Venezuela national baseball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Venezuela women's national baseball team.

The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: Selección de béisbol de Venezuela^[2] or Selección de Venezuela)^[3] is the national team of Venezuela.^[4] It is currently ranked sixth in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, behind Chinese Taipei and ahead of the Netherlands.^[1]

Venezuela National Baseball Team
Information
Country	Venezuela
Federation	Federación Venezolana de Béisbol
Confederation	COPABE
Manager	Omar López
WBSC ranking
Current	3 1 (27 November 2024)[1]
Highest	6 (first in December 2022)
Lowest	11 (first in September 2018)
Home Away
World Baseball Classic
Appearances	5 (first in 2006)
Best result	3rd (1 time, in 2009)
World Cup
Appearances	18 (first in 1940)
Best result	1st (3 times, most recent in 1945)
Intercontinental Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1973)
Best result	6 (1 time, in 2002)
Pan American Games
Appearances	3 (first in 1955)
Best result	1st (1 time, in 1959)

Venezuela has competed in every edition of the World Baseball Classic since 2006, with its best result to date being a semifinal appearance in 2009. It won its first major international title in at the 1941 Amateur World Series, defeating a heavily-favored Cuba, and won two more world championships in the 1940s. It has also historically dominated baseball at the Bolivarian Games. However, Venezuela has never qualified for the Summer Olympics.

History

Venezuela debuted in international competition at the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City, finishing sixth. The country first participated in what was then the top level of international baseball competition, the Amateur World Series (later to be known as the Baseball World Cup), in 1940.

The "Heroes of '41"

Venezuela won its first international baseball title the following year, defeating defending champions Cuba at the 1941 Amateur World Series in Havana. The championship team, with illustrious names from the country's amateur circuits like Héctor Benítez, Daniel "Chino" Canónico, and José Antonio Casanova, was hailed as "Los Heroes del '41" ("Heroes of '41"). The victory of the 1941 AWS is cited as the catalyst for baseball's exploding popularity in Venezuela,^[5][6] Venezuelan President Isaías Medina Angarita declared October 22, the day of the championship game, a national holiday.

World Baseball Classic era

Venezuela competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, playing its opening games in Pool C, in Toronto, Ontario. The Venezuelans secured advancement out of Pool C with a pair of resounding wins over Italy. Along the way, Venezuela also lost a 15–6 slugfest against the United States, but won twice against the same team.^[7]

In the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Venezuela was eliminated by Puerto Rico, who went on to eliminate Italy, the United States and two-time defending champion Japan. Their placing as the third team in Pool C after defeating newcomers Spain was sufficient to secure direct qualification to the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

The team competed against Team Israel, Team Puerto Rico, Team Dominican Republic, and Team Nicaragua in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March 11–15, 2023 in Miami, Florida.^[8]

Current roster

Venezuela roster - 2023 World Baseball Classic
Players				Coaching staff
Pitchers 46 José Alvarado 56 Silvino Bracho 58 Endrys Briceño  5 Max Castillo 45 Jhoulys Chacín 37 Enmanuel de Jesús 47 Edwin Escobar 77 Luis García 38 Norwith Gudiño 43 Carlos Hernández 60 Darwinzon Hernández  3 Elieser Hernández 35 Erick Leal 44 Jesús Luzardo 49 Pablo López 59 Andrés Machado 54 Martín Pérez 65 José Quijada  8 Alexis Rivero 57 Eduardo Rodríguez 66 José Ruiz 55 Ranger Suárez 18 Anthony Vizcaya		Catchers 28 Robinson Chirinos 16 Omar Narváez 13 Salvador Pérez Infielders 27 Jose Altuve  2 Luis Arraez 10 Eduardo Escobar  0 Andrés Giménez 15 Hernán Pérez  1 Luis Rengifo  7 Eugenio Suárez 14 Gleyber Torres Outfielders 42 Ronald Acuña Jr.  6 David Peralta 25 Anthony Santander		Manager 22 Omar López Coaches 72 Iván Arteaga (pitching) 23 Ramón Borrego (third base) 63 Rodolfo Hernández (hitting) 64 Carlos Mendoza (bench) 12 Rouglas Odor (fist base) 19 Luis Ramírez (bullpen) 52 Wilfredo Romero (hitting) Roster

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.^[9]

