'''''' Cervecería Caracas was founded in 1942, after
Cervecería Princesa, an early team, was bought and transformed into Caracas. At first, the team played its home games at the old
Estadio Cerveza Caracas, which was located in the capital city of
Caracas. The team was founded by
Martín Tovar Lange and
managed by big leaguer
Alejandro Carrasquel. The Princesa team played its last game on May 7, 1942. Then, Caracas debuted four days later with a 7–3 victory over the
Criollos (). The game was played in
Puerto Cabello, a city on the north coast of Venezuela. Caracas faced its later nemesis, the
Navegantes del Magallanes for the first time on December 27 of that year, winning this now historic game by a 3–0 score. In its first stage, the team won two championship titles before moving to the
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in January 1946. Since its inception, the Caracas team was characterized by having only Venezuelan players on their roster. The club changed its policy in 1950, after signing
catcher Lester Fusselman and
outfielder Maurice Mozzali, two
St. Louis Cardinals prospects. In 1952, the franchise was bought by the publicist and sport commentator
Pablo Morales and christened Leones del Caracas as a new franchise. Since then, the team plays its home games at the
Estadio Universitario in Caracas. Later, businessman
Oscar Prieto Ortiz joined Morales as a legal partner.
Pete Rose was benched after a slump late in the 1964
MLB season, finishing with a .269 average, but continued to play winter ball in Venezuela with the Leones del Caracas team during the 1964–1965 season to improve his batting. By 2001, the descendants of Morales and Prieto sold their shares to the
Grupo Cisneros, giving it majority control of the team. Through 2024, the Caracas team has won 21 championship titles (3 as Cervecería Caracas and 18 as Leones del Caracas), more than any other team in Venezuelan Professional Baseball League history. ==Ballpark==