About

The Puerto Rico national baseball team (Spanish: Selección de béisbol de Puerto Rico) is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is currently ranked 11th in the world, while its women's counterpart is 12th. Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Central American/Caribbean champion, as well as the World Baseball Classic runner-up. After debuting in the amateur predecessor to the Baseball World Cup, the team won its first medal by finishing second in 1947, a performance that it repeated the following year. In 1951, Puerto Rico became the world baseball champion by winning the event. The team went on to gather six more medals during the tournament's existence, finishing second twice and third four times. Puerto Rico was an inaugural member of the World Baseball Classic, making its debut in the first edition. The team has advanced to the second round in all of its appearances, in the process becoming the first team to score mercy rule wins over Cuba and the United States. In the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Puerto Rico became the second team from the Western Hemisphere to advance to the final, eliminating two-time defending world champion Japan in the semifinals before finishing as the event's runner-up. The team has also participated in several lesser international competitions, such as the Central American and Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games, Americas Baseball Cup, Intercontinental Cup, and Haarlem Baseball Week, winning medals in most. The team tried but failed to qualify for the 2020 Olympics at the eight-team Americas Qualifying Event on May 31 through June 5, 2021.