Águilas Cibaeñas
Encyclopedia
The Águilas Cibaeñas are a team in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

's winter baseball league. Founded in and based in Santiago
Santiago de los Caballeros
Santiago de los Caballeros is a city in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1495 during the first wave of European colonization of the New World, today Santiago is the second largest metropolis in the Dominican Republic, located in the north-central region of the Republic known as Cibao valley...

, they have won 5 Caribbean Series and 20 national titles. The Águilas have a large fan base in the Dominican Republic. In 2008, the Águilas Cibaeñas hosted the Caribbean Series at their stadium, Estadio Cibao
Estadio Cibao
Estadio Cibao is a multi-use stadium in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Currently, it is mostly used for baseball games and hosts the home games of the Águilas Cibaeñas for the Dominican Winter Baseball League. The stadium opened on October 25, 1958 and was constructed by the engineer Bienvenido...

, the last time they won a championship.

History

On January 28, 1937 a meeting of athletes was organized on the roof-garden of the Mercedes Hotel to initiate a professional baseball National Championship that would be held beginning in the summer of that year.

The meeting was attended by many notable Dominican athletes of the time including; Luis Alfáu, Pilindo Bonetti, Charles Dore, Manuel Henriquez, Burrulote Rodríguez, Julio and Miguel Peguero Linval, Luis Mercado, and Tomas Sainllant. The athletes recommended that the National Championship of 1937 should be held between a team from Santiago, a team from San Pedro de Macoris and a team from the Capital, Ciudad Trujillo. The team from the Capital was formed from two others, the Leones del Escogido and the Tigres del Licey, Trujillo himself named them the Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo. The proposal was accepted and the team representing Santiago would be known from then on as the Águilas Cibaeñas. Since then, the club has become one of today's most competitive clubs in the history of Dominican professional baseball.

The development of the Águilas Cibaeñas as a team is linked to the development of baseball in the valley of Cibao. From 1951 to 1954, the championships were held during the summer months. However, before the start of season in 1955 the traditional professional baseball championship was moved to the winter season to allow the most prominent Dominican players an opportunity to play in it. Still to this day Dominican players employed by teams in the MLB take part of this national winter classic to keep the tradition strong.

Retired numbers


Miguel Diloné
OF, M
Retired

Winston Llenas
3B-2B, M
Retired

Roberto Peña
SS
Retired

Franklin Taveras
SS
Retired

Felix Fermín
SS, M
Retired

Tony Peña
C, M
Retired

Stanley Javier
OF
Retired

Arturo Peña
P
Retired

Julian Javier
2B
Retired

Julio Martínez
2B
Retired

Arnulfo Espinosa
P
Retired
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