won seven national championships since their founding in 1962.

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Information
LeagueVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
LocationLa Guaira
BallparkEstadio Universitario Estadio Carlos Martinez (La Guaira)
Year founded1962
League championships1964-1965, 1965-1966, 1968-1969, 1970-1971, 1982-1983, 1984-1985, 1985-1986
Uniforms

Home

Away

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.

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.

Championship titles/Managers

Caribbean Series records
YearWL W/L %GBFinishNotes
197124  .333  42nd placeTriple tie
198342  .667  12nd place
198524  .333  33rd placeTied
198633  .500  12nd placeTied

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

VPBL regular season leaders

Hitting

Batting average

SeasonPlayerTotal
1966–1967Tony 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

SeasonPlayerTotal
1977–1978Clint 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

SeasonPlayerTotal
1962–1963Dave 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

SeasonPlayerTotal
1964–1965Darold 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 (Caracas)
  ** Tied with Jim McGlothlin (Valencia)
 *** Tied with Diego Seguí (Caracas)

Earned run average

SeasonPlayerTotal
1962–1963Dale Willis          2.03
1964–1965Darold Knowles 2.37
1965–1966Marcelino López 1.57
1969–1970Mike Hedlund 0.75
1976–1977Steve Luebber 2.59

Strikeouts

SeasonPlayerTotal
1962–1963George 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
Tiburones de La Guaira Week 7 Roster
Players Coaches

Pitchers

  • 10 Edgar Alfonzo
  • 71 Gustavo Armas
  • 21 Miguel Burgos
  • 39 Francisco Butto
  • 67 Kevin Canelón
  • 18 Jorgan Cavanerio
  • 83 Rafael Cova
  • 77 Brooks Hall
  • 29 Eudis Idrogo
  • 50 David Kubiak
  • 59 José Mavaré
  • 30 Julio Pinto
  • 63 Jhoan Quijada
  • 58 Sam Runion

Roster updated on 25 November 2018

Catchers

  • 17 Juan Apodaca
  • 74 Arvicent Pérez

Infielders

  • 37 Edgar Durán
  • 36 Carlos Herrera
  • 36 Luis Méndez
  • 05 Heiker Meneses

Outfielders

  • 60 Anthony Concepción
  • 27 Teodoro Martínez
  • 26 Jorma Rodríguez

Manager

Coaches

  • 50 José Barreto (Bullpen)
  • 68 William Oropezas (First Base)

Major League alumni

All-time foreign players
Sources: PuraPelota.com

Retired numbers

See also
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