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The Puerto Rico national baseball team ( es, Selección de béisbol de Puerto Rico) is the national
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 of
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. The men's senior team is currently ranked 13th in the world. Puerto Rico is the incumbent
Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...
and Central American/Caribbean champion, as well as the
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
runner-up. After debuting in the amateur predecessor to the
Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament where national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two activ ...
, the team won its first medal by finishing second in 1947, a performance that it repeated the following year. In 1951, Puerto Rico became the world baseball champion by winning the event. The team went on to gather six more medals during the tournament's existence, finishing second twice and third four times. Puerto Rico was an inaugural member of the
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
, making its debut in the
first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
. The team has advanced to the second round in all of its appearances, in the process becoming the first team to score
mercy rule A mercy rule, slaughter rule, knockout rule, or skunk rule ends a two-competitor sports competition earlier than the scheduled endpoint if one competitor has a very large and presumably insurmountable scoring lead over the other. It is called th ...
wins over
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 ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In the
2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...
, Puerto Rico became the second team from the
Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...
to advance to the final, eliminating two-time defending world champion
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in the semifinals before finishing as the event's runner-up. The team has also participated in several other international competitions, such as the
Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...
, the
Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
, Americas Baseball Cup, Intercontinental Cup, and
Haarlem Baseball Week The Haarlem Baseball Week ( nl, Honkbalweek Haarlem, before 2016 known as ) is an international invitation baseball tournament at the in Haarlem, Netherlands. It was first held in and has been held every other year in even-numbered years sinc ...
, winning medals in most. The team will next compete in the
2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...
in March 12-15, 2023 in Miami, Florida, against Team Israel, Team Dominican Republic, Team Venezuela, and Team Nicaragua.


Baseball World Cup era


Early years of amateur baseball

Puerto Rico made its debut at the
Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament where national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two activ ...
, then known as the "Amateur World Series" in 1940, only two years after the creation of the
Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) is the main professional baseball sports league, league in Puerto Rico; it is colloquially referred to as the Puerto Rican Winter league baseball, Winter League. Consisting of seven teams as ...
(LBPPR), which at the moment was an amateur league. Like all of the other expansion teams, they finished in the bottom half of the table, tied with Mexico with a record of 2-10. The following year the team repeated this performance, finishing tied with El Salvador. Between 1942 and 1943, Puerto Rico did not participate due to the ongoing World War II to which several LBPPR players were drafted. The team returned in 1944, but finished tied with Nicaragua with a record of 1-6. Puerto Rico declined participation in the 1945 Amateur World Series, joining Mexico and Cuba in absence.


World Championship

As the LBPPR expanded and became more organized, the quality of players composing the Puerto Rican national team improved. Returning in 1947, Puerto Rico won the silver medal, having entered the round robin tied with a record of 6-2, defeating Nicaragua to advance before losing to the host, Colombia, in the finals. Puerto Rico went 6-1 in the round-robin but lost 11-1 and 2-1 to the Dominicans in the best-of-3 finals. They won their second straight Silver Medal. M. Ruiz tied for the most doubles (4) and most triples (2). In 1950, the team finished the regular phase of the tournament tied with the Dominican Republic and Cuba for the first place with a record of 9-2, the team defeated Cuba and lost to the Dominican Republic during the round robin phase. However, the Federación Internacional de Béisbol Aficionado (FIBA) ruled that several players that had joined the team were ineligible to play, ruling several key victories "forfeits" and dropping it out of the podium. This incident was the result of the LBPPR from amateur to professional a few years earlier. In 1951, Puerto Rico earned a record of 7-3 in the regular stage, handing Cuba its only defeat in the first games. After advancing, the team went undefeated with wins over Cuba and Venezuela to secure the gold medal. The team was headlined by Sotero Ortiz who scored more runs (21) and stole more bases (10) than anyone else, while teammate Ramon Maldonado hit 8 doubles to lead the statistic. In 1952, Puerto Rico went 7-3, including 2-2 in the final round to take bronze medal. They were the only team to beat Cuba in the finals. W. Figueredo led in triples (3) while J.R. Garcia led in homers (2) and steals (7). Sotero Ortiz tied for the most doubles (4) and runs (13). Due to the improving quality of its players, Puerto Rico soon began experiencing the loss of its best players to the professional leagues at a very young age, including
Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...
and
Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; born September 17, 1937), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", is a Puerto Rican former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco Giants. A ...
. In 1953, the team finished 6th with a record of 5-5. However, Félix Torres drove in 15 runs to lead the Series. By the time that the series resumed in 1963,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
had become the primary employer of Puerto Rican talent, making them ineligible to play in the Amateur World Series and the team did not participate in this edition. Back for the tournament in 1965, Puerto Rico won Bronze with a 5-3 record. Andres Cruz led the Series in average (.485), hits (16) and RBI (8). Pitcher Efrain Contreras set an Amateur World Series record by striking out 19 against the Netherlands Antilles. After another hiatus of four years, the event resumed in 1969, which saw Panama, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Nicaragua all tied for 5th with 4-6 records. Luis Mercado led the tournament in doubles (6) and tied for the most triples (3). In 1970, Puerto Rico won the bronze medal with a record of 9-2. Ramón Ortiz hit the most home runs (3) in the competition.


