Above: Hiram Bithorn stadium

By Alexander Britell

SAN JUAN — The Caribbean’s biggest baseball event is coming to Puerto Rico next week.

The Caribbean Series (Serie del Caribe), the championship of the best Caribbean Winter League teams from Puerto Rico to Venezuela, is being hosted at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn stadium beginning Monday.

This year’s series is in Puerto Rico for the first time in four years, with a major new guest: Cuba.

“It’s gonna be something beautiful for the island, and every year that we do the Caribbean World Series, they always have something special,” former Major League star second baseman Carlos Baerga told Caribbean Journal. “But I think this one’s going to be even more special.

Baerga said it would be particularly special because the team representing Puerto Rico is Cangrejeros de Saturce, a squad which calls Hiram Bithorn stadium home.

Above: former MLB star Carlos Baerga (CJ Photo)

He also said that Cuba’s presence in Puerto Rico would make the series particularly compelling.

This year’s series kicks off with a contest between Mexico and Cuba on Monday at 12 PM, followed by a game between Puerto Rico and Venezuela that evening.

Baerga was part of the famous 1995 “Dream Team” from Puerto Rico, a Winter League team that included MLB legends like Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams and Carlos Delgado and took the Caribbean Series crown.

That team will be honoured with a ceremony at the series this week.

One of the series’ major sponsors is JetBlue, which has played an increasingly strong role in providing airlift for the region, rising to the Caribbean’s leading air carrier from the United States.

JetBlue spokesperson told CJ that the event continues to be a major boon for host countries, with continued airlift demand.