The Indios de Oriente was a baseball club which played from 1956 through 1964 in the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

. They played its home games at the Estadio Municipal de Puerto La Cruz in

Anzoátegui ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Anzoátegui'' , image_map = Anzoategui in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_a ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

History

The Indios de Oriente replaced the

Navegantes del Magallanes The Navegantes del Magallanes ( Magellan Navigators), commonly known as Magallanes, are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in Valencia, Magallanes has won 13 LVBP championships and two (2) Caribbean Series. It w ...

franchise for the 1956–1957 season. The team finished second in the first half with a 13-14 record, but slumped to 10-15 in the second half to finish last in the four-team league, out of contention. They improved to a 22-19 mark in 1957–1958, good for a second place and a playoff berth, but failed in the opening round. In 1958–1959 Oriente finished second during the regular season. Then advanced to the playoffs and clinched the Championship title. As the league champions, the team represented Venezuela in the

1959 Caribbean Series The eleventh edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in 1959 in baseball, 1959. It was held from February 10 through February 15 with the champions teams from Cuba (Almendares (baseball club), Almendares), Panama (Panamani ...

played in Caracas. With a low-profile squad, Oriente came in on an honourable second place behind

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

's Alacranes de Almendares after finishing 4-2. Managed by

Kerby Farrell Major Kerby Farrell (September 3, 1913 – December 17, 1975) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He was a longtime minor league manager who spent a single season — 1957 — managing in Major League Baseball for th ...

, the offensive was anchored by RF/1B and Series MVP Norman Cash, who collected a .360 average and 11 RBI, while slugging .680.

Babe Birrer Werner Joseph Birrer (July 4, 1928 – November 19, 2013) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. Listed at 6' 0", 195 lb., Birrer batted and threw right handed. He was born in Buffalo, New York. Graduated from Kensington High S ...

was the top pitcher with a 2-0 record, including a 13-inning victory, a 1.25 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 21⅔ innings of work. Besides, 3B Luis ′′Camaleón′′ García and OF Jesús Mora tied for the batting title with a .417 average. All of them made the All-Star team. The 1959–1960 VPBL season was suspended because of a players' strike. Returning to action the next season, the team finished second with a 29-23 record but lost the semifinal round to the eventual champion team, the

Industriales de Valencia The Industriales de Valencia was a baseball club who played from 1955 through 1968 in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The Industriales joined the league as a replacement for the Santa Marta BBC. The Industriales were based at Valencia ...

. In 1961–1962, for the fourth time in team's history, the Indios ended in second place during the regular season after going 29-22. Lastly, Oriente was beaten by the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...

in the best-of-seven championship series, four to one games. The Indios de Oriente declined considerably in 1962–1963, posting an 8-25 record before retiring during the midseason.

Estrellas de Oriente

The franchise was renamed and restructured to become the Estrellas de Oriente for the 1963-64 season. They also were misspelled as the Estrellas Orientales or simply Oriente. Nonetheless, the changes did not create a more competitive team, as they finished fourth with a 21-29 record. At the end of the year, the franchise owners acquired the brand

and continued in the league the following season.

Yearly Team Records

Noted players

Joe Altobelli Joseph Salvatore Altobelli (May 26, 1932 – March 3, 2021) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played for the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball. He was also a manager for the San Fr ...

Steve Bailey Steve Bailey is an American bassist. He is the chair of the bass department at Berklee College of Music. Career Bailey began playing bass guitar at age 12 and started playing fretless bass after he ran over his fretted Stuart Spector with his ...

* Oswaldo Blanco * Carl Boles * José Bracho * Chico Carrasquel * Néstor Chávez *

Harry Chiti Harry Dominic Chiti Jr. (pronounced ) (November 16, 1932 – January 31, 2002) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. He appeared in 502 games over all or parts of ten seasons between and for the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Athletic ...

Jimmie Coker Jimmie Goodwin Coker (March 28, 1936 – October 29, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (, –), San Francisco Giants (), and Cincinnati Reds (–). A nat ...

* Joe Collins *

Ray Crone Raymond Hayes Crone (born August 7, 1931) is a retired American professional baseball player and scout. In his playing days, he was a right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Braves from 1954 to 1957 and the New ...

* Tony Curry * Bob Darnell *

Bob Duliba Robert John Duliba (born January 9, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. The , right-hander played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–60, 1962), Los Angeles Angels (1963–1964), Boston Red Sox (1965) and Kansas City Athletic ...

Doc Edwards Howard Rodney "Doc" Edwards (December 10, 1938 – August 20, 2018), was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, ...

* Dick Egan * Harry Elliott * Dick Fowler * Jim Frey * Luis García *

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

* Rod Graber *

Eli Grba Eli Grba (August 9, 1934 – January 14, 2019) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He pitched for the New York Yankees in 1959 and 1960 and for the Los Angeles Angels from 1961 through 1963. Grba began ...

* Bert Hamric *

Jack Hiatt Jack E. Hiatt (born July 27, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1964 to 1972, most prominently as a member of the San Francisco Giants. After his ...

* Aaron Pointer * Julián Ladera *

Johnny Lewis Jonathan Kendrick Lewis (October 29, 1983 – September 26, 2012), also credited as Johnny K. Lewis, was an American film and television actor. He played Kip "Half-Sack" Epps in the first two seasons of the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy'', and o ...

* Jack Lohrke * Joe Lonnett * Hank Mason *

Ramón Monzant Ramón Segundo Monzant Espina (January 4, 1933 – August 10, 2001) was a , right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the New York / San Francisco Giants in all or parts of six seasons between 1954 and 1960. He compil ...

* Jesús Mora *

Manny Mota Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, more commonly known as Manny Mota (born February 18, 1938), is a Dominican former Major League Baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos, as well a ...

* Mel Nelson * Chi-Chi Olivo *

Jim Owens James Donald Owens (March 6, 1927 – June 6, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Washington from 1957 to 1974, compiling a record of in 18 seasons. Owens played college football at the U ...

* Aaron Pointer *

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

Don Rudolph Frederick Donald Rudolph (August 16, 1931 – September 12, 1968) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed pitcher. He appeared in 124 games pitched over all or parts of six major league seasons for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati ...

* Johnny Schaive * Wally Shannon *

Dick Simpson Richard Charles Simpson (born July 28, 1943) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder and center fielder. He played from 1962-1969 for the Los Angeles / California Angels, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, N ...

* Dean Stone *

Jerry Snyder Gerald George Snyder (July 21, 1929 – January 31, 2022) was an American infielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Washington Senators from 1952 to 1958. Listed at , , he batted and threw right-handed. He was born i ...

* Ron Taylor * Fred Valentine * Gale Wade * Ray Webster * Mike White

Sources

*Gutiérrez, Daniel; González, Javier (1992). ''Numeritos del béisbol profesional venezolano (1946-1992)''. LVBP, Caracas. *Nuñez, José Antero (1994). ''Serie del Caribe de la Habana a Puerto La Cruz''. JAN Editor.

External links

PuraPelota.com – Indios de OrientePuraPelota.com – Estrellas de OrienteBeisbolVenezolano.net – Equipos del béisbol venezolano
{{Venezuelan Professional Baseball League , state=collapsed 1956 establishments in Venezuela Defunct baseball teams in Venezuela Baseball teams established in 1956