FIBA vs. FEMBA; unique dual medallist

In 1971, Puerto Rico finished tied with Nicaragua in the third place with a record of 6-3, but did not receive the bronze medal due to their individual series. Carlos Lowell led all pitchers with 3 wins. In 1972, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei tied for 6th, all with 9-6 marks. The team was managed by Roberto Clemente (only weeks prior to his death) and featured a no-hitter by Sandalio Quinonez against Costa Rica. In 1973, Puerto Rico participated in two versions of the Amateur World Series due to internal conflicts in the sport, in the Federación Internacional de Béisbol Aficionado version, the team won the silver medal with a record of 10-3, with two of those loses coming at the hands of eventual winner, Cuba. J. Fontanez led in average (.432). The team was managed by Vic Power. A splinter cell of the national team won the bronze at the event's Federación Mundial de Béisbol Amateur version with a record of 8-2. Puerto Rico is the only participant to win medals in both of the 1973 events. Eventually the FIBA and FEMBA merged and the event had only one sanctioning body, the International Amateur Baseball Association (IABF). In 1974, Puerto Rico finished tied for fourth place at the Amateur World Series along Canada, Italy, Chinese Taipei and the Dominican Republic. In the 1976 World Amateur Series, Puerto Rico won Silver with an 8-2 round-robin before leaving the tournament prior to the final round. J.L. de Leon led the tournament with a 0.00 ERA. After missing the 1978 edition of the World Amateur Series, the team came back in 1980, but finished tied in the 7th place with Venezuela with a 4-7 record. After missing out another version of the Amateur World Series, the team returned in 1984, finishing behind Panama with a record of 6-7, despite gathering a 54-46 advantage in runs. Mariano Quinones (2-0, 2.48) was their most effective pitcher. The top hitter was 1B Luis Fontanez (.353/.400/.569). Future MLB player Hector Villanueva was part of the roster, but had an unsuccessful tournament going 2 for 13 with a double and no walks. In the 1986 Amateur World Series, Puerto Rico tied for 7th at 5-6, despite outscoring opponents 56-45. Roberto Santana (.369) led the Series with 6 stolen bases. Eddie Rodriguez (1.28) had two saves. By 1988, the Amateur World Series became known as the Baseball World Cup and Puerto Rico beat both No. 3 Taiwan and No. 4 Japan and lost to No. 1 Cuba by just one run. However, losses to Canada, Nicaragua and South Korea kept the team out of the final four. CF Ángel Morales (.395/.490/.737, 14 R, 14 RBI) and DH Helson Rodriguez (.300/.462/.650) guided the offensive charge. Victor L. Martinez was 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA, the lowest on the staff.


