ZAPOPAN, Mexico – As you can probably guess, I’ve been to a fair number of baseball games. Too many to count, though I do have a lot of the ticket stubs from games I’ve attended from 1985 onward until paper tickets went the way of the dodo bird, replaced by electrons inside my phone.
Of all the games I’ve seen, though, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything as crazy as this year’s Caribbean Series final, where the Charros de Jalisco had a 9-1 lead after three innings, only to have the lead evaporate in the Guadalajara night, fall behind the Tomateros de Culiacan in the top of the 10th inning, then score twice on wild pitches in the bottom of the 10th to win the title.
The game had something for everyone, save for those rare fans who really enjoy pitcher’s duels. Both teams had an inning where they batted around. Victor Mendoza hit a pair of homers for the Tomateros, and Bligh Madris hit a tape-measure homer – again – for the Charros.
It’s a game that fans of the Caribbean Series will talk about for years to come, and a terrific ending to a great Caribbean Series.
No Shutout In the Final – The last three Caribbean Series championship games ended in shutouts, but both teams got runs across the plate in the 2026 final. A lot of them. The 23 runs scored by the Charros de Jalisco and the Tomateros de Culiacan are the most ever scored in a Caribbean Series championship game.
Honoring the Past – Lorenzo Bundy wears No. 30 in Mexico City when he’s managing the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, but he picked a different number when he joined Culiacan just after the midpoint of the season. Bundy, 66, chose No. 42, honoring Jackie Robinson. You can hear his comments on the importance of honoring Robinson in the video in the tweet embedded below.
Lorenzo Bundy changed his jersey number to one of the most meaningful in baseball when he joined the @clubtomateros de Culiacan. I asked him to reflect on what it means to him to wear No. 42 here at the #2026CaribbeanSeries. pic.twitter.com/II6QSDOilr
— @leifskodnick.bsky.social (@LeifSkodnick) February 3, 2026
Next Year’s Top Tomato – When discussing wearing Jackie Robinson’s number, Bundy said, “For me, personally, if this is my last year or if it’s not my last year, who knows? But I think No. 42 should be displayed as often as we get a chance.”
Asked before the championship game if he is interested in managing in winter ball next year, the veteran skipper said, “Speaking of it, right now, yes, I would like to manage next year. I feel good physically, I feel good mentally. After four or five years being in this league, I miss this league. I grew up in this league and this league has been very important to me and my family. I met my wife in this league. So yeah, I would like to have another chance to win a championship with Culiacan.”
Venezuela Will Be Back Next Year – The CBPC announced on Saturday that Venezuela’s Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional intends to return to the Caribbean Series this year. The league declined to send a team to this year’s Caribbean Series after it was moved out of Caracas and La Guaira in December as tensions continued to rise with the United States.
Two Losses For One Country On One Day – The losses by the Tomateros de Culiacan and the Charros de Jalisco, Mexico’s two representatives, on the first day of the series marked the first time since 1974 that Mexico lost two games on the same day at the Caribbean Series. In 1974, Mexico had two representatives at the Caribbean Series, which was held in Hermosillo, Mexico, because the players union in Venezuela’s Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional went on strike, and they both lost on on Feb. 5, 1974, when Puerto Rico’s Criollos de Caguas defeated the Yaquis de Obregón and the Dominican Republic’s Tigres del Licey beat the Venados de Mazatlán.
Balk This Way – In 13 games, umpires called nine balks, including two in the championship game. Eight of the 13 games had at least one balk called. In Major League Baseball, there are usually less than 200 balks called across the entire season. None of the 13 balks called during the Caribbean Series resulted in a run scoring.
This Wasn’t a Pitcher’s Duel – Wednesday’s early game between Panama’s Federales de Chiriqui and the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido set the record for most runs in a single game in Caribbean Series history, with the Leones winning the contest 16-15. The previous record was set in 1990 when the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of Mexico and Puerto Rico’s Senadores de San Juan combined to score 28 runs in a single game. The 34 total hits – Panama had 18, the Dominican republic had 16 – were the third most in a Caribbean Series game.
Musical Frivolity – Believe it or not, it was not until the fourth day of the Caribbean Series that we heard the song Americans know as “The Mexican Hat Dance,” which is actually called “Jarabe Tapatio”.
As with sporting events in the United States, you’ll hear a lot of the same songs over and over. An informal tally over the 13 games revealed that Danza Kuduro was played nine times, while merengue favorite Kulikitaka was played seven times. Marc Anthony’s Vivir Mi Vida got 10 plays, while La Chona by the Tucanes de Tijuana was played eight times. Whenever the Leones del Escogido were playing, we heard Soy Dominicano, sometimes more than once: the Leones played five games but it was played six times. Of course, we heard Macarena. I won’t link to the video because we’ve all heard it enough. El Chombo’s famous reggaeton hit Chacarron, which I first heard when the late Andy Marte used it as his walkup song while playing for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, never made an appearance, sadly.
Total Attendance – The 2026 Caribbean Series drew a total of 90,415 over the 13 games, which works out to an average of 6,955 per game. The championship game had the biggest crowd, with 11,767 packing into Estadio Panamericano to watch the Charros win the title on their home artificial turf.
Caribbean Series All-Star Team – Below are the members of the 2026 Caribbean Series All-Star Team.
Catcher – Alí Solís – Tomateros de Culiacan
First base – Yohandy Morales – Cangrejeros de Santurce
Second base – Michael Wielansky – Charros de Jalisco
Third base – Rodolfo Amador – Tomateros de Culiacan
Shortstop – Luis Verdugo – Tomateros de Culiacan
Left field – Franchy Cordero – Leones del Escogido
Center field – Junior Lake – Leones del Escogido
Right field – Sócrates Brito – Leones del Escogido
Starting pitcher – Luis Miranda – Charros de Jalisco
Relief pitcher – Jimmy Cordero – Leones del Escogido
Designated Hitter – Joey Meneses – Tomateros de Culiacan
Manager – Benjamín Gil – Charros de Jalisco
See You In Hermosillo – Next year’s Caribbean Series will be played at Estadio Fernando Valenzuela in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, the home of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico’s Naranjeros de Hermosillo. The city previously hosted the Caribbean Series in 1974 at their old ballpark Estadio Hector Espino, which is still standing, and again in 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, and 2013. I visited Hermosillo at the start of this winter ball season to put together a feature on the Tucson Baseball Team, which spent the entire season playing home games on the road because work visas for players and staff didn’t come through. The ballpark is one of the best in winter baseball, and if you go, I’ve got a recommendation on where to go for carne asada thanks to Alejandro Ruvalcaba, who runs a site covering the Aguilas de Mexicali. The dates of next year’s series have yet to be announced.
Thanks Again – I’m sure there are a bunch of you who have followed winter ball through my coverage, and truly, I thank you. It’s not lost on me that I’ve somehow stumbled into an extremely fun and unique vein of baseball that, I hope, is starting to catch on with fans in the United States. When my father told me years ago that there was professional baseball in the winter in Latin America in the winter, I thought it was the most incredible thing and wished I could follow in in New Jersey. Thanks to the magic of the internet, we can now watch and follow baseball when there’s snow on the ground, and while you don’t have to speak Spanish to enjoy winter ball, it does help.
Speaking of snow, I’m currently sitting in the Guadalajara airport waiting for a flight to Dallas, where I’ll change to New York. Yes, I have a winter coat. The temperature at home is in the single digits right now, a stark departure from the perfect 80-degree days we’ve had all week in Guadalajara.
Though she likely won’t read this (heck, I don’t think my mom reads what I write), I’m forever grateful to my wife and kids for letting me hop on a plane and continue to live an extended childhood, typing out stories from the sport I fell in love with as a kid. I’ll be home in 11 short hours.
Hasta el proximo invierno, mis amigos!
Photo: Michael Wielansky of the Charros de Jalisco holds the MVP trophy for the 2026 Caribbean Series. (Photo courtesy of the CBPC)
