| Cinco Estrellas | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| League | Nicaraguan League |
| Established | 1941 |
| Disbanded | 1979 |
| Nickname(s) | Tigres Generales |
| League championships | 2 (1963–64, 1966–67) |
| Amateur championships | 1975 |
| Interamerican Series championships | 1964 |
| Colors | Red, white |
Cinco Estrellas (lit. Five Stars) was a Nicaraguan baseball club based in Managua. Founded in 1941, they played their home games at the Estadio Nacional General Anastasio Somoza G. (the modern Dennis Martínez National Stadium).
The team was founded by members of the Nicaragua National Guard, the military branch of the Somoza family regime, and was named in honor of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García (a five-star general).[1][2][3] Its close association with the Somozas made it unpopular in the eyes of many Nicaraguans, especially compared to its biggest rival, Indios del Bóer.[4] Its sponsorship by the Somozas was the subject of a popular joke:
"Who is the people’s team?"
"Bóer, of course."
"You are wrong, it’s Cinco Estrellas!"
"You are crazy. How so?"
"It’s paid for by the people’s taxes!"[5]
However, at the height of the team's success in the 1950s (when its roster was staffed with the best players in the country), Cinco Estrellas did attract support even from the president's opponents.[5] Its players were