Cangrejeros de Santurce (; "Santurce Crabbers") are a professional baseball team based in Santurce, the largest barrio of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The franchise joined the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente when it was the semi-professional Liga de Béisbol Semi-Profesional de Puerto Rico. Having played for over 80 years, the Cangrejeros have won seventeen national titles and five Caribbean Series. With over 2000 victories, the Cangrejeros have won the most games in the history of Puerto Rican professional baseball. The 1954–55 Cangrejeros, nicknamed Panic Squad, was the team's most notable roster, with a lineup that included hall of famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays. This version of the Cangrejeros won the National and Caribbean championships by sweeping their respective series.
Cangrejeros most recently played its home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, in the municipality of San Juan. For several years they shared this field with the Senadores de San Juan (also known temporally as the San Juan Metros). A sports rivalry has always existed between both teams, leading to the creation of the "City Championship", which was a season-long series that gave the team with the most wins the aforementioned title. During the 2003–04 season they also shared the stadium with the Montreal Expos before they were relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals. Previous home fields include the Sixto Escobar Stadium near Old San Juan, as well as the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón. The team's official radio station in the metropolitan area was WIPR (AM), on the 940 AM frequency.
Creation and early years Pedrín Zorilla, an amateur baseball player and then executive in Shell Oil's branch in Puerto Rico, established a baseball team at Santurce in the 1930s. A franchise was soon created and headquarters were located at Parada 20, Heriberto Ramírez de Arellano was responsible for its title, naming it after the Cangrejo Arriba and Cangrejo Abajo sectors of Condado and Loíza Street, where some players lived.Van Hyning et al., p. 8 Zorilla led a board composed of Ramírez de Arellano, Rafael Muñiz, Mike Pasarell, Héctor Nevares, Toño Palerm among others, which oversaw fund raising and operation. Panchicu Toste established contact with several local business, which promoted the team and managed ticket sales. The franchise received some opposition from the staff of the Senadores de San Juan, the municipality's main team at the time. The first uniforms of the Cangrejeros were bought blank, and the numbers and names of the players were sewed on for free by the mother of former general manager and sportswriter Carlos Pieve, who was a baseball fanatic. Following these efforts, the Cangrejeros joined the Liga de Béisbol Semi-Profesional de Puerto Rico for the 1939–40 season, one year after its foundation and sharing Estadio del Escambrón with the Senadores de San Juan. The team's lineup included Agustín Daviu, the first Puerto Rican to play organized baseball in the United States, and Luis Raúl Cabrera, both from Ponce. The rest of the local starters were Oscar Mangual, Ramón Concepción, Guillermo Angulo and Fellito Concepción. The league's rules allowed the inclusion of three foreign reinforcements, Zorilla contracted Negro leaguers Billy Byrd, Josh Gibson and Dick Seay to fill these spaces. Seay served as player-manager in the early part of this season, leaving the office to Gibson once he arrived until he abandoned the team to play in Venezuela before the season was over. The Cangrejeros made their debut on October 1, 1939, trading victories with Aguadilla in a doubleheader.Van Hyning et al., p. 9
Another doubleheader was played against San Juan in October, with the teams trading victories again. The rivalry between the Cangrejeros and Senadores became known as the "City Championship", a term coined by Zorilla as a publicity stunt, with San Juan winning the first banner of this matchup. However, the team suffered a 23–0 loss to Guayama in November, which marked the worst defeat by any Santurce-based team in 60 years.Van Hyning et al., p. 11 Consequently, the Cangrejeros were called a "soft ball team" by the media, a pattern that continued throughout its early years. The Cangrejeros finished the season's first half in the sixth place, tying Aguadilla fourth during the second half. The team concluded its first season by defeating San Juan in two consecutive games, forcing the Senadores to play more games to secure the pennant. The team's home stadium was renamed Estadio Sixto Escobar after Sixto Escobar, Puerto Rico's first