The wait is over and the 65th edition of the Caribbean Baseball Series in Venezuela kicked off on Thursday with the game between the Agriculturos of Cuba and the Wildcats KJ74 of Curacao.
The teams leading off are two that joined the 2023 edition, which increased to eight participants, with the return of Cuba and the debut of Curacao.
Also facing off on this day will be the Caneros de Los Mochis (Mexico) against the Tigres del Licey (Dominican Republic); Vaqueros (Colombia) vs Indios de Mayaguez (Puerto Rico); while in the star game, after the opening ceremony, the Leones de Caracas (Venezuela) will clash against the Federales de Panam.
Caribbean Series Draw Rules
As it is a round-robin tournament to find the four qualifiers, it is possible that there will be ties, which has been planned for by the organizers. These are the rules stipulated for the 2023 Caribbean Series:
- Between two teams in first place with the same percentage: the winner of the group will be the team that won the first-round match between the two teams.
- Among three first-place teams with the same percentage: the winner of the group will be the team with the best result of the TQB (Team Quality Balance) formula, which is obtained from the number of runs scored, divided by the innings played offensively , minus the number of runs allowed, divided by the innings played defensively (RS/IPO)-(RA/IPD)=TQB.
- To calculate the TQB, the results between the teams involved shall be taken into account. If there is still a tie between two or more teams, the winner of the group will be the team with the best result in the ER-TQB (Earned Runs Team’s Quality Balance) formula, which is obtained by adding the number of clean runs scored , divided by the number of innings played offensively, minus the number of clean runs allowed, divided by the number of innings played defensively (ERS/IPO)-(ERA/IPD)=ER-TQB.
- If there is still a tie between two or more teams, the positions will be defined by batting percentage; and if none of the above criteria is effective, the positions and qualifiers will be defined by drawing lots.
Among three second-placed teams with the same percentage: the same criteria used in the previous number shall apply.
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