The Panamanian Professional Baseball League (Spanish: Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá, or LPBP), commonly known as Probeis, is a professional baseballwinter league consisting of four teams based in Panama. Originally founded in 1946, the league has run in its current form since 2011.
Since 2019, the league's winner takes part in the Caribbean Series.
History
1946–72
Though amateur baseball has existed on the isthmus of Panama, the first professional baseball game in the country was played on January 3, 1946 between Cervería Nacional and Chesterfield; Panamanian President Enrique Adolfo Jiménez threw out the first pitch. The first incarnation of the Panamanian Professional Baseball League joined 'organized baseball" in 1948 and operated continuously until 1972.[1]
The 1960s saw Panama enter a period of economic and political instability that forced private companies to withdraw support for professional sports teams. The Panamanian league merged with the Nicaraguan league for the 1961–62 season, after no local sponsors could be found; that season, Panama's Marlboro and Cerveza Balboa played against Nicaragua's Bóer and Cinco Estrellas.[4] In 1965, the league decided to play with only Panamanian players, as a means of cutting league costs; that ended up lowering the quality of the play, leading to deep economic crises that ended with the collapse of the league after the 1971-72 season.
Probeis era
A new professional baseball league started the 2001–02 season as Probeis (Liga Profesional de Béisbol de Panamá), but it lasted only one season. Four teams participated during the 2001–02 season: Canaleros de Panamá, Macheteros de Azuero, Roneros de Carta Vieja and Tiburones Atlas de Panamá Oeste. Carta Vieja was the champion team, while Olmedo Sáenz won the batting title (.331) and Miguel Gómez was the best pitcher (5-0).[5][6]
By 2010, executives with the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball restarted the Panamanian league as LPB (Spanish: Liga Profesional de Béisbol), but with poor logistics and little financial support, the LPB lasted only one season.
Despite the failure of LPB, professional baseball returned, as Probeis, in 2011. Roneros Carta Vieja won their second Probeis title in 2011-12.[7][8] In 2012–13, Caballos de Coclé won their first title and Javier Castillo was selected as MVP with a .397 batting average. Caballos de Coclé as champion represented Panama in the firstLatin American Series held in Veracruz, Mexico, reaching third place. Industriales de Herrera replaced Diablicos de Azuero for the 2012 tournament.[9][10]
In the original LPBP (1948–72), many of the teams folded after less than a decade of existence. Only Carta Vieja, Cerveza Balboa, and Chesterfield/Marlboro survived more than ten years.
The 1961–62 season was played with two Nicaraguan clubs, Indios del Bóer and Cinco Estrellas, in a merged league. In addition, the 1962–63 season was made up of four completely new teams: Chiriquí-Bocas, Central Provinces, Colon, and Panama. All of these teams lasted only a single season.[13]
The Carta Vieja, Chesterfield, Comercios, and Marlboro teams represented Panama City, while Spur Cola was based in Colon. The Azucareros and Cerveza Balboa teams were sponsored from the cities of Aguadulce and Balboa, respectively. Most of the games were played at Estadio Olímpico de Panamá in Panama City.[2]
In the modern Probeis era, several teams have had brief existences, including:
^"Billy Shantz New Marlboro Skipper". The Sporting News. November 11, 1959. Under a working agreement with the Los Angeles franchise, the club will use only Dodger farmhands.