boxing champion. After an average first season, Cabrera soon became the Cangrejero's franchise player, conserving this status throughout the 1940s. In 1940–41, the Cangrejeros improved their performance. With the loss of Gibson, the team had signed Efraín Merced, Georgie Calderón, Raymond Brown and obtained Pedro Jaime Reyes in a trade for Concepción.Van Hyning et al., p. 12 The team had a weak start, trading victories in a double-header against San Juan before finishing last during the first half of the season, drastically improving to win the second half and earn a spot in the championship series. This was the first time that the Cangrejeros won the "City Championship" banner, winning all games against San Juan during the second half. The team finished this half with a record of 11 wins and 3 losses, gaining victories over the Grises de Humacao, Caguas, Mayaguez and Guayama.Van Hyning et al., p. 13 In the championship series, the Cangrejeros were matched against the Criollos de Caguas, losing in seven games. Cabrera won the LBSPR's Most Valuable Player Award. In 1941–42, the Cangrejeros lost several close games, being unable to match Ponce, the team that won both halves led by Francisco Coimbre.Van Hyning et al., p. 14 Gibson rejoined the team, hitting .480 to win the MVP award. The Marín Rum Company became the team's first sponsor, which earned the team a nickname, "Santurce-Marín" during the early 1940s.Van Hyning et al., p. 15
World War II and first Caribbean Series title During the Second World War, several players were drafted into military service. The league cut the number of teams by half and no foreign reinforcements played for three years. In 1942–43, Caguas lost its franchise and Santurce signed some of its players, including Luis Olmo, Sammy Céspedes and Manolo García.Van Hyning et al., p. 18 The Cangrejeros won the first half and advanced to the finals, but lost the series to the Leones de Ponce. In this season, Olmo was named Co-MVP along Coimbre. Ponce went on to win the following two championships with the Cangrejeros finishing in the second place, Félix Andrade and Alfonso Gerard won Rookie of the Year awards for Santurce, while Tetelo Vargas won the league's batting title in 1943–44.Van Hyning et al., p. 19 In 1945–46, the team had its worst season up to that point, finishing last in the league. However, Víctor Cruz became the team's third straight Rookie of the Year.Van Hyning et al., p. 23 Gibson did not a hit a single home run throughout the season, experiencing an emotional breakdown that convinced Zorilla to send him back to Pittsburg. Vargas was the team's best hitter, while his former teammate in Guayama's amateur circuit, Perucho Cepeda, joined the Cangrejeros. In 1946–47, Santurce was managed by Clarence Palm, finishing fourth in the league's standing. Willard Brown joined the team during that season, winning the batting title.Van Hyning et al., p. 26 Guigo Otero took over the office of vice-president. The Cangrejeros finished in the third place in 1947–48, despite signing Satchel Paige and Rubén Gómez and Brown winning the league's triple-crown. The team tied Mayagüez for the first half's lead, but the Indios were declared winners due to the leading the individual series.Van Hyning et al., p. 27 In 1948–49, the LBPPR established a new format, where the top three teams from an 80-game season would advance to the playoffs. The Cangrejeros tied Ponce in the second place, eliminating them in the semifinals. However, they lost the finals series against Mayagüez. The team recorded the best assistance in the league with 4,337 followers per game for a total of 173,466.Van Hyning et al., p. 30 In 1949–50, the Cangrejeros once again tied with Ponce in the second position, being eliminated in the semifinals against the Indios. Brown won its second triple crown. The team was sponsored by TEK Deluxe Toothbrushes.Van Hyning et al., p. 32 For the 1950–51 season, Zorilla signed George Scales to manage the team and contracted new imports. The team won its first pennant after José "Pepe" Lucas hit a home run that became known as El Pepelucazo. The Cangrejeros went on to win the "City Championship", subsequently defeating the Senadores in all of their semifinal games.Van Hyning et al., p. 35 The team defeated the Criollos in a seven-game series, winning Santurce's first LBPPR championship and advancing to the newly created Caribbean Series. In their first international competition, the Cangrejeros were reinforced with Olmo who had returned to Caguas, Roberto Vargas and José Santiago among others, winning the first Caribbean title for Puerto Rico.Van Hyning et al., p. 37 Olmo was selected the series' MVP.