Pastora (baseball club)

Pastora
Information
LeagueZulia First Division (1932–64)
Venezuelan Western League (1932–64)
Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (1995–2007)
BallparkEstadio Olímpico Alejandro Borges
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Founded1932 (first incarnation)
Folded2007 (last incarnation)
ColorsRed, white
   

Four different professional baseball clubs in Venezuela have played under the name

Pastora (lit. "Shepherds") is a name used by several now-defunct baseball clubs in Venezuela, based primarily in the northwestern city of Maracaibo, Zulia State.

The club originated in the Zulian First Division of amateur baseball, eventually adopting the name Lácteos de Pastora (English "Pastora Milkmen") due its sponsorship by a local dairy company. It later became a professional baseball club after the First Division transformed into the Liga Occidental de Béisbol Profesional (Western League). During this period, Pastora enjoyed a fierce rivalry with Gavilanes de Maracaibo, and represented Venezuela at the 1954 Caribbean Series. The club folded when the Western League ceased to exist in 1964.

In 1995, an expansion club by the name of Pastora de Occidente was formed, based in the city of Cabimas, Zulia. The team relocated to Acarigua in nearby Portuguesa State as Pastora de los Llanos in 1997, before eventually moving to Margarita Island as the Bravos de Margarita.