There have been four different professional baseball clubs in
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 ...
that have played under the name Pastora. These teams have been established in the northwest of the country, particularly in the states of
Zulia
Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...
and
Acarigua
Acarigua (), founded as San Miguel de Acarigua, is a city in northwestern Venezuela, in the northern part of the state of Portuguesa (state), Portuguesa.
Formerly the state capital, it is a major commercial center for the northern Llanos regio ...
, and have played in different leagues between 1931 and 2000.
Team history
The Pastora team was based in the City of
Maracaibo and was sponsored by a local dairy company, while adopting the name
Lácteos de Pastora (Pastora Milkers). Although Zulia is a petroleum state, dairy farming is also a major industry there.
After Maracaibo was founded in 1529, shepherds tended cows and goats for their milk and to make cheese and other dairy products. On one hand, ''Pastora'' is the Spanish word for shepherd; on the other hand, the patron saint of the neighbor state of
Lara
Lara may refer to:
Places
* Lara (state), a state in Venezuela
*Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia
* Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey
* Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia
* Lara de los In ...
is ''
La Divina Pastora
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' (The Divine Shepherdess).
Each January 14, her statue is typically carried on the main streets of Barquisimeto from the city of Santa Rosa, in the outskirts of Barquisimeto, until it reaches the
Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Barquisimeto
Barquisimeto Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana de Barquisimeto) is a Roman Catholic cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate ...
which is about five miles away. The devotion to the ''Divina Pastora'' in Venezuela dates from 1736, when the parish priest of the town of Santa Rosa commissioned a sculptor to make a statue of the
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
. Unexpectedly, the figure that was delivered was of the Divina Pastora.
First stage
Pastora debuted in the extinct Zulian Baseball League First Division, which was created in 1932 and folded at the end of the 1940 season. After five years of absence, the league resumed operations in 1946 and remained active until 1952.
[La Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela]
Pastora played in all these seasons, while winning the 1934 and 1948 titles. The most successful team in this period was the
Gavilanes BBC, which won 13 of the 17 tournaments played, eight with
Ernesto Aparicio
Ernesto Hugo Aparicio (born 28 December 1948) is a former footballer from El Salvador who represented his country at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
Honours
*Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador
The ''Primera División'' of the ...
at the helm. In 1951, Orange Victoria won the league championship remaining.
[
A storied baseball rivalry between Gavilanes and Pastora captured the fans' attention with fiery displays in every season.
]
Second stage
After that, the circuit was renamed Liga Occidental de Béisbol Profesional before joining Organized Baseball
The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...
in 1953, operating continuously until 1964.[
In 1953, 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 ...
and the recently created LOBP agreed to have the clubs with the best records from each circuit meet in a National Championship Series called ''El Rotatorio'', the first and only in VPBL history. The Cervecería Caracas and 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 ...
clubs represented the VPBL, while Gavilanes and Pastora represented the LOBP. The pennant was clinched by Pastora with a 48–30 record. Managed by veteran Napoleón Reyes, the champion team won easily over Magallanes (40–37), Gavilanes (34–44) and Caracas (33–44), earning the right to represent Venezuela in the 1954 Caribbean Series.
In the opening game of the 1954 Series, the Venezuelan squad defeated the 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 ...
n team for the first time in Series history, 7–5, after suffering 10 consecutive loses in the past five tournaments. Nevertheless, Pastora went 1–4 to finish last in the four-team event. Among others, that Pastora roster included pitchers Ralph Beard
Ralph Milton Beard Jr. (December 2, 1927 – November 29, 2007) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player.
He won two NCAA national Basketball, basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in t ...
, Tommy Byrne, Howie Fox and Ramón Monzant; catcher Ed Bailey
Lonas Edgar Bailey, Jr. (April 15, 1931 – March 23, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and later served on the Knoxville, Tennessee city council. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from through . A six-time All-S ...
; outfielders Wally Moon
Wallace Wade MoonSteve Springer"Dodgers' Moon found success in Coliseum" ''Los Angeles Times'', March 23, 2008. (April 3, 1930 – February 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball. Moon played his 12-yea ...
and Billy Queen, as well as infielders Camaleón García, Vernon Benson, Johnny Temple
John Ellis Temple (August 8, 1927 – January 9, 1994) was a Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Redlegs/Reds (1952–59; 1964); Cleveland Indians (1960–61), Baltimore Orioles (1962) and Houston Colt .45s (1962–63). Tem ...
and the then-rookie Luis Aparicio
Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934), nicknamed "Little Louie", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from 1956 to 1973 for three American League (AL) teams, m ...
