Jose Mayorga manager of Federales de Chiriquí of Panama reacts. (Photo by Luis Gutierrez /Norte Photo/Getty Images)
The Federación Panameña de Béisbol announced on May 15 that Jose Mayorga, 31, will manage their national team for the Premier12 tournament operated by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.
Panama is ranked No. 10 in the World Baseball Rankings provided by the WBSC.
Panama is participating in the Premier12 tournament for the first time since the event started in 2015.
The Premier12 event will be from November 10-24 after the regular seasons in Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, the Korean Baseball Organization, Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, and Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
Mayorga helped Federales de Chriqui win third place at the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park in Miami last February, beating Curacao Suns of the Curacao Professional Baseball League 5-4.
Mayorga was awarded the Manager of the All-Tournament Team at the 2024 Caribbean Series and helped the Federales de Chiriqui go 5-1 during the pool round.
“It is a high-level commitment. We are going to give our all in each game and try to qualify for the super round”, Mayorga said on the FEDEBEIS teleconference.
Mayorga was born in Pueblo Nuevo, Panama. He played in the minor leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2010 to 2015 and reached Double-A Redding during his professional career.
Mayorga, after his professional career, served as the bench coach for the Vancouver Canadians in 2018 and the Florida Complex League Blue Jays in 2022. He also managed the FCL Blue Jays for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Last year, Panama went 2-2 at the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Pool A in Taichung, Taiwan, at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium against Cuba, Italy, host nation Chinese Taipei, and the Netherlands. Panama ended up with the same record as all the other Pool A participants. It did not qualify for the quarterfinals due to the Total Quality Balance run differential rule from the WBSC.
Panama lost in the bronze medal game of the 2023 Pan American Games to Mexico 10-2 during their last international senior event.
Panama has only won two gold medals at the 1997 and 2010 Central American Games in its history at international senior events.
The 12 teams for the Premier12 event were confirmed on December 19, 2023.
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— WBSC ⚾???? (@WBSC) December 19, 2023
Group A of the Premier12 will be played at Estadio Panamericano in Zapopan, in the greater Guadalajara metropolitan area, and at a new stadium in Santa Teresita de Tepic from Nov. 10-14. Estadio Panamericano is the home of the Charros de Jalisco in both the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol and the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, and hosted group play during the 2019 WBSC Premier12.
Group B will be played at the Nagoya Dome in Nagoya, Japan, and Taipei City, Taiwan, from Nov. 14 to 18 at the Taipei Dome. The Super Round, featuring the top two teams from each group, will be played at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan from Nov. 21-24.
Group A will include Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. Group B will feature Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, and the U.S.
The Premier12 was supposed to be scheduled for 2023 but was moved to 2024 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic which also moved the Tokyo Olympics from 2020 to 2021 and the World Baseball Classic from 2021 to 2023.
The WBSC has not announced the confirmed game times schedule for the 2024 Premier12 event.
