Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League team locations
The Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League (Spanish: Liga de Béisbol Profesional Nacional or LBPN), known as the Campeonato Claro for sponsorship purposes, is the professional baseball league of Nicaragua. The league consists of five teams with a 30-game regular season schedule that runs from November to December, followed by a four team playoff round robin; the two best teams advance to a best of seven championship series.
Before the formation of the professional league, Nicaraguan baseball had long been played at the amateur level. However, the first club to sign a player to a professional baseball was San Fernando, signing several Cuban players for the 1955. The following year, the entire league embraced professionalism.[1] The Nicaraguan professional league was formed in 1956, with five teams: Indios del Bóer, Cinco Estrellas, San Fernando, León, and Flor de Caña.[2] Inaugurated on March 30, 1956 at the Estadio Nacional Anastasio Somoza (the site of the modern Estadio Nacional Soberanía), the first game was between San Fernando and Bóer. The first season was suspended in September 1956 due to the assassination of Anastasio Somoza García, but the tournament resumed in March 1957.[3][4][5][6]
The league initially operated on a summer schedule, but was converted to a winter league when it agreed to join organized baseball in 1957. This agreement was facilitated by President Luis Somoza Debayle as part of a resolution between the Nicaraguan league and organized baseball, which accused the league of "raiding" players from Mexican League clubs.[7][8]
The Nicaraguan public's excitement for baseball grew as foreign professional teams and foreign players came to play in their country's winter league circuit. The teams from Bóer and León were the most successful teams in those years with three championships each. Due to economic difficulties, the league had to shut down in 1967, though baseball continued to be played in an amateur format.
Professional baseball was re-established in Nicaragua in 2004. Since then, Bóer has led the league in championships with six, their most recent victory coming in the 2022–23 season.
From its inception, the Nicaraguan professional league sought to participate in international club competition. It hosted a tournament billed as the Serie Panamericana, or Pan-American Series, in 1958, inviting the champions of the Colombian and Mexican Pacific Leagues.[11] This tournament, won by Leones de León, was a success; Nicaraguan organizers hoped it would allow them to join the Caribbean Series, but such an invitation was not forthcoming.[12]
The LPBN did participate in the Interamerican Series three times[a] in the 1960s, while the Caribbean Series was suspended. It hosted the 1964 edition, which was won by Cinco Estrellas.
Nicaragua was an inaugural member of the Latin American Series, winning the tournament four times in the 2010s.
The LPBN would not participate in the Caribbean Series until 2024, when it was invited to participate in the tournament in Miami.[13] Their entry was controversial, because it was alleged that the regime of Daniel Ortega offered $1 million to the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation to secure the participation in the tournament.[14][15]
^The 1964–65 playoffs were held in a round-robin format, as all four clubs finished the regular season with an identical record. Leon and Cinco Estrellas both tied for second, going 3–3 in the round-robin playoffs[10]