Migration of MLB All-Stars and fallout

Beginning during the last years of the 1980s and extending throughout the 1990s, Puerto Rico saw a major increase in its production of high-caliber players, with a crop that included
Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida ...
,
Roberto Alomar Roberto "Robbie" Alomar Velázquez (; ; born February 5, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Arizon ...
,
Bernie Williams Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. (born September 13, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and a musician. He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2006. ...
,
Rubén Sierra Rubén Angel Sierra García (born October 6, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Sierra goes by the nicknames ''El Caballo'' and ''El Indio''. Over 20 seasons, Sierra played for the Texas Rangers (1986–92, 2000–01, 2003), O ...
,
Jorge Posada Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta (born August 17, 1970) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Posada recorded a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and ...
, Juan González,
Carlos Delgado Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball primarily as a first baseman, from 1993 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Toronto ...
,
Edgar Martínez Edgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963), nicknamed "Gar" and "Papi", is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a designated hitter and third baseman for the Seattle Mariners from 19 ...
and
Carlos Beltrán Carlos Iván Beltrán (; born April 24, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Fra ...
among several others. This fact severely limited the quantity of talent available for the national baseball team, due to the protective behavior exhibited by the MLB teams that signed these players since their teenage years. In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, Puerto Rico went 7-2 but finished 4th thanks to the format. They were 4th with 52 runs and second in ERA (2.89). 1B Efrain Garcia (.351/.385/.568, 7 RBI), All-Star CF Ángel Morales (.417/.463/.556, 8 R, 10 RBI) and DH Helson Rodriguez (.371/.385/.714, 3 HR, 11 RBI) paced the offense. Headlining a fine staff was Jesus I. Feliciano (1-0, 0.56). In 1994, Puerto Rico finished with a 3-4 record, with two close one-run losses (3-2 to Panama and 4-3 to the Netherlands). They hit .305 as a team, fifth in that tournament. Top performers were 1B Efrain Garcia (.448/.484/.724, 8 RBI in 7 games), C Jose Lorenzana (.400/.455/.500), RF Joel Perez (.318/.348/.682) and P Nelson Sanchez (1-1, 2.25). After being absent from two World Cups, the team returned in 2005 but Puerto Rico Puerto Rico, managed by Bert Peña, went 6-5 despite being outscored overall, 60-56. They finished 8th overall. Randy Ruiz (.346/.452/.654), CF Jesus Feliciano (.378/.410/.649, 10 R, 9 RBI) and Edwards Guzman (.343/.375/.543) led the offense However, former MLB player Angel Echevarria had a weak performance with averages of .083/.241/.125. Orlando Román (2-0, 0.50) was their clear top starter as 4 pitchers had ERAs over 8. Puerto Rico debuted in the inaugural
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
by hosting Pool C on March 7, 2006, and defeating Panama with a score of 2-1. The team followed this by winning their second game over the Netherlands, 8–3. Puerto Rico closed the first round by winning Pool C with a 12–2 mercy rule victory over the defending world champion, Cuba. The team opened the second round by defeating the Dominican Republic 7–1. However, the team lost its next game to Venezuela 6–0. Puerto Rico was eliminated with a 4-3 loss in a rematch with Cuba.


