Professional baseball season kicks off in Venezuela

Havana, October 22 (RHC)-- The 2022-2023 Professional Baseball League begins in Venezuela with the participation of eight teams and the incentive that the winner will represent the South American country in the Caribbean Series next February.

The long awaited tournament will be an attraction for the Venezuelan fans, after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In declarations published by the local press, the head of the League, Giuseppe Palmisano, stated that this will be an unforgettable season, with 56 games for each participating team.

The first four teams in the standings will advance directly to the next phase of the post-season, in a round-robin format, while the fifth and sixth place teams will play for a wild card at the home of the best-placed team.

Cardenales de Lara in Barquisimeto at 3:00 p.m., local time. Two hours later, Águilas del Zulia will face Leones de Caracas in the capital city, and one hour later, Tiburones de la Guaira will face Navegantes de Magallanes in Valencia. The clash between Bravos de Margarita and Caribes de Anzoátegui in Puerto La Cruz closes the opening day.

A recent survey, carried out by the newspaper Últimas Noticias in its digital version, indicated that 88.7 out of every 100 Venezuelans said that they are passionate about baseball, while the teams preferred were Navegantes de Magallanes (34.5 %) and Leones de Caracas (33.9 %). The digital survey covered a sample of 656 people and was conducted between October 17 and 20.

As for the possible winner of the tournament, the survey revealed the majority preferences for the Navegantes de Magallanes (32.13 %), followed by their perennial rivals Leones de Caracas (27.49 %), and in third position the Tiburones de La Guaira (13.06 %). Behind them, in that order, were Tigres de Aragua, Cardenales de Lara, Águilas del Zulia, Caribes de Anzoátegui and Bravos de Margarita