By William Sanchez
PLAYBALL! One of the best times for Venezuelans has arrived, from today, October 22, the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP). The 2022-2023 campaign will be held as a tribute to the journalist Domingo Álvarez, who was General Manager of the League for 26 years, between 1993 and 2019. In this vein, the calendar was extended from 49 to 56 games scheduled between the 22nd of October to December 26.
Among the novelties of this harvest, five teams called “Round Robin” will continue to advance to the final round of the regular season, four directly and a fifth that will be the winner of a wild card game between the clubs that arrive in fifth and sixth position, that game will be at the home of the one who occupies the best position.
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In turn, the league will have a fantasy, so that fans can build their teams with which they will compete in this modality.
It is valid to remember that this campaign already begins with good news, this is due to the statement from the United States Department of the Treasury (OFAC) where it expresses the lifting of sanctions that fell on Los Tigres de Aragua and Los Navegantes del Magallanes. Although the approval of Major League Baseball is still lacking, it is expected that for the month of December (even November) the presence of bigleaguers in the league.
We continue with the good news. This campaign will have a special flavor because all the teams will want to win the trophy, with the sole purpose of representing Venezuela in the 2023 Caribbean Series, which will be played in La Gran Caracas, with venues in the Forum de La Guaira and the Estadio University (this second is still in doubt since it is expected that the Hugo Chávez Stadium in La Rinconada will be ready by then, if so, it would be hosting instead of the home of Los Leones del Caracas).
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Four venues will serve as the center of baseball this afternoon, the games will be as follows:
– Tigres de Aragua vs Cardenales de Lara (Antonio Herrera Gutiérrez) 3:00 pm.
– Águilas del Zulia vs Leones del Caracas (University Stadium) 5:00 pm.
– Sharks of La Guaira vs Sailors of Magellan (Jose Bernardo Perez) 6:00 p.m.
– Bravos de Margarita vs Caribes de Anzoátegui (Alfonso «Chico» Carrasquel) 7:00 pm.
A curious fact is given by the managers who present the eight teams that complete the LVBP and in this regard we will quote Adrián Bonilla’s tweet: “An interesting list and possibly the best seen in our league in the last 20 years.”
– Zulia Eagles: Marco Davalillo
– Bravos from Margarita: Luis Dorante
– Cardinals of Lara: Carlos Mendoza
– Caribs of Anzoátegui: Omar López
– Lions of Caracas: José Alguacil
– Magellan Navigators: Yadier Molina
– Sharks of La Guaira: Henry Blanco
– Snow Tigers: Jackson Melian
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It is expected that there will be a greater influx of spectators to the stadium, some venues, such as that of the current champions, Navegantes del Magallanes, have quite affordable prices, of course as long as the economic level allows it. The LVBP stated that the security protocols will continue to be respected: use of masks, application of gel or alcohol on the hands and provision of vaccination posts in the parks.
