Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Winter League, behind

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is one of two LIDOM franchises based in ...

and Aguilas Cibaeñas, having won 17 national championships and 4

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

. Of the 17 won championships, 16 are of the Liga Dominicana de Béisbol (LIDOM) Winter League. Leones defeated Tigres del Licey in 6 games to win the 2015-2016 championship, in a best-of-nine series with 5 over 1 games won. In the 2014 Baseball Caribbean Series to be played in

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo Municipality, Her ...

, they represented Dominican Republic but lost the final 4-3 to the Mexican team

Yaquis de Obregón The Yaquis de Obregón ( en, Obregón Yaquis) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. The “Yaquis” are the only team in league history to have won three consecutive league championship ...

. Leones beat Yaquis in their first two matchups and finished the Caribbean Series with the best record 5-2, including the final.

History

The ''Leones record book is dominated by the Alou brothers: Matty, Felipe and Jesús. The brothers hold the first, second and third spots in the team's record book for the following: games played, runs, at bats, hits,

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. Matty and Felipe are one-two in several more categories, including walks and

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. Felipe Alou is also the most successful manager, winning four championships.

2009-10 Season

The Leones enjoyed a very successful first year with new ownership. They won their third straight "City Championship Trophy" over

, their rivals who share

Estadio Quisqueya Quisqueya Stadium Juan Marichal is a baseball stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is often used as a multi-use stadium. Football club Atlético Pantoja used the venue for their inaugural Caribbean football championship match. The Qu ...

, after winning six of their ten regular season games against Licey. They followed this by winning the regular season with a 30-19 record, and won their thirteenth Winter League Championship, ending their 18-year National Championship drought. Leones represented the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series, and won their third title with a 5-1 record.

2010-11 Season

On 20 March 2010,

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Moisés Alou Moisés Rojas-Alou Beltré (; ; born July 3, 1966) is a Dominican-American former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 17 seasons in the National League. In 1,942 career games, Alou had a batting average of .303 with 2,134 hits, ...

announced that

Ken Oberkfell Kenneth Ray Oberkfell (born May 4, 1956) is an American former third baseman. He played from 1977 to 1992 for six different teams. Oberkfell primarily played third base but he also played over 400 career games at second base. After retiring as a p ...

will return to manage Leones del Escogido for the 2010–2011 season. The team won their fourth straight City Championship Trophy this season, securing the season series with their win over Licey on 9 December. Leones made it to the postseason, but failed to reach the finals, which were eventually won by

Toros del Este The Los Toros del Este (formerly Azucareros del Este) are a baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several pl ...

2011-12 Season

After struggling in the regular season, Leones clinched a spot in the Round Robin. They finished the Round Robin in first place, setting up a 9-game Finals against Aguilas. Despite blowing a commanding 3-0 series lead, Leones won their fourteenth championship in dramatic fashion with a come from behind win in game 9. Leones also won the Caribbean Series hosted by Dominican Republic.

2012-13 Season

Leones again struggled in the regular season, but won their final three games to force a one-game playoff against

Gigantes del Cibao The Gigantes del Cibao (English: Cibao giants) are a baseball team that plays in the Dominican Winter League. The team was founded in 1996 as ''Gigantes del Noroeste ''then with a change of ownership the name was changed several times, being cal ...

. Leones won the game 5-2, and joined

Águilas Cibaeñas The Águilas Cibaeñas (English lit. ''Cibaoan Eagles'') is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Republic's Dominican Professional Baseball League, winter baseball league. Founded on January 28, and based in Santiago de los Caballeros, S ...

, and

Estrellas Orientales Estrellas Orientales (English: Eastern Stars), also known as Estrellas de Oriente, is a baseball team in the Dominican Winter League. Based in San Pedro de Macorís, the team has historically struggled, winning championships only in 1936, 1954, 19 ...

in the Round Robin. Águilas and Leones advanced to the Final, ending the Round Robin in 17 games. Leones swept Águilas in 5 games to win their third crown in four years and their fifteenth overall. Leones cruised in the Caribbean Series group stage, winning 5 out of 6 games, but lost the final to Mexico in 18 innings 4-3.

2013-14 Season

On 1 December 2013, Leones beat

1-0 and secured the City Championship Trophy. Leones won the regular season with 31-19, qualifying for the Round Robin. On 14 January 2014,

Jon Leicester Jonathan David Leicester (born February 7, 1979) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. Career Originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 2000 M ...

, Ramon Garcia,

Fernando Rodney Fernando Rodney (born March 18, 1977) is a Dominican–American professional baseball pitcher for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Ta ...

, and Armando Rodriguez threw a combined no-hitter to Licey, clinching the Round Robin and home field advantage in the Finals. It was just the 8th no-hitter in the history of

Dominican Winter League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Domi ...

. They faced

in the Finals, losing the series 5-3.

2014-15 Season

Leones had a disappointing season, finishing in last place. Licey also failed to reach the playoffs, making it the first time in the league's history that both teams from Santo Domingo missed the postseason.

