Pablo Antonio Morales Pérez (17 August 1906 – 24 November 1969) was 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 ...
n baseball executive and promoter.Salón de la Fama y Museo del Béisbol de Venezuela – Noticias (Spanish). ''MuseodeBeisbol.com.ve''.
Born in La Guaira, Vargas, Morales was a widely known figure in Venezuelan baseball during the 1930s and 1960s. Publicist and avid sport commentator, Morales worked in La Guaira and then in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
. His total dedication to baseball came in 1936, when he founded the Deportivo Caracas the same year and the Cardenales de La Guaira in 1940, clubs that participated in the ''Liga Nacional de Béisbol'', which had stabilized the first national championship of first division in Venezuela since its inauguration in 1930.Gutiérrez, Daniel; Álvarez, Efraim; Gutiérrez (h), Daniel (2006). ''La Enciclopedia del Béisbol en Venezuela''. LVBP, Caracas. .
Morales later served as president of the
International Baseball Federation
The International Baseball Federation (IBAF; Spanish: ''Federación Internacional de Béisbol'', French: ''Fédération internationale de baseball'') is the former worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as over ...
in two periods (1946–1947; 1951–1952), and also took the reins of the organizing committee of the VII Amateur Baseball World Series held in Caracas in 1944. This event is presently known as 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 ...
.
Likewise, the first ever
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 ...
tournament was the brainchild of Morales and
Oscar Prieto Ortiz
Oscar Prieto Ortiz (1905–1983) was a Venezuelan baseball executive and promoter.Serie Interamericana in 1946, which featured the clubs
Brooklyn Bushwicks
The Brooklyn Bushwicks were an independent, semi-professional baseball team that played its games almost totally in Dexter Park (Queens), Dexter Park in Queens from 1913 to 1951. They were unique at their time for fielding multi-ethnic Schedule ( ...
from the United States,
Cervecería 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 ...
from Venezuela, Sultanes de Monterrey from Mexico, and an All-Star team from Cuba. The US team won each year from 1946 to 1949, while the Venezuelan club won the final tournament in 1950. Morales and Prieto then presented their idea to baseball representatives of Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico during a meeting held in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
on August 21, 1948. The representatives then agreed to stage a four-country,
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...
12-game to be known as the ''Serie del Caribe'', to be launched in Cuba from February 20–25 of 1949.
Morales bought the Cervecería Caracas franchise in 1952 and renamed it as a new franchise as
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 ...
, to run one of the most popular and culturally significant clubs of 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 ...
. Morales would remain the sole owner of the team until shortly before his death in 1969, when he included Prieto as legal partner.Un día como hoy debutan los Leones (Spanish). ''Diario de Los Andes''. Retrieved on August 10, 2015.
In August 2015, Pablo Morales was enshrined into the
Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The Salón de la Fama y Museo del Béisbol Venezolano (in English, the ''Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum'') is a nonprofit institution operated by private interests, which was founded on April 18, 2002, thanks to the vision of Carlos ...