2008–2011

Puerto Rico began this Olympic cycle participating in the 2008 America Baseball Cup. The team debuted on September 26, 2008, defeating
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
2:1, this game was won by Josué Matos. Puerto Rico concluded the tournament's first round undefeated, with victories over
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(6:3),
Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
(7:0) and
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
(8:0). In the first two games, Andy González scored four doubles and
Carlos Rivera Carlos Rivera Guerra, better known as Carlos Rivera (born March 15, 1986), is a Mexican singer. He rose to fame by winning the third generation of ''La Academia''. Rivera has released four studio albums and participated in six theatre producti ...
hit his second home run of the round. In the game against Aruba, Orlando Román threw a
perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...
over seven innings. In the second round, Puerto Rico defeated
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
(9:4) to qualify for the
2009 Baseball World Cup The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through ...
. On the second date, the team lost their only game of the tournament to
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 ...
(5:4). In the next game, the team defeated Netherlands Antilles by ten runs (14:4). Puerto Rico won the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup on October 5, 2008, defeating
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
in the final. Puerto Rico hosted Pool D of the
2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...
, debuting with a 7-0 victory over Panama. In its second game, the team defeated the Netherlands 3-1. Both teams met in an immediate rematch to determine the group winner, which Puerto Rico won with scores of 5-0. The team opened the second round by giving the United States its first mercy rule loss, 11-1. Puerto Rico next played Venezuela, losing 2-0. Facing the United States in an elimination game, Puerto Rico lost 6-5 after losing the lead during the final inning. Iván Rodríguez was selected the All-WBC team catcher. For the Baseball World Cup, Puerto Rico, once again led by Eduardo Pérez, created a roster composed of mostly professional players, including several Major League Baseball athletes. The final cut included infielders Alex Cintrón, Rubén Gotay, Melvin Falú, Carlos Rivera and Angel Sánchez; catchers Orlando Mercado, Jr., Stephen Morales and Raúl Casanova; pitchers Luis Atilano, Mario Santiago, José Santiago, Orlando Román, Juan Padilla, Angel García, Richard Rodríguez, Miguel Mejía, Alexander Woodson, Nelvin Fuentes, Melvin Pizarro and Efraín Nieves as well as outfielders Miguel Negrón, Luis Matos y Miguel Abreu. José Valentín was selected to perform as both infielder and outfielder. Javier Valentín and Juan González were evaluated, but excluded from the final cut due to previous injuries. The fact that most of the roster was professional received some criticism from the amateur circuit. Journalist Duldin Meléndez of ''Periodico La Cordillera'' wrote in a piece that " érezis not familiar with the
mateur Mateur ( aeb, ماطر ') is a town in northern Tunisia. It is located at around , close to the Lac Ichkeul National Park. Overview Located in the southwest of the governorate of Bizerte, Mateur is the county seat of a delegation of 61,919 ...
players and has not even seen them play" expressing a similar concern about the Federation's president, Israel Roldán. Juan Carlos Díaz, infielder of the Bravos de Cidra in Béisbol AA, openly expressed disappointment when he did not receive an invitation, noting that he deserved it after leading the Liga Caribe division with an average of .632 and the league's final in offensive. Making its debut on September 10, 2009, Puerto Rico's first opponent is Cuba. For the
2010 Central American and Caribbean Games The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010. Bid It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...
, the number of players per roster was limited to 20. Consequently, players such as Juan González and José Valentín were not included in the final cut. Carlos Delgado was included in the preliminary list, but was unable to compete due to injury. The team was mostly composed of professional players such as Víctor Raúl González, Orlando Mercado, Jorge Jiménez, Philip Cuadrado, Adrián Ortiz, Efraín Nieves, Ricard Rodríguez Nick Ortiz, Armando Ríos, Christopher Amador, Edwards Guzmán and Mario Santiago, but also included three amateurs, Antonio Acevedo, Joycet Feliciano and Manuel Romero. Amateur pitcher Jean Ortega was a last minute addition due to an injury suffered by Acevedo. Puerto Rico debuted with a victory over Guatemala in seven innings. The following night the team recorded its second victory, 3:2, over Venezuela, in a game that extended to one extra inning. Efraín Nieves debuted with a shutout victory over Panama, allowing only one hit. Puerto Rico was the leader in its group, closing the first round with a 6:0 victory over the United States Virgin Islands. However, the team lost a 0-1 game to Mexico in the semifinals and the bronze medal to Nicaragua 6-7. For the 2010 Americas Baseball Cup,
Eduardo Pérez Eduardo Atanasio Pérez Pérez (born September 11, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and current television sports color commentator. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league a ...
assembled an entirely different roster. Several players from the Minor Leagues who were unable to compete at the Central American and Caribbean Games, because this event was not sanctioned by the IBAF, now joined the pre-selection. Only few players, such as Irving Falú were kept from the CAC team. The most notable addition was González, who was joined by Fernando Cabrera,
Kiko Calero Enrique Nomar "Kiko" Calero (born January 9, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Professional career Calero is a graduated from University Gardens High School in Puerto Rico and attended Miami-Dade College Kendall Campus. He ...
, Federico Báez,
Saúl Rivera Rabell Saúl Rivera (born December 7, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks. Career Minnesota Twins Rivera attended the Unive ...
,
Ramón Vázquez Ramón Luis Vázquez (born August 21, 1976) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and a former infielder. He is currently the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Vázquez played in MLB for the Seattle Marin ...
, Gabriel Martinez, Luis Figueroa, Jorge Padilla,
Alex Cora Jose Alexander Cora (born October 18, 1975) is a Puerto Rican baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 14 seasons with the Red Sox, Los Angele ...
and Christian Colón. Puerto Rico was drafted to Group A, along Argentina, Aruba, Canada, Panama and the Dominican Republic.


Generational shift (2013–2016)

After 2011, the IBAF decided to phase out the Baseball World Cup, with the WBC replacing it as the premier competition in international baseball. During this time frame the team was immersed in a change of the guard, losing MLB All-Stars Iván Rodríguez, Carlos Delgado and Bernie Williams to retirement. As with the previous editions, Puerto Rico hosted the first round of the 2013 Classic. However, this time the team faced different adversaries following an expansion, defeating Spain 3-0 in its debut. Puerto Rico secured classification to the second round by winning a game over Venezuela, 6–3. The team closed the round by losing the seeding game to the Dominican Republic, 4-2. Puerto Rico opened the second round with a 7-1 loss to the United States. The team remained alive by defeating Italy 4-3. In its second consecutive elimination game, Puerto Rico defeated the United States 4-3. Facing the Dominican Republic in another seeding game, the team lost 2-0. Puerto Rico advanced by defeating the defending WBC champion, Japan, with scores of 3-1. In the event finals, the team lost a third contest to the Dominican Republic, 3-0, to finish their participation as the tournament's runner up. Yadier Molina was the All-WBC catcher, while Ángel Pagán and Nelson Figueroa received positions among the outfielders and pitchers. The date of the
2014 Central American and Caribbean Games The 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games were held November 14–30, 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico.Sport page
has opened the door for Puerto Rico and several other teams to reinforce themselves with MLB players, raising the competitive level of what is usually a low caliber tournament. The team finished fourth.