Legend

  Win   Lose   Void or postponed   Fixture

2019

WBSC Premier12 GS	November 5	Venezuela	4–8	Japan	Taoyuan Stadium, Taiwan
	18:00 NST		Boxscore		Attendance: 3,868

WBSC Premier12 GS	November 6	Chinese Taipei	3–0	Venezuela	Taichung Stadium, Taiwan
	18:30 NST		Boxscore		Attendance: 10,983

WBSC Premier12 GS	November 7	Venezuela	7–1	Puerto Rico	Taichung Stadium, Taiwan
	12:00 NST		Boxscore		Attendance: 618

2022

Bolivarian Games RR	June 30	Venezuela	9–2	Dominican Republic	Estadio Calamar, Colombia
	14:00 COT		Boxscore

Bolivarian Games RR	July 1	Venezuela	4–5	Peru	Estadio Calamar, Colombia
	14:00 COT		Boxscore		Attendance: 2,450

Bolivarian Games RR	July 2	Colombia	10–0 (F/6)	Venezuela	Estadio Calamar, Colombia
	19:00 COT		Boxscore

Bolivarian Games RR	July 3	Dominican Republic	14–2	Venezuela	Estadio Calamar, Colombia
	14:00 COT		Boxscore

Bolivarian Games RR	July 4	Peru	5–6	Venezuela	Estadio Calamar, Colombia
	14:00 COT		Boxscore

Bolivarian Games RR	July 5	Venezuela	7–1	Colombia	Estadio Calamar, Colombia
	14:00 COT		Boxscore

2023

World Baseball Classic GS	March 11	Dominican Republic	1–5	Venezuela	loanDepot Park, United States
	19:00 ET	LP: Sandy Alcántara (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: José Ruiz (1–0) HR: Anthony Santander (1)	Attendance: 35,890 Umpires: HP – Andy Fletcher, 1B – Tim Meyer, 2B – Ron Kulpa, 3B – Maikol Tibabijo

World Baseball Classic GS	March 12	Venezuela	9–6	Puerto Rico	loanDepot Park, United States
	19:00 ET	WP: Pablo López (1–0) Sv: Silvino Bracho (1) HR: Anthony Santander (2), Salvador Pérez (1)	Boxscore	LP: José Berríos (0–1) HR: Eddie Rosario (1)	Attendance: 35,615 Umpires: HP – Chris Guccione, 1B – Chris Graham, 2B – Alejandro Pecero, 3B – Mike Estabrook

World Baseball Classic GS	March 14	Nicaragua	1–4	Venezuela	loanDepot Park, United States
	12:00 ET	LP: Rodney Theophile (0–1)	Boxscore	WP: José Ruiz (1–0) Sv: José Alvarado (1)	Attendance: 21,873 Umpires: HP – Ángel Hernández, 1B – Chris Guccione, 2B – Alejandro Pecero, 3B – Tim Meyer

World Baseball Classic GS	March 15	Venezuela	5–1	Israel	loanDepot Park, United States
	12:00 ET	WP: Jesús Luzardo (1–0) HR: Eduardo Escobar (1), Eugenio Suárez (1)	Boxscore	LP: Robert Stock (0–1)	Attendance: 18,277 Umpires: HP – Andy Fletcher, 1B – Ángel Hernández, 2B – Maikol Tibabijo, 3B – Alejandro Pecero

World Baseball Classic QF	March 18	United States	9–7	Venezuela	loanDepot Park, United States
	19:00 ET	WP: David Bednar (1–0) Sv: Ryan Pressly (2) HR: Kyle Tucker (1), Trea Turner (2)	Boxscore	LP: José Quijada (0–1) HR: Luis Arráez (1), Luis Arráez (2)	Attendance: 35,792 Umpires: HP – Dan Bellino, 1B – Will Little, 2B – Atsushi Fukaya, 3B – Kun Young Park

Tournament record

World Baseball Classic

In June 2005, Major League Baseball announced the formation of the World Baseball Classic, a sixteen nation international competition to be held in March 2006 for the first time. The team Venezuela sent to the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic included Venezuelan players from Major League Baseball. A player is eligible to participate on a WBC national team if:

• The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport, then the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.
• The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
• The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
• The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.^[10]

