Caimanes de Barranquilla

Caimanes de Barranquilla
Caimanes de Barranquilla
Information
League	Colombian Professional Baseball League
Location	Barranquilla, Colombia
Ballpark	Estadio Édgar Rentería
Founded	1984
League championships	13 (1984–85, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24)
Caribbean Series championships	1 (2022)
Former name(s)	Caimanes de Lorica (2015–16)
Colors	Blue, white, and red;
Manager	José Mosquera
President	Jimmy Char
Website	http://www.caimanesbbc.com/
Uniforms
Home	Away

The Caimanes de Barranquilla are a baseball team in the Colombian Professional Baseball League. They have participated in the league since the 1984–85 season, playing in the 12,000-capacity Estadio Édgar Rentería in Barranquilla. Caimanes are the most successful team in Colombian baseball, having won 13 league titles, most recently during the 2023–24 season. They also won the 2022 Caribbean Series, making Colombia the first new country to win the tournament since Mexico's Naranjeros de Hermosillo won their first title in 1976.

History

Caimanes was founded in 1984, during the so-called "second era" of professional Colombian baseball. It replaced two teams, Cerveza Águila and Café Universal, that both folded the season before, leaving Barranquilla without a professional team. Caimanes won the title in its inaugural season.^[1] However, the league would fold by 1988.

In 1998, the success of Colombian-born players in Major League Baseball, most notably Édgar Rentería (who was on the 1997 world champion Florida Marlins), led to a meeting in Miami of Colombian baseball personalities including Edinson Rentería, Edgar Perez and José Martínez (who led and contributed to the development of Colombian Professional Baseball between 1979 and 1985). The meeting established a working group consisting of the businessmen involved with professional baseball in Colombia in the 1980s and new executives from the cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena. This working group was presented with a proposal to revive professional baseball in Colombia under the leadership of the Rentería family. The working group decided to move forward with the proposal, beginning the 1999–2000 season with four teams, two in Barranquilla (Caimanes and Electricos) and two in Cartagena (Tigres and Indios).^[2]

Caimanes previously played at Estadio Tomás Arrieta, until it was demolished and replaced by Estadio Édgar Rentería. During its construction, Caimanes temporarily relocated to Santa Cruz de Lorica, in the nearby Córdoba Department, for the 2015–16 season.^[3]

Championships

Season	Manager	Record	Series score	Runner-up
1984–85	José Tartabull	38–22	4–2	Indios de Cartagena
1994–95	Tomás Soto	22–14	4–2	Tigres de Cartagena
1997–98	Edinson Rentería	18–13	4–1	Indios de Cartagena
1998–99	Edinson Rentería	17–7	4–2	Vaqueros de Montería
2007–08	Walter Miranda	22–20	4–0	Indios de Cartagena
2008–09	Walter Miranda	28–25	4–3	Leones de Montería
2009–10	Wilson Valera	30–24	4–2	Leones de Montería
2015–16	Luis Urueta	26–16	4–2	Leones de Montería
2018–19	Fred Ocasio	29–12	4–1	Toros de Sincelejo
2020–21	José Mosquera	13–11	4–3	Tigres de Cartagena
2021–22	José Mosquera	23–13	4–1	Vaqueros de Montería
2023–24	José Mosquera	46–23	4–1	Vaqueros de Montería
Total championships			12