Regional championships (2017–2021)

Puerto Rico repeated their previous WBC performance in 2017, finishing as the tournament's runner-up. For secondary competitions, former MLB player Juan González was named as manager making his debut at the
2018 Central American and Caribbean Games The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Asamblea ODECABE, Islas Caimán' (translation: "CASCO Assembly, Cayman Islands"). Published by CACSO on 2012-10-27; retrieved 2012-11-13. Bidding process Quetz ...
. Unable to request athletes contracted to MLB (or active in MiLB), he assembled a team composed by players active in foreign independent leagues, the local Doble A amateur league and veteran free agents with previous professional experience, making the final cut following a preparatory tournament. González made his official debut as manager in a 5:3 victory over Venezuela. In its next outing, Puerto Rico defeated Cuba 8:1 to snap a 36-year (43-game) winning streak at the CACG. This was followed by wins over the Dominican Republic (4:1) and Mexico (7:1). On July 26, 2018, Puerto Rico defeated second-place Colombia 2:1 to clinch the first place of the round robin. This was followed by inconsequential losses to Panama (2:5) and Guatemala (9:10). González closed his first participation as manager by leading Puerto Rico to the Central American and Caribbean gold medal. Once again managed by González, Puerto Rico won the gold medal of the 2019 Pan American Games, going undefeated and besting Canada 6:1 in the final. The team tried but failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics at the eight-team Americas Qualifying Event on May 31 through June 5, 2021.


Abridged Olympic circle (2022–2024)

Despite being the defending CACG champion, Puerto Rico had to play in the Caribbean Baseball Cup to qualify for the 2023 tournament. Facing issues with the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente due to itinerary conflicts, González was able to assemble a team composed by players from the local Béisbol Superior Doble A amateur league, beginning the participation with a 7:1 loss to defending champion Curaçao. Puerto Rico then won consecutive shut out games over Cuba (6:0) and the United States Virgin Islands (6:0). The team advanced in the first place of the global standings by defeating the Bahamas with scores of 14:2. It won a rematch (9:3) in the semifinals to contend for the title and qualify for the CACG. Puerto Rico defeated Cuba in the finals with scores of 9:4 to win the IV Caribbean Baseball Cup.


2023 World Baseball Classic

The team will compete against
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, the
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and Team Nicaragua in the
2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...
in March 2023 in Miami, Florida.


Tournament record

World Baseball Classic Olympic Games Baseball World Cup * Gold:
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...
* Silver: 1947, 1948, 1973, 1976 * Bronze: 1952, 1965, 1970, 1973 Intercontinental Cup * Silver: 1973 * Bronze: 1989 Americas Baseball Cup * Gold:
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Pan American Games * Gold:
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
* Silver: 1959, 1991 * Bronze: 1967, 1979, 1987, 1995 Central American and Caribbean Games * Gold:
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
* Silver: 1962, 1966, 1990 * Bronze: 1974, 1978, 1993 Caribbean Baseball Cup * Gold: 2022 World University Baseball Championship *2006 – 6th place Haarlem Baseball Week *1992 – 5th place *
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...


Results and fixtures

The following is a list of
professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...
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 ...
match results currently active in the latest version of the
WBSC World Rankings The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in baseball and softball. The teams of the member nations of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), baseball's world governing body, are ranked based on their tournament re ...
, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend


2023


2019


2018


See also

*
Baseball in Puerto Rico Baseball is the most popular sport in Puerto Rico. In terms of spectators and active participants, it is the premier sport on the island. The baseball game was introduced to the island in the late 19th century and the first two baseball clubs we ...
*
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
*
Olympic baseball Baseball at the Summer Olympics unofficially debuted at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, and was first contested as a demonstration sport at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. It became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Summer Olymp ...
*
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
* Americas Baseball Cup *
Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
* Intercontinental Cup *
Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...
*
IBAF World Rankings The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in baseball and softball. The teams of the member nations of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), baseball's world governing body, are ranked based on their tournament re ...
* List of players from Puerto Rico in MLB *
Baseball awards Professional baseball leagues, amateur-baseball organizations, sportswriting associations, and other groups confer awards on various baseball teams, players, managers, coaches, executives, broadcasters, writers, and other baseball-related peopl ...
* 2013 World Baseball Classic rosters * 2009 World Baseball Classic rosters * 2006 World Baseball Classic rosters


References


External links


Latino BaseballMajor League Baseball
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070612020125/http://www.la84foundation.org/5va/reports_frmst.htm Official Olympic Reports(digitized copies online)
International Olympic Committee results databaseWorld Baseball Classic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puerto Rico National Baseball Team
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 ...
National baseball teams
National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...