The Panamanian Professional Baseball League ( es, Béisbol Profesional de Panamá, links=no), currently known as Probeis, is a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

winter league consisting of three teams based in

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 ...

. Since 2019, the league's winner takes part in the

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 ...

History

Founded in 1946, the PPBL joined

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 1948 and operated continuously until

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

.
A new Panamanian baseball league started the 2001–02 season as Probeis (''Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá''), but it lasted that season only. By 2010,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

related businessmen restarted the league as LPB (Professional Baseball League), but had poor logistics and operations lasted only one season.
In 2011 Probeis made its second run since 2001.

1948–60

Champion teams

Notes

* The Carta Vieja, Chesterfield, Comercios and Marlboro teams represented Panama City, while Spur Cola was based in Colon. * The Azucareros and Cerveza Balboa teams were sponsored from the cities of Aguadulce and Balboa, respectively. * More of the games were played at ''Estadio Olímpico de Panamá'' in Panama City.

Carta Vieja Yankees

The league's champion team played in the

in its first stage from 1949 through 1960, before

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

dismantled the

Cuban Winter League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

and replaced it with a new amateur circuit. The Carta Vieja Yankees, one of the most distinguished clubs in the circuit, won five titles spanning 1950–58 and also captured the 1950 Caribbean Series, to become the only Panamanian team to a win a Series championship in the 20th Century.The Rise of the Latin American Baseball Leagues Throughout its 12-year history, the team featured players as

Wayne Blackburn Wayne Tennyson Blackburn (July 10, 1914 in Mount Joy, Ohio – February 16, 2000 in Portsmouth, Ohio) was a major league baseball coach and minor league player-manager. Blackburn was an infielder nineteen years (1936–1956), all in the minor lea ...

Chet Brewer Chester Arthur Brewer (January 14, 1907 – March 26, 1990) was an American right-handed pitcher in baseball's Negro leagues. Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs, and from 1957 to 1974 he scouted for the Pittsburgh ...

Webbo Clarke Vibert Ernesto "Webbo" Clarke (June 8, 1928 – June 14, 1970) was a Panamanian professional baseball player. Born in Colón, Clarke was a left-handed pitcher who made seven appearances for the Washington Senators of Major League Baseball. ...

, Jim Cronin,

Jerry Davie Gerald Lee Davie (February 10, 1933 – April 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher who appeared in one season (1959) and 11 games pitched in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers. A Detroit ...

Carl Duser Carl Robert Duser (July 22, 1932 – January 5, 2023) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Kansas City Athletics during the 1956 and 1958 seasons. He attended Weatherly Area High School, in Pennsylvania. Duser honor ...

Marion Fricano Marion John Fricano (July 15, 1923 – May 18, 1976) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He is likely remembered for throwing the pitch that ended Cass Michaels' career on August 27, . U.S. Navy The , right-hander was born in Brant, ...

Milt Graff Milton Edward Graff (December 30, 1930 - August 2, 2005) was a Major League Baseball second baseman. He was born on Tuesday, December 30, 1930 in Jefferson Center, Pennsylvania. He was listed at a height of and a weight of 158 pounds. Graff att ...

, Bill Harris, Spook Jacobs, Connie Johnson,

Spider Jorgensen John Donald "Spider" Jorgensen (November 3, 1919 – November 6, 2003) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1947 through 1951 for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1947–50) and New York Giants (1950–51). Jorgensen made his MLB de ...

, Héctor López,

Bobby Prescott George Bertrand "Bobby" Prescott (March 27, 1931 – August 2, 2020) was a Panamanian professional baseball player, an outfielder, first baseman and third baseman who had a 19-year career, from 1952–1970, in North American minor league baseball ...

Humberto Robinson Humberto Valentino Robinson (June 25, 1930 – September 29, 2009) was a middle relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1955 through 1960 for the Milwaukee Braves (1955, 1958), Cleveland Indians (1959) and Philadelphia Phillies ...

Jean-Pierre Roy Jean-Pierre Roy (June 26, 1920 – November 1, 2014) was a Canadian pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in three games during the season for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was born in Montreal, Quebec. While with the minor league Montre ...

, Pat Scantlebury, Billy Shantz, Joe Tuminelli and Jim Umbricht, among others.

Probeis

2001–02

Four teams participated during the 2001–02 season: Canaleros de Panamá, Macheteros de Azuero, Roneros de Carta Vieja and Tiburones Atlas de Panamá Oeste. Carta Vieja was the champion team, while

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 ...

won the batting title (.331) and Miguel Gómez was the best pitcher (5-0). (Spanish)

2011-12

Roneros Carta Vieja won their second Probeis title.

2012-13

Caballos de Coclé won first title and Javier Castillo was selected as MVP with 0.397 Avg.
Caballos de Coclé as champion represented Panama in the first Serie Latinoamericana held in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

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 ...

, reaching third place.
Industriales de Herrera replaced Diablicos de Azuero for the 2012 tournament.

Teams for 2021-2022 season

2022 Caribbean Series roster

Champion teams

LPB 2010

In 2010,

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), ...

authorized Augusto Ávila Penabad and Rafael Ávila (at the time a vice president with the

) to run a new winter professional baseball league. The Liga Profesional de Beisbol or known as LPB started under the sponsorship of Claro with four teams: Los Santos, Herrera, Veraguas and Panama. The league lasted only one season due to poor logistics, economics and no support from main TV stations. Only UHF

RCM Television RCM Television is a media group, and is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, It handles two TV frequencies, Channel 21 (flagship) and 33; three radio stations: RCM Radio, Blast, La Tipik. The stations broadcasts in NTSC format and in Panama City ...

bought the TV rights.
Season ran from December 12, 2009 until February 15, 2010.LPB 2010 Info
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References

External links

Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá (Probeis) – Official site
(Spanish)
Probeis Panama on TwitterBaseball Reference – Pacific Northwest League Encyclopedia and HistoryMop-Up Duty – Baseball in Panama
{{Professional Baseball Baseball competitions in Panama Baseball leagues in North America Latin American baseball leagues Sports leagues established in 1946 Winter baseball leagues Sports leagues in Panama 1946 establishments in North America