Venezuela ends 15-year drought without a Caribbean Series win

Venezuela celebrates today the title of Tiburones de la Guaira in the Caribbean Series, concluded last night in the city of Miami, after 15 years without winning.

Since 2009, when Tigres de Aragua won the title, no Venezuelan professional league club had dominated the Caribbean classic.

For the Tiburones it is their first crown, after a pair of runner-up titles in 1983 and 1986.

Ozzie Guillén's squad led the preliminary phase with a 5-1 record, defeated Curaçao 6-2 in the semifinals and in the championship match they blanked Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Republic 3-0.

With the same scoreboard, the Tigres dominated Leones de Caracas in last year's final to lift their crown, the top winners of the regional competition.

For Guillén, this success is a singular mark on his resume as a team manager, as he is the only Latin American to accumulate titles in a Major League World Series, a professional winter league and the Caribbean Series.

The championship game was a record in attendance with 36677 tickets sold, an amount never before seen in a game of these tournaments, and also superior to the 36098 fans who attended the game between Japan and the United States for the gold medal of the 2023 World Baseball Classic at Miami's LoanDepot Park.