Before Pitchers and Catchers there's the Caribbean World Series

Every year before pitchers and catchers report to major league Spring training there's the Caribbean World Series. Four different countries and one Caribbean territory have their own winter leagues and the champion from those respective leagues get together and meet up in one of these places to play each other to decide which team is the best for that year. The participants for the tournament are The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico. The traditional strength of these nations (and territory in Puerto Rico's case) is baseball and for them to get together and play their yearly tournament is fun to watch especially in the strange time when the football season is over and spring training is still so far away.

What is the most fun to watch is how different the ambiance is between the major league game and the Caribbean game. Where the majors tend to be more business like, the stands during these Caribbean games are the opposite. A more festive surrounding with music, cheerleaders, and a more active and animated crowd makes the games much more entertaining especially during rivalry games like when Puerto Rico plays the Dominican Republic in either Puerto Rico or DR or when Venezuela plays Mexico. Whether it be Caribbean baseball or spring training baseball it's the fact that there is organized baseball to watch during the winter that makes baseball a year round thing.