Navegantes del Magallanes

Navegantes del Magallanes B.B.C., commonly known as Navegantes del Magallanes (Spanish pronunciation: [naβeɣantes del mˌaɣaʎˈanes]; Magellan Navigators), or simply Magallanes, are a professional baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), based in Valencia, Carabobo.

Navegantes del Magallanes
Cap insignia
Information
League	Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
Location	Valencia
Ballpark	Estadio José Bernardo Pérez
Founded	1917 (original) 1964 (modern incarnation)
Caribbean Series championships	1970, 1979
League championships	1950, 1951, 1955, 1970, 1977, 1979, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2013, 2014, 2022
Current uniforms
Home Away

Originally founded in Caracas in 1917, Magallanes relocated to Valencia in 1969. The team is one of oldest and most successful clubs in Venezuelan baseball, winning 13 LVBP championships and 2 Caribbean Series.

History

Early years

The Magallanes Base Ball Club was established on October 26, 1917 in Caracas. The name Magallanes, referring both to Ferdinand Magellan (known as Fernando Magallanes in Spanish) and the Strait of Magellan, was chosen by the founding members in a polling to select the club name; other proposed names were Colón (honoring Christopher Columbus) and Diego de Losada, the founder of the city of Caracas. Antonio Benítez, one of the team's owners, proposed the name Magallanes in reference to the geographical location, suggesting that other teams would founder against them (as ships do in the difficult-to-navigate strait).^[1] The Magallanes Base Ball Club debuted the next year, 1918, in the National Baseball Championship. The club, however, would soon fold due to several problems including internal disputes.^[2][3]

It would be ten years until the next team under the name Magallanes debuted, refounded by Benítez, as an amateur club part of the new Venezuelan National League in 1927.^[4] During this period, it developed a fierce rivalry with the cross-town Royal Criollo club, which would later evolved into the modern rivalry between Magallanes and Leones del Caracas.^[5] In 1930, the team won its first first division title, thanks to the pitching of Pancho Coimbre and Balbino Inojosa.^[6] However, the club again folded before the 1933 season.^[7]

The Magallanes name was again revived in 1941 by Carlos Lavaud.^[8] The club signed Vidal López, who had won 12 games in Cuba, and Carlos Ascanio, who had been playing in Cuba, as well as Dalmiro Finol, José Pérez Colmenares, and Jesus "Chucho" Ramos.^[9] Magallanes won the 1943–44 tournament.

Professionalization

Magallanes was one of the four original clubs (along with Cerveceria, Vargas, and Venezuela) to form the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League on December 27, 1945.^[10]

In 1969, Magallanes were acquired by a group of businessmen based in Carabobo state and moved to the city of Valencia, which had recently lost its team, Industriales de Valencia, before the 1969–70 season.^[11]

Mascot

The Capy is the official mascot of the Navegantes del Magallanes baseball team. The bird wears a navigator costume. He has a girlfriend named Lola, a very charming parrot.

Current roster

Navegantes del Magallanes roster – 2024-25 LVBP season
Players				Coaches
Pitchers 65 Alfred Gutierrez -- Amilcar Chirinos 50 Angel Acevedo 85 Angel Hernandez 76 Anthony Vizcaya 89 Brayan Palencia 42 Bryan Mata -- Bubby Rossman 94 Cristofer Ogando 22 Deolis Guerra 32 Derek West 83 Eduard Bazardo 86 Edwar Colina 67 Enderson Franco 99 Felipe Vázquez 34 J. C. Ramírez 71 Jesus Paricaguan 38 Jesús Tinoco 72 Jhan Zambrano 43 Jose Martinez 41 Junior Guerra 95 Luis Martinez -- Masahiro Fukuda 58 Nivaldo Rodríguez 69 Stevie Ledesma 92 Tyler Alexander 96 Wilker Palma 56 Wilking Rodríguez updated on 13 March 2025		Catchers 63 Arturo Nieto 87 Eliézer Alfonzo 40 Luis Torrens -- Pablo Aliendo 31 Manuel Boscan 17 Ramón Cabrera 53 Rusber Estrada Infielders 77 Aeverson Arteaga -- Angelo Castellano 30 Diego Castillo o6 Edgardo Fermin 68 Gabriel Arias 07 Jose Gomez 18 José Peraza 78 Luis Marquez 82 Luis Suisbel 39 Renato Núñez 14 Tucupita Marcano 26 Yangervis Solarte Outfielders 75 Alberth Martinez 36 Carlos D. Rodriguez 08 Diego Rincones 60 Jose Cordoba 62 Leandro Pineda 52 Miguel Aparicio 90 Tito Polo		Manager Eddie Pérez Coaches 53 Félix Escalona (First Base) 74 Cesar Hernandez (Bullpen Catcher) 25 Victor Oramas (Third Base) 46 Robert Pérez (Hitting) 16 Luis Rivera (Pitching) [12] 89 Nestor Rojas (Bench) -- Jose Villa (Bullpen)

^[13]

