Navegantes del Magallanes

Navegantes del Magallanes B.B.C., commonly known as Navegantes del Magallanes (; Magellan Navigators), or simply Magallanes, are a professional baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), based in Valencia, Carabobo.

Originally founded in Caracas in 1917, Magallanes relocated to Valencia in 1969. The team is one of oldest and most successful clubs in Venezuelan baseball, winning 13 LVBP championships and 2 Caribbean Series.

History

Early years

The Magallanes Base Ball Club was established on October 26, 1917 in Caracas. The name Magallanes, referring both to Ferdinand Magellan (known as Fernando Magallanes in Spanish) and the Strait of Magellan, was chosen by the founding members in a polling to select the club name; other proposed names were Colón (honoring Christopher Columbus) and Diego de Losada, the founder of the city of Caracas. Antonio Benítez, one of the team's owners, proposed the name Magallanes in reference to the geographical location, suggesting that other teams would founder against them (as ships do in the difficult-to-navigate strait). The Magallanes Base Ball Club debuted the next year, 1918, in the National Baseball Championship. The club, however, would soon fold due to several problems including internal disputes.

It would be ten years until the next team under the name Magallanes debuted, refounded by Benítez, as an amateur club part of the new Venezuelan National League in 1927. During this period, it developed a fierce rivalry with the cross-town Royal Criollo club, which would later evolved into the modern rivalry between Magallanes and Leones del Caracas. In 1930, the team won its first first division title, thanks to the pitching of Pancho Coimbre and Balbino Inojosa. However, the club again folded before the 1933 season.

The Magallanes name was again revived in 1941 by Carlos Lavaud. The club signed Vidal López, who had won 12 games in Cuba, and Carlos Ascanio, who had been playing in Cuba, as well as Dalmiro Finol, José Pérez Colmenares, and Jesus "Chucho" Ramos. Magallanes won the 1943–44 tournament.

Professionalization

Magallanes was one of the four original clubs (along with Cerveceria, Vargas, and Venezuela) to form the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League on December 27, 1945.

In 1969, Magallanes were acquired by a group of businessmen based in Carabobo state and moved to the city of Valencia, which had recently lost its team, Industriales de Valencia, before the 1969–70 season.

Mascot

The Capy is the official mascot of the Navegantes del Magallanes baseball team. The bird wears a navigator costume. He has a girlfriend named Lola, a very charming parrot.

Current roster

2022 Caribbean Series roster

Venezuela 2022 Caribbean Series Roster
Players				Coaches
Pitchers 37 Henderson Álvarez 99 Silvino Bracho 34 Vicente Campos  0 Henry Centeno 67 Enderson Franco 61 Yapson Gómez 27 Junior Guerra 39 César Jiménez 83 José Martínez 65 Yohander Méndez 56 Wilking Rodríguez 95 Danny Rondón 80 Bruce Rondón 35 Erick Leal 76 Anthony Vizcaya 66 Robert Zarate [1] updated on 31 January 2020		Catchers 98 Francisco Arcia 87 Anderson De La Rosa 63 Arturo Nieto Infielders 17 Rayder Ascanio 28 Balbino Fuenmayor 16 Gabriel Noriega  4 Niuman Romero 48 Pablo Sandoval  5 Leonardo Reginatto 14 Engelb Vielma Outfielders 96 Willians Astudillo 33 Alejandro De Aza 32 Cade Gotta 75 Alberth Martínez 31 Ángel Reyes  6 Danry Vásquez		Manager -- Willie Romero Coaches

