1982 Caribbean Series

After a year of absence, the XXIV edition of Baseball's Caribbean Series (12th edition of the second stage) finally took place in 1982. It was held from February 4 through February 9 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic, Leones del Escogido; Mexico, Naranjeros de Hermosillo; Puerto Rico, Leones de Ponce and Venezuela, Leones del Caracas. The format consisted of 12 games, each team facing the other teams twice. The games were played at Héctor Espino Stadium in Hermosillo, Mexico, which boosted capacity to 16.000 seats.

The Venezuelan team, with Alfonso (Chico) Carrasquel at the helm, won the championship title with a 5–1 record. The Leones del Caracas were led by catcher and Series MVP Baudilio (Bo) Díaz (.412 BA, two home runs, five RBI, .500 OBP, .765 SLG), center fielder Tony Armas (.375, six RBI) and LF Luis Salazar (six runs, four stolen bases). Their best pitcher was Luis Leal, who posted a 2–0 record with a 2.08 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work. Behind him were Bud Black (1-0, 1.29), Dennis Burtt (1-0, one save, seven SO in 10⅔ innings) and Tom Dixon (nine scoreless innings in Game 7). Venezuela also featured infielders Andrés Galarraga (1B), Danny Garcia (1B), Steve Sax (2B), Ron Gardenhire (SS) and Leonardo Hernández (3B), as well as pitchers Joe Cowley and Luis Peñalver, among others.