RealGM

The 2011 Caribbean Series has been dedicated to the recently Hall of Fame inductee Roberto Alomar; announced last Wednesday by ‘The Organizing Committee of the 2011 Serie del Caribe, Mayagüez.’ Roberto Alomar will throw out the first pitch of the inaugural evening game between Puerto Rico and the Bolivarian nation of Venezuela on Wednesday, February 2nd (in the second of the two games played daily in what’s called a double round-robin format).

The mayor of Mayagüez, José Guillermo Rodriguez, said, “The Caribbean Series is a professional baseball event that has been baptized as a small-scale World Series. Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Repúblic and Puerto Rico have been the cradle of many world- class stars, as our Roberto Alomar – giving us the honor of dedicating the 52nd edition of the Caribbean Series to him, held for the first time in Mayagüez.”

Missing from the list for some time has been the sovereign nation of Cuba that once was one of the competing teams.

In addition to having the Series dedicated to him, the president of the Puerto Rico Baseball League, Sadí Antonmattei, announced that Roberto Alomar will be inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame along with fellow countrymen: outfielder Cándido Maldonado, and pitcher Luis ‘Mambo’ de León. The Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 1996; has 52 inductees through 2010 and honors stars in the Caribbean, primarily from the Caribbean Series.

Roberto Alomar was the MVP of the 1995 Caribbean Series, held in San Juan represented then by the San Juan Senators, known as the Puerto Rican 'Dream Team' that included a lineup of Juan 'Igor' González, Carlos Delgado, Edgar Martinez , Carlos Baerga, Carmelo Martinez, Rey Sanchez, and Ruben ‘El Indio’ Sierra.