Championships

Season	Manager	Record	Series score	Runner-up
1949–50	Lázaro Salazar	32–14	—	Cerveceria Caracas
1950–51	Lázaro Salazar	34–19	—	Cerveceria Caracas
1954–55	Lázaro Salazar	32–18	—	Leones del Caracas
1969–70	Carlos Pascual	32–28	3–0	Tiburones de La Guaira
1976–77	Don Leppert	35–30	4–2	Tiburones de La Guaira
1978–79	Octavio Rojas / Willie Horton	39–31	4–1	Águilas del Zulia
1993–94	Tim Tolman	35–25	4–3	Leones del Caracas
1995–96	Tim Tolman / Gregorio Machado	29–31	4–3	Cardenales de Lara
1996–97	John Tamargo	33–17	4–1	Leones del Caracas
2001–02	Phil Regan	30–32	4–1	Tigres de Aragua
2012–13	Carlos García / Luis Sojo	36–37	4–3	Cardenales de Lara
2013–14	Luis Sojo / Carlos García	33–30	4–1	Caribes de Anzoátegui
2021–22	Wilfredo Romero	33–30	4–3	Caribes de Anzoátegui

Notable players

File:Camaleon Garcia.png

Luis “Camaleón” García

File:Gus Gil 1969.jpg

Gustavo Gil

File:Sandoval magallanes.jpg

Pablo Sandoval

File:Melvin Mora and Johan Santana on June 16, 2009.jpg

Melvin Mora and Johan Santana

Retired numbers

11 Luis Aparicio SS Retired

15 Félix Rodríguez IF Retired

21 Luis “Camaleón” García SS Retired

23 Néstor Isaías "Látigo" Chávez OF Retired

Navegantes del Magallanes Hall of Fame

Magallanes established a team Hall of Fame in 2012.

Key

Class	Year of induction
Bold	Inducted into Major League Baseball Baseball Hall of Fame
Template:Dagger	Inducted into Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Navegantes del Magallanes Hall of Fame
Class	Name	Position	Tenure
	Template:Dagger	P	1941–1945 (amateur) 1946–1955 (professional)
	Template:Dagger	OF	1946–1956
	Template:Dagger	Manager	1949–1959
	Template:Dagger	P	1953–1956
	Template:Dagger	3B	1949–1965
	Template:Dagger	2B	1968–1977
	Template:Dagger	3B	1969–1975
		OF	1974–1977
		OF	1968–1976
	Template:Dagger	OF	1977–1980
	Template:Dagger	Executive	1941–1956
		Executive	1969–2007
		Executive	1969–1992
		Broadcaster
		1B	1972–1989
		P, Coach	1969–1974 (player) 1974–2010 (coach)
		OF, 1B	1969–1974
		Executive
		P	1972–1983
		OF, 1B	1976–1979
		Executive
		Executive
		SS	1992–1996
		IF, Manager	1987–1998 (player) 2009–2014 (manager)
	Template:Dagger	P
		Executive	1977–1979
		P	1993–2003
		UTIL	1991–2004
		Executive	1982–1989
		OF	1991–2012
		P	1987–1998
	Template:Dagger	UTIL	1991–2012
		Executive	1964–1969
		3B	1996–2011
		2B
		SS	1949–1953
	Template:Dagger	P	1998–2002
		OF / Manager	1978–1980
		C	1986–2005
		P	1964–1968

Other notable players

• Jose Altuve, infielder
• Sam Nahem (1915–2004), Major League Baseball pitcher
• Endy Chávez, MLB outfielder
• Luis Arráez, MLB infielder
• Leonardo Reginatto, infielder
• Reynaldo Rodríguez, infielder
• Ezequiel Carrera, outfielder
• Elvis Andrus, infielder
• Pablo Sandoval, infielder
• Johan Santana, pitcher
• Freddy Garcia, pitcher
• Luis Raven, infielder
• Mario Lisson, infielder
• Emilio Cueche, pitcher
• Barry Bonds, outfielder
• Luis Aparicio Sr., infielder
• Luis Rengifo, infielder
• Félix Hernández, pitcher
• Billy Bean, outfielder
• Cito Gaston
• Kenny Lofton

External links

• Official site
• Viento en Popa. Non-Official site