2015-16 Season

Leones finished the season with a 25-25 record, enough for third place in the standings and qualifying to the semifinal round. After 18 games in the semifinals, Leones and

were tied with a 9-9 record, and had to play a decisive extra game, which Leones won 7-2. This sent the team to the finals against archrivals

, just one year after they both failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time in history. In the best-of-nine finals, Leones jumped to a commanding 4-0 lead, before losing game 5 in the 9th inning. The team won their 16th Championship in game 6, when they defeated the Tigres del Licey 8-3. In the 2016 Caribbean Series celebrated in

, Leones finished in last place with a 0-4 record.

Championship history

Leones del Escogido won the first championship in 1922 of a short-lived professional baseball era from 1922 to 1937, but only the current Winter League format established in 1951 is widely accepted.

Caribbean Series Championships

Leones del Escogido have won four

in their history.

Notable players

Felipe Alou Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and manager. He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–2006). The first Dominican to play regularly in the ...

Jesús Alou Jesús María Rojas Alou (born March 24, 1942) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the San Francisco Giants (1963–68), Houston Astros (1969–73; 1978–79) ...

Matty Alou Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was a Dominican former professional baseball player and manager. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974. He also played in Nippon Professiona ...

* Angel Baez Aquino * Rafael Bautista *

Wilson Betemit Wilson Betemit (pronounced BAY-ta-mee) (born November 2, 1981) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He is 6'2" and weighs 220 pounds. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, New ...

Mario Brito Mario Brito (born April 9, 1966) is a former baseball player born in the Dominican Republic. Brito is part of a handful of players to have played in both Japan and Taiwan, having played for the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball ...

* Starlin Castro *

Francisco Cordero Francisco Javier Cordero (born May 11, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, and Housto ...

José DeLeón José DeLeón Chestaro (born December 20, 1960) is a Dominican former professional baseball right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phill ...

Octavio Dotel Octavio Eduardo Dotel Diaz (born November 25, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. Dotel played for 13 major league teams, the second most teams played for by any player in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), setti ...

Juan Encarnación Juan De Dios Encarnación (born March 8, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1997 to 2007 for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dod ...

Julio Franco Julio César Franco Robles (born August 23, 1958)Franco's birth date is in question. Many of his early bios and cards have his birthday listed in 1954, and on the roster of the Quintana Roo Tigres, his birthday is listed in 1961. is a Dominica ...

Rafael Furcal Rafael Antoni Furcal (born October 24, 1977) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Miami Marlins. With St. Louis, he w ...

* Pedro Guerrero *

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vladimir Guerrero Ramos Jr. (born March 16, 1999) is a Canadian-Dominican professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player and Hall of Famer ...

Wilton Guerrero Wilton Álvaro Guerrero (born October 24, 1974Ben LindberghBP Unfiltered: Guerrero Brothers and Birthdates Baseball Prospectus (February 5, 2013).) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1996� ...

* Ramon Emilio Jimenez * Rufino Linares *

Francisco Liriano Francisco Liriano Casillas (born October 26, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, ...

* Pepe Lucas *

Juan Marichal Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez (born October 20, 1937), nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams from 1960 to 1975, almost entirely the San Francisco Giant ...

* Starling Marte *

Quinton McCracken Quinton Antoine McCracken (born August 16, 1970) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or parts of 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), and was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays franchise's first center fielder and ba ...

Raúl Mondesí Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971) is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in ...

* José "Makey" Moreno * José Nuñez * David Ortiz *

Neifi Pérez Neifi Neftali Pérez (; ; born June 2, 1973) is a former Major League baseball player. He was a switch hitter who threw right-handed. During his career, he played with the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cu ...

Tony Polanco Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

Luis Pujols Luis Bienvenido Pujols Toribio (born November 18, 1955) is a Dominican former professional baseball player coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the Houston Astros whe ...

Steve Ratzer Steven Wayne Ratzer (born September 9, 1953) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player pitching for the Montreal Expos in 1980 and 1981. Early years Ratzer was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and is Jewish. He attended John Bowne H ...

Tim Raines Timothy Raines Sr. (born September 16, 1959), nicknamed "Rock",Raines received this nickname at an Expo rookie camp when he was seventeen, based on his physique. is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a left ...

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

Juan Samuel Juan Milton Samuel (born December 9, 1960) is a Dominican former professional baseball second baseman / outfielder, who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), for the Philadelphia Phillies (1983–1989), New York Mets (1989), Los A ...

* Liam Sheldon * Sammy Sosa * Mario Soto *

Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in the Texas Rangers organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates and for the Yokohama BayStars/ ...

Juan Uribe Juan Cespedes Uribe Tena (born March 22, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He played shortstop, third base and second base during his career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White S ...

Tim Wallach Timothy Charles Wallach (born September 14, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman, most notably for the Montreal Expos from to . A five- ...

Enrique Wilson Enrique Wilson Martes (born July 27, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. In his eight-season Major League Baseball career, Wilson played with the Cleveland Indians (1997–2000), Pittsburgh Pirates (2000–01), New York Ya ...

* Albert Pujols *

Wander Franco Wander Samuel Franco Aybar Sr. (born March 1, 2001), nicknamed "El Patron", is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021. Professional career Minor league ...

''Current Roster 2016-17

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leones Del Escogido Baseball teams in the Dominican Republic Sport in Santo Domingo Baseball teams established in 1921 1921 establishments in North America