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The 1965 and 1963 Mexican League champ Monterrey won the North Division for the third straight year in 1966, cruising to the title at 98-64. The Matadors allowed 518 runs, the fewest in the league. The best record in Mexico was South Division champ and last year’s wild card Ecatepec at 103-59. Mexico City picked up the wild card at 91-71, finishing two games better than Leon. This ended an 11-year postseason drought for the Aztecs while giving the Lions only their second miss in the last nine years.

Hermosillo was .500, but they had the MVP in 26-year old first baseman Edgardo Franco. Nicknamed “Weasel,” the right-handed Honduran was the leader in the triple slash (.363/.429/.600), OPS (1.029), wRC+ (197), WAR (9.1), runs (113), and stolen bases (80). Franco spent one more season with the Hyenas before leaving for MLB from 1968-1972. The Pitcher of the Year was Sebastian “Cadillac” Cruz. The 26-year old 6’6’’ lefty was the ERA leader (1.76), posting 232 strikeouts and 230.2 innings and 4.7 WAR.



Fresh off back-to-back CABA Championships, Salvador got even better with a franchise record 111-51 record. This extended the postseason streak to four seasons for the Stallions, who led the Caribbean League in runs scored (801) and fewest allowed (566). The wild card also came from the Continental Division with a solid 99-63 season for Honduras. The Horsemen rejoin the postseason field after having a seven-year streak snapped in 1965. Jamaica took the Island Division title at 93-69, beating Santiago by two games and Puerto Rico by six. The Jazz ended a three-year playoff skid. Last year’s division champ Haiti fell to a sixth place 73-89.

Guatemala’s Wesley Dubar won the first of several MVP awards. The 23-year old Panamanian center fielder was the league leader in runs (121), slugging (.643), OPS (1.023), wRC+ (173) and WAR (12.0), adding 39 home runs and 111 RBI. This began what would be a nine-year streak as the runs scored leader in the Caribbean League and was year two of what would be an eight-year stretch as the WARlord. Pitcher of the Year went to Salvador’s Isadoro Cruz in his second full season. The 23-year old righty led in wins with a 23-7 record, posting a 2.66 ERA over 261 innings with 269 strikeouts and 6.5 WAR.

Both wild card series were sweeps for the division champ with Monterrey over Mexico City and Jamaica over Honduras. In the Mexican League Championship Series, the Matadors downed Ecatepec in five games, giving Monterrey back-to-back titles. It is their third in four years; seventh in twelve years, and record tenth overall. The Caribbean League Championship Series was a seven-game classic that saw the Jazz deny Salvador’s three-peat. Jamaica earned its first league title since 1950 and fifth overall.



The 1966 Central American Baseball Association Championship was an all-timer between Jamaica and Monterrey. The series went all seven with game seven going 15 innings. The Jazz took the game 5-4 to bring the cup to Jamaica for the fourth time (1950, 1933, 1930). Oddly enough, one other final had seen game seven go 15 innings; Jamaica’s 1930 title win over Hermosillo. The Matadors are 0-3 in the CABA final in the last four seasons and 3-7 historically. Veteran catcher Sebastian Gonzalez was the top playoff performer as LCS MVP, posting 17 hits, 7 runs, 17 RBI, and 3 home runs in 16 games.



Other notes: Emmanuel Lopez became the fourth CABA batter to reach 1500 runs scored.