Tigres del Licey
Tigres del Licey is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League. The team was founded in and is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tigres is the oldest team in LIDOM and has won 24 LIDOM titles and 11 Caribbean Series titles, the most out of any team.
It is one of two LIDOM franchises based in the nation's capital, the other being Leones del Escogido; the two teams share Estadio Quisqueya as their home ballpark. Some of the team's best players have included Alonzo Perry, Pedro González, Manuel Mota, Guayubín Olivo, César Gerónimo, and Elvio Jiménez. Many of the best Dominican players and Major League Baseball players have taken part in the long history of the Tigres, including Tommy Lasorda, a National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee who took the team to the 1973 Caribbean Series title. Licey is nicknamed "El Glorioso", and has a passionate fan base.
History
The Licey team was founded as the result of a meeting that took place in the house of Vicente María and Jacinto "Pichán" Vallejo, on el Conde Street, in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone, on 7 November 1907. The club's founding members were Vicente María Vallejo, George "Geo" and Carlos "Cuncún" Pou, Luis and Federico E. Fiallo, Luis Castillo, Salvador Piñeyro, Álvaro Álvarez, Ricardo Arturo "Tutú" Martínez, Ángel and Chichí Mieses, Arturo "Tutulí" Perdomo, Manuel E. "Bi" Sánchez, Virgilio Abreu L., Alberto Peña, Arturo Nolasco and Tulio H. Piña and Virgilio "Niñito" Penson. Many of the founding members of the original team were also part of the first roster.Over the next 16 years, Licey became so dominant that an agreement was made among the three other competing teams to form a new team, composed of their best players, in order to beat Licey. This team, called "Leones del Escogido", still exists, and the teams share the same stadium in Santo Domingo.
During what Dominicans call the "first stage" of the country's baseball history, games were played only during daylight hours. The game's "second stage" didn’t begin until dictator Rafael Trujillo built the capital's Estadio Quisqueya in 1955, a brilliantly designed and built stadium for the time. With the stadium came lights and what is considered the golden age of Dominican baseball.
Licey has won the Caribbean Series a record 12 times. In an unusual situation during the 2008 season, Licey finished second in the Dominican championship and would have failed to qualify for the series, but took the place of a Puerto Rican team that had withdrawn from the tournament due to financial difficulties. Licey won the series, defeating teams from Mexico and Venezuela as well as Águilas Cibaeñas, their Dominican rivals.
Retired numbers
| Pedro González 2B 1957–1970 | Alonzo Perry 1B / P 1951–1954 | Manny Mota LF 1957–1980 | Tony Fernández SS 1981–1986 | Diomedes Olivo P 1951–1964 | Elvio Jiménez OF 1959–1974 | Alcibíades Colón OF 1951–1957 | Luis "Grillo" Báez OF 1951–1954 | Rafael Landestoy OF 1973–1984 | Olmedo Suarez OF 1951–1964 | Pedro Martínez P 1990–1996 | César Gerónimo CF 1967–1985 |
Notable players and managers
- Andy Abad
- Pedro Miguel Caratini
- Jesús Alou
- Joaquín Andújar
- Pedro Astacio
- Manny Aybar
- Jim Beauchamp
- George Bell
- Mark Bellhorn
- Ronnie Belliard
- Kurt Bevacqua
- Bruce Bochte
- Pedro Borbón
- Clete Boyer
- Greg Brock
- Byron Browne
- Eric Byrnes
- Sil Campusano
- José Canseco
- Chuck Carr
- Rico Carty
- Luis Castillo
- Reggie Cleveland