, who made his first Series appearance.
Pastora returned to the Zulia circuit for the 1954–55 season, to win the first title in this stage of the league. Both leagues used a new playoffs format in the 1957–58, 1958–59 and 1960–61 seasons to determine the national team to represent Venezuela in the Caribbean Series, but, after their championship season in 1954–55, the Pastora club was out of contention until 1963–64, during what turned out to be the LOBP's final season.[
]
Third stage
More than four decades later, a new Pastora club joined the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League as a replacement for the Petroleros de Cabimas The Petroleros de Cabimas was a baseball club that played from 1991 through 1995 in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The Petroleros joined the league as an expansion team in the Western Division and played its home games at Estadio Ví ...
. Renamed as Pastora de Occidente, the team was based in the city of Cabimas. Managed by Domingo Carrasquel, they finished 18-34 in 1995-96 and 30-31 in 1996-97, without any chance of advancing to the playoffs in both seasons.
Players with MLB experience
*Alex Cabrera
Alexander Alberto Cabrera (born December 24, 1971) is a Venezuelan first baseman and right-handed batter who played in 2000 for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball and for 12 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball. Also played sev ...
* Dan Carlson
*Doug Creek
Paul Douglas Creek (born March 1, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher with a nine-year career from 1995 to 1997, 1999 to 2003, and 2005. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs of the National Leagu ...
* Eddy Díaz
* Gus Gandarillas
* Alberto González
*Ramón Hernández
Ramón José Hernández Marin (; born May 20, 1976) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Oakland Athletics (1999–2003), San Diego Padres (2004–2005), Baltimore Orioles (2006 ...
* Dax Jones
* Rob Lukachyk
* Robert Machado
* Carlos Maldonado
* Mike Misuraca
* Carlos Monasterios
* Luis Ordaz
* Steve Pegues
* Tomás Pérez
*Roberto Petagine
Roberto Antonio Petagine Hernandez (; born June 2, 1971) is a retired professional baseball player of Italian descent. His Major League Baseball career includes brief stints with the Houston Astros (1994), San Diego Padres (1995), New York Met ...
*Scott Pose
Scott Vernon Pose (; born February 11, 1967) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He is an alumnus of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa and the Arkansas Razorbacks, University of Arkansas.
Drafted by the C ...
* Sid Roberson
*Olmedo Sáenz
Olmedo Sáenz Sánchez (born October 8, 1970) is a Panamanian former Major League Baseball player. Though primarily a pinch hitter, he occasionally played first base or third base.
Professional career
Chicago White Sox
Sáenz signed with the Ch ...
*Yorvit Torrealba
Yorvit Adolfo Torrealba (; born July 19, 1978) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, Tor ...
* Joe Thurston
*Carlos Valderrama
Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...
* Keith Williams
*Desi Wilson
Desi Bernard Wilson (born May 9, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player. He played part of one season in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants in 1996, primarily as a first baseman. He also played one season in Japan ...
* Trevor Wilson
Fourth stage
This time, Pastora moved to the cities of Acarigua
Acarigua (), founded as San Miguel de Acarigua, is a city in northwestern Venezuela, in the northern part of the state of Portuguesa (state), Portuguesa.
Formerly the state capital, it is a major commercial center for the northern Llanos regio ...
and Araure
Araure () is a town in the Venezuelan state of Portuguesa. This town is the shire town of the Araure Municipality and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating i ...
in Portuguesa. The teams changed its name to the Pastora de los Llanos and continued to operate in the VPBL between the 1997–98 and 2006-2007 seasons.PuraPelota.com – Pastora de Los Llanos
/ref>
Starting the 2007-08 season, the franchise moved to Margarita Island
Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the States of Venezuela, Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on t ...
and was renamed Bravos de Margarita. Since then, no other team named Pastora has participated in Venezuelan professional baseball.
See also
* Lácteos de Pastora players
* Pastora de los Llanos players
* Pastora de Occidente players
Sources
* Gutiérrez, Daniel; González, Javier (1992). ''Numeritos del béisbol profesional venezolano (1946-1992)''. LVBP, Caracas.
External links
* es.Wikipedia.org – Historia del béisbol en Venezuela
* es.Wikipedia.org – Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional
VI Serie del Caribe – 1954
{{Authority control
1932 establishments in Venezuela
Defunct baseball teams in Venezuela
Liga Occidental de Béisbol Profesional
Sport in Maracaibo
Sport in Portuguesa (state)
Baseball teams established in 1932