World Baseball Classic record								Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA		W	L	RS	RA
2006	Round 2	7th	3	3	22	20		No qualifiers held
2009	Semifinal	4th	6	2	45	36		No qualifiers held
2013	Round 1	10th	1	2	17	21		Automatically qualified
2017	Round 2	8th	2	5	28	55		Automatically qualified
2023	Quarterfinal	5th	4	1	30	18		Automatically qualified
Total	Semifinal	5/5	16	13	142	150		-	-	-	-

WBSC Premier12

WBSC Premier12 record
Year	Result	Pos	Pld	W	L	RS	RA	Squad	Rank
2015	Group stage	10th	5	2	3	26	36	Squad	10th
2019	Group stage	7th	3	1	2	11	12	Squad	9th
2024	To be determined
Total	0 Title	3/3	17	10	7	77	73	—	—

Baseball World Cup (1938–2011)

Amateur World Series & Baseball World Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	L	%	RS	RA	Org.
1938	Did not enter								IBF
1939
1940	Single-table tournament	4th	12	5	7	.417
1941	Single-table tournament	1st	9	8	1	.889
1942	Single-table tournament	3rd	12	7	5	.583
1943	Did not enter
1944	Single-table tournament	1st	12	9	3	.750			FIBA
1945	Single-table tournament	1st	10	10	0	1.000
1947	Single-table tournament	5th	8	5	3	.625
1948	Did not enter
1950	Single-table tournament	3rd	11	9	2	.818
1951	Single-table tournament	2nd	13	11	2	.846
1952	Single-table tournament	6th	10	5	5	.500
1953	Single-table tournament	2nd	10	9	1	.900
1961	Single-table tournament	3rd	9	6	3	.667
1965	Did not enter
1969	Single-table tournament	4th	10	7	3	.700
1970	Single-table tournament	5th	11	7	4	.636
1971	Did not enter
1972
1973	Single-table tournament	3rd	14	10	4	.714
1973	Did not enter								FEMBA
1974
1976									AINBA
1978
1980	Single-table tournament	7th	11	4	7	.364
1982	Did not enter								IBAF
1984
1986	Single-table tournament	7th	11	5	6	.455	63	73
1988	Did not qualify
1990	Group stage	12th	8	1	7	.125	33	63
1994	Did not qualify
1998
2001
2003
2005
2007	Group stage	12th	7	2	5	.286	33	37
2009	7th place game	7th	15	9	6	.600	70	58
2011	7th place game	7th	12	6	6	.500	52	91
Total	4 Titles	24/38	249	177	80	.689	—	—

Pan American Games

1955 : 3rd 1959 : 1st 1975 : 3rd

Bolivarian Games

Main article: Baseball at the Bolivarian Games

1938 : 1st 1947 : 2nd 1951 : 1st 1961 : 1st 1965 : 1st 1970 : 1st

1973 : 2nd 1981 : 1st 1985 : 1st 1989 : 1st 2001 : 2nd 2009 : 2nd 2013 : 2nd

2017 : 3rd 2022 : 3rd

U-23 Baseball World Cup

Gold: 2021 Bronze: 2018

Players

• 2006 World Baseball Classic
• 2009 World Baseball Classic
• 2013 World Baseball Classic

Uniform

Home home uniform

Away Away Kit

See also

• Players from Venezuela in MLB

References

1. "The WBSC World Ranking". WBSC. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
2. Balbuena, Franger Reynaldo (9 September 2020). Tratado de Béisbol. Page Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-64334-453-9.
3. "Clásico Mundial de Beisbol: ¿A quién se podría enfrentar Venezuela en cuartos de final?". MERIDIANO.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 March 2023.
4. Zubillaga, Jorge (15 March 2023). "▷ Selección venezolana de béisbol culmina invicta la fase de grupos al vencer 5-1 a Israel #15Mar". El Impulso (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 March 2023.
5. "A guide to Venezuela's baseball tradition". MLB.com. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
6. "On the ball: 80 years of the heroes of 41 and 80 years of "Últimas Noticias". Últimas Noticias. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
7. "World Baseball Classic". Retrieved 18 March 2009.
8. "Team Israel to boast current MLBers on its World Baseball Classic roster". The Jerusalem Post.
9. "Venezuela in the WBSC Ranking (Men's baseball)". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
10. "Dan Serafini Wins One For Team Italy". Retrieved 21 March 2009.

External links

• Official website