Águilas del Zulia


The Águilas del Zulia is a Venezuelan professional baseball team based in Maracaibo which plays in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

History

The team was founded in 1969 and debuted in the 1969–70 season. The franchise began in 1946 as Sabios de Vargas, then was renamed Santa Marta BBC in 1954, before moving to Valencia and plays as the Industriales de Valencia from 1955–56 through 1967-68. The Industriales later moved to Acarigua and were renamed Llaneros de Acarigua for the 1968-69 season.
After the collapse of the Liga Occidental de Béisbol Profesional in 1963, the Zulia state was left without a professional baseball team. In the following years there were many efforts to bring baseball back to the state, but the efforts were not realized until 1969, when the Águilas del Zulia joined the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Two baseball people were behind the formation of the team, Luis Rodolfo Machado B., main shareholder of the extinct Centauros de Maracaibo club, and Juan Antonio Yanes, former Patriotas de Venezuela owner.
Machado found a group of local investors to buy the aforementioned Llaneros de Acarigua when the team folded after their only season in the VPBL. By then the Acarigua team was put up for sale by its owners after losing money for numerous years, including the hazardous Valencia Industriales experience. Among the investors were Simón Bromberg, Rubén Darío Barboza, Gabriel Fernández, Edgardo Fuenmayor Arrieta, Guillermo Echeto La Roche, Sixto Márquez, José Trinidad Martínez, Douglas Mavárez Granadillo, Ernesto Montiel, Fernando Pérez Amado, Vinicio Pineda Gil, Alberto Plumacher, Antonio Quintero Parra, Lucas Rincón Colmenares, Heberto Rutilio Ríos, and Hugo Suárez Romero.
After receiving the approval of the VPBL President Franklin White and from the five other teams, the franchise was formally acquired by Machado's group. The team was bought for a sum of 400,000 million bolivars. The news of the return of professional baseball to the state was celebrated in Zulia.
The team made its official debut on October 14, 1969 at Estadio Antonio Herrera Gutiérrez against the Cardenales de Lara. The Águilas lost the game, 3–2, with Juan Quiroz pitching a complete game loss, while Pablo Torrealba was credited with the win and Ken Sanders earned the save. On the following day the team played and won its first game at Estadio Luis Aparicio El Grande.
The Aguilas' first years were troubled while posting losing records in most seasons. Nevertheless, the team survived these lean years to become one of the most successful VPBL teams in the early 1980s, winning five championship titles spanning 1984–2000.

The Águilas

The team's name of the Águilas is associated with the Zuliano region. It is said to be attributed to the Father Jose Manuel Ríos. In 1968, during a baseball game at Estadio Alejandro Borges in Maracaibo, Machado had asked Ríos if he had any suggestions for a baseball team's name, as he had just bought the Llaneros de Portuguesa. According to Machado, Ríos saw the label of the then popular Cerveza Zulia – whose bottle's label carried a blue eagle on a yellow background – and said that the Águilas would be a good name for the team. In addition, Ríos explained the Governmental Palace in Maracaibo is called El de las Águilas, and that many national flags and coats of arms have eagles on them. Thus, the team's name became the Águilas.

2006–2007 season

For the first time in five seasons the team qualified to the post-season, managed by former major league catcher John Russell. The performances of the rookie sensation and Arizona Diamondbacks outfield prospect Carlos González, led this rookie-filled team to a successful year, finishing second in the western division and third in the playoff race to the finals.
Foreign pitchers Chris Begg, Heath Totten and Jeremy Cummings were the heads of the pitching rotation, while the offensive was commanded by an MVP season by González, solid catching work of Humberto Quintero, and the performances of Juan Pablo Camacho, Orlando Muñoz and Luis Bolívar, who was named Rookie of the Year.
Reliever Richard Garcés reached his 100th save in the league, which inspired his rookie pitcher teammates, while another Aguilas' legend, former pitcher Wilson Álvarez, joined the team as their bullpen coach.

Current roster

Retired numbers

11
Luis Aparicio Montiel
SS
Retired 1984		20
Leonel Carrión
OF
Retired 1999		36
Rubén Amaro
Manager
Retired 2013		1
Pompeyo Davalillo
Manager
Retired 2014		47
Wilson Álvarez
Pitcher
Retired 2016

Notable players