Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente inducted six new members to their 2024 Hall of Fame class in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on December 20.
Roberto Alomar, Guillermo Montañez, Jerry Morales, Rodrigo Otero Suro, Tom Gamboa, and Arturo Soto.
Alomar was also inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as a player in 2013, the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 2010, and the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
Roberto Alomar
The second baseman spent most of his 17-year MLB Career with the Toronto Blue Jays from 1991-1995 and retired in 2004 with the Chicago White Sox. Alomar was a 12-time All-Star, winning 10 gold gloves and four silver sluggers. His biggest accomplishment was winning back-to-back World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. He also finished in third place and fourth place in the AL MVP voting with the Cleveland Indians in 1999 and 2001, respectively,
His MLB career numbers are 210 home runs, 1,134 RBI, 474 stolen bases, and a slash line of .300/.371/.443 in 9,073 at-bats.
Alomar played 13 years in LBPRC with Criollos de Caguas, Leones de Ponce, and Senadores de San Juan. He had 21 home runs, 119 RBI, and a lifetime batting average of .303 in 1,165 at-bats.
Guillermo Montañez
Montañez is a Puerto Rican first baseman who played 18 seasons in the LBPRC with Criollos de Caguas and Cangrejeros de Santurce. He was also inducted into the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 and was named one of the 75 greatest players in LBPRC history in 2013.
He ranks 10th all-time with home runs (86) and doubles (141) in LBPRC history.
Montañez also had 396 RBI and a .266 batting average in 3,071 at-bats.
He also won the Caribbean Series with Puerto Rico in 1975 as a reinforcement with Vaqueros de Bayamón.
Montañez played 14 seasons in MLB and was an All-Star with the Atlanta Braves in 1977. He made his MLB debut in 1966 with the California Angels and didn’t return to MLB until 1970 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He played for several other teams and ended his MLB career with the Phillies in 1982.
His MLB career numbers are 139 home runs, 802 RBI, and a slash line of .275/.327/.402 in 5,843 at-bats.
Jerry Morales
Morales was one of the best center fielders in LBPRC history. He also played 18 seasons for Criollos de Caguas and Cangrejeros de Santurce. In his LBPRC career, he had 67 home runs, 318 RBI, and a .267 batting average. His 146 doubles rank eighth all-time. He was named one of the top 75 players in Puerto Rican history. Like Alomar and Montañez, he was inducted into the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
Morales also played 15 MLB seasons from 1969 to 1983 and spent seven years with the Chicago Cubs. He was named to his lone All-Star game with the Cubs in 1977.
His MLB career numbers are 95 home runs, 570 RBI, and a slash line of .259/.313./.382 in 4,528 at-bats.
Tom Gamboa
Gamboa is a standout manager in LBPRC history, with three championships and three second-place finishes. All of these accomplishments took place with the Mayaguez Indios de Mayagüez. He was named manager of the year twice with them in the 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 seasons. Gamboa also managed Atenienses de Manatí, now Cangrejeros de Santurce, since they relocated before the 2008-2009 season.
Rodrigo Otero Suro
Otero Suro was president of LBPRC for 13 years and served as president of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Federation. One of his most notable accomplishments was restoring the Caribbean Series in 1970 after a nine-year absence.
In 1938, he was a flag bearer at the Central American and Caribbean Games. He was competing on the Puerto Rican Basketball team at the time. He founded Cangrejeros de Santurce in 1939 and was honored with inductions into the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame and Caribbean Series Hall of Fame in 1995 and 2003, respectively.
He died in 2001 at 76 years old, and his grandson, Rodrigo Otero Goyco, spoke on his behalf during the induction ceremony.
Arturo Soto
Soto has been the play-by-play announcer for Indios de Mayagüez since the 1978-1979 season and has called almost every Caribbean Series in that timeframe. He is the longest-tenured broadcaster in the history of LBPRC.