2022 Caribbean Series roster

Venezuela 2022 Caribbean Series Roster
Players				Coaches
Pitchers 37 Henderson Álvarez 99 Silvino Bracho 34 Vicente Campos  0 Henry Centeno 67 Enderson Franco 61 Yapson Gómez 27 Junior Guerra 39 César Jiménez 83 José Martínez 65 Yohander Méndez 56 Wilking Rodríguez 95 Danny Rondón 80 Bruce Rondón 35 Erick Leal 76 Anthony Vizcaya 66 Robert Zarate updated on 31 January 2020		Catchers 98 Francisco Arcia 87 Anderson De La Rosa 63 Arturo Nieto Infielders 17 Rayder Ascanio 28 Balbino Fuenmayor 16 Gabriel Noriega  4 Niuman Romero 48 Pablo Sandoval  5 Leonardo Reginatto 14 Engelb Vielma Outfielders 96 Willians Astudillo 33 Alejandro De Aza 32 Cade Gotta 75 Alberth Martínez 31 Ángel Reyes  6 Danry Vásquez		Manager -- Willie Romero Coaches

Championships

Season	Manager	Record	Series score	Runner-up
1949–50	Lázaro Salazar	32–14	—	Cerveceria Caracas
1950–51	Lázaro Salazar	34–19	—	Cerveceria Caracas
1954–55	Lázaro Salazar	32–18	—	Leones del Caracas
1969–70	Carlos Pascual	32–28	3–0	Tiburones de La Guaira
1976–77	Don Leppert	35–30	4–2	Tiburones de La Guaira
1978–79	Octavio Rojas / Willie Horton	39–31	4–1	Águilas del Zulia
1993–94	Tim Tolman	35–25	4–3	Leones del Caracas
1995–96	Tim Tolman / Gregorio Machado	29–31	4–3	Cardenales de Lara
1996–97	John Tamargo	33–17	4–1	Leones del Caracas
2001–02	Phil Regan	30–32	4–1	Tigres de Aragua
2012–13	Carlos García / Luis Sojo	36–37	4–3	Cardenales de Lara
2013–14	Luis Sojo / Carlos García	33–30	4–1	Caribes de Anzoátegui
2021–22	Wilfredo Romero	33–30	4–3	Caribes de Anzoátegui

Notable players

Luis “Camaleón” García

Gustavo Gil

Pablo Sandoval

Melvin Mora and Johan Santana

Retired numbers

11 Luis Aparicio SS Retired

15 Félix Rodríguez IF Retired

21 Luis “Camaleón” García SS Retired

23 Néstor Isaías "Látigo" Chávez OF Retired

Navegantes del Magallanes Hall of Fame

Magallanes established a team Hall of Fame in 2012.^[14][15]

Key

Class	Year of induction
Bold	Inducted into Major League Baseball Baseball Hall of Fame
†	Inducted into Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Navegantes del Magallanes Hall of Fame
Class	Name	Position	Tenure
2012	Vidal López†	P	1941–1945 (amateur) 1946–1955 (professional)
	Chucho Ramos†	OF	1946–1956
	Lázaro Salazar†	Manager	1949–1959
	Ramón Monzant†	P	1953–1956
	Luis "Camaleón" García†	3B	1949–1965
	Gustavo Gil†	2B	1968–1977
	Dámaso Blanco†	3B	1969–1975
	Dave Parker	OF	1974–1977
	Cito Gaston	OF	1968–1976
	Oswaldo Olivares†	OF	1977–1980
	Carlos Lavaud†	Executive	1941–1956
	Edgar Rincones	Executive	1969–2007
	José Ettedgui	Executive	1969–1992
	Rafael "Felo" Ramírez	Broadcaster
2013	Félix Rodríguez	1B	1972–1989
	Gregorio Machado	P, Coach	1969–1974 (player) 1974–2010 (coach)
	Jim Holt	OF, 1B	1969–1974
	Alberto Raidi	Executive
2014	Manuel Sarmiento	P	1972–1983
	Mitchell Page	OF, 1B	1976–1979
	Oswaldo Degwitz	Executive
2015	Alfredo Guadarrama	Executive
	Álvaro Espinoza	SS	1992–1996
	Carlos García	IF, Manager	1987–1998 (player) 2009–2014 (manager)
2016	Carlos Pulido†	P
	Alberto Parjús	Executive	1977–1979
	Oscar Henríquez	P	1993–2003
	Eddy Díaz	UTIL	1991–2004
2017	Santiago Sánchez	Executive	1982–1989
	Richard Hidalgo	OF	1991–2012
	Ramón García	P	1987–1998
	Melvin Mora†	UTIL	1991–2012
2018	Antonio José Istúriz	Executive	1964–1969
	Edgardo Alfonzo	3B	1996–2011
	Carlos Hernández	2B
	Jim Pendleton	SS	1949–1953
2019	Johan Santana†	P	1998–2002
	Willie Horton	OF / Manager	1978–1980
2023	Clemente Álvarez	C	1986–2005
	Isaías "Látigo" Chávez	P	1964–1968

Other notable players

• Jose Altuve, infielder
• Sam Nahem (1915–2004), Major League Baseball pitcher
• Endy Chávez, MLB outfielder
• Luis Arráez, MLB infielder
• Leonardo Reginatto, infielder
• Reynaldo Rodríguez, infielder
• Ezequiel Carrera, outfielder
• Elvis Andrus, infielder
• Pablo Sandoval, infielder
• Johan Santana, pitcher
• Freddy Garcia, pitcher
• Luis Raven, infielder
• Mario Lisson, infielder
• Emilio Cueche, pitcher
• Barry Bonds, outfielder
• Luis Aparicio Sr., infielder
• Luis Rengifo, infielder
• Félix Hernández, pitcher
• Billy Bean, outfielder
• Cito Gaston
• Kenny Lofton