- Terry Collins
- Del Crandall
- Deivi Cruz
- Elijah Dukes
- Mariano Duncan
- Leon Durham
- Joe Ferguson
- Sid Fernandez
- Tony Fernández
- Darrin Fletcher
- Steve Garvey
- César Gerónimo
- Bob Gibson
- Pedro González
- Kelly Gruber
- Vladimir Guerrero
- José Guillén
- Cristian Guzmán
- Juan Guzmán
- Dave Hansen
- Mickey Hatcher
- Anderson Hernández
- Orel Hershiser
- Butch Hobson
- Burt Hooton
- Charlie Hough
- Steve Howe
- Al Hrabosky
- D'Angelo Jiménez
- José Jiménez
- Ubaldo Jiménez
- Félix José
- Von Joshua
- Kevin Kennedy
- Rafael Landestoy
- Tommy Lasorda
- Rudy Law
- Jim Lefebvre
- Grady Little
- Mark Little
- Pedro Martínez
- Ramón Martínez
- Ted Martínez
- Mark McGwire
- John McNamara
- José Mesa
- Manny Mota
- Mike Norris
- Alex Ochoa
- José Offerman
- Tony Oliva
- Chi-Chi Olivo
- Diomedes Olivo
- Ramón Ortiz
- John Patterson
- Alejandro Peña
- Carlos Peña
- Carlos Pérez
- Mélido Pérez
- Pascual Pérez
- Timo Pérez
- Alonzo Perry
- Tony Phillips
- Mike Piazza
- Eric Plunk
- Jurickson Profar
- Luis Pujols
- Aramis Ramírez
- Doug Rau
- Édgar Rentería
- Rick Rhoden
- José Rijo
- Mickey Rivers
- Buck Rodgers
- Félix Rodríguez
- Henry Rodríguez
- John Roseboro
- Bill Russell
- Michael Santiago-Smith
- Mike Scioscia
- Jorge Sosa
- Steve Sparks
- Joe Stanka
- Terry Steinbach
- Dave Stewart
- Rick Sutcliffe
- Salomón Torres
- Mike Torrez
- John Tudor
- Bobby Valentine
- Chico Walker
- John Wetteland
- Willie Wilson
- Steve Yeager
- William Valdez
Championships
| Season | Champion | Manager | Sub-Champion |
| 1924 | Tigres del Licey | ||
| 1929 | Tigres del Licey | ||
| 1951 | Tigres del Licey | Félix Delgado | Leones del Escogido |
| 1953 | Tigres del Licey | Oscar Rodríguez | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1958-59 | Tigres del Licey | Joe Schultz | Leones del Escogido |
| 1963-64 | Tigres del Licey | Vernon Benson | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1969-70 | Tigres del Licey | Billy Muffett | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1970-71 | Tigres del Licey | Fred Hatfield | Leones del Escogido |
| 1972-73 | Tigres del Licey | Tom Lasorda | Estrellas Orientales |
| 1973-74 | Tigres del Licey | Tom Lasorda | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1976-77 | Tigres del Licey | Buck Rodgers | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1979-80 | Tigres del Licey | Del Crandall | Estrellas Orientales |
| 1982-83 | Tigres del Licey | Manny Mota | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1983-84 | Tigres del Licey | Manny Mota | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1984-85 | Tigres del Licey | Terry Collins | Azucareros del Este |
| 1990-91 | Tigres del Licey | John Roseboro | Leones del Escogido |
| 1993-94 | Tigres del Licey | Casey Parsons | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 1998-99 | Tigres del Licey | Dave Jauss | Leones del Escogido |
| 2001–02 | Tigres del Licey | Bob Geren | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 2003–04 | Tigres del Licey | Manny Acta | Gigantes del Cibao |
| 2005–06 | Tigres del Licey | Rafael Landestoy | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 2008–09 | Tigres del Licey | José Offerman | Gigantes del Cibao |
| 2013-14 | Tigres del Licey | José Offerman | Leones del Escogido |
| 2016-17 | Tigres del Licey | Audo Vicente | Águilas Cibaeñas |
| 2022-23 | Tigres del Licey | José Offerman | Estrellas Orientales |
| 2023-24 | Tigres del Licey | Gilbert Gómez | Estrellas Orientales |