1961 Interamerican Series

1961 Interamerican Series

Tournament details
Country	Venezuela
City	Caracas
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	10–15 February
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	Industriales de Valencia (2nd title)
Runners-up	Rapiños de Occidente
←  1960 (CS) 1962  →

The 1961 Interamerican Series (Spanish: Serie Interamericana) was a baseball tournament held from February 10 through February 15, 1961. It was the first tournament held under that name since 1949, after the 1961 Caribbean Series, originally scheduled to be held in Havana, was cancelled due to the Cuban Revolution.

Since the first Caribbean Series in 1949 (and the earlier Interamerican Series in 1946), this was the first major international club competition in the Americas not to feature a representative from the Cuban Winter League, which would fold later that year. It instead featured two representatives from Venezuela's two leagues, Central League (Industriales de Valencia) and Occidental League (Rapiños de Occidente). It also featured the champion teams from Panama (Cerveza Balboa) and Puerto Rico (Senadores de San Juan). ^[1]

Background

After the 1960 Caribbean Series, MLB Commissioner Ford Frick banned American players from playing in Cuba for the 1960-61 winter season. ^[2] 1960 champion Cienfuegos won the league, albeit with no American import players, but was not invited to the 1961 series. It would be the last season of the original Cuban League, as the Fidel Castro government decreed the abolition of professional sport in Cuba, forming the Cuban National Series.

In lieu of the Caribbean Series, which had been planned for Havana in 1961, the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation selected Venezuela to host an Interamerican Series. ^[1]

Four future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame saw action in the series: Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda with the Senadores, Bob Gibson with Valencia and Luis Aparicio with the Rapiños. ^{[3] [4]}

Participating teams

Team	Manager	Means of qualification
Cerveza Balboa	León Kellman	Winners of the 1960–61 Panamanian Professional Baseball League
Senadores de San Juan	Lum Harris	Winners of the 1960–61 Puerto Rican Winter League
Rapiños de Occidente	Les Moss	Winners of the 1960–61 Occidental Professional Baseball League
Industriales de Valencia	Rodolfo Fernandez	Winners of the 1960–61 Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

References

1. Van Hyning, Thomas E. (2025). The Caribbean Series: Latin America's Annual Baseball Tournament, 1949–2024. McFarland. pp. 76–77.
2. "Caracas Grabs Latin Title Set, Cuban Loop Out" . The Sporting News. 11 January 1961. p. 21. Retrieved 20 February 2024– via SABR.
3. "Venezuela campeón interamericano: Industriales de Valencia". Banesco. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
4. "Bob Gibson deslumbró en la LVBP". LVBP.com. Retrieved 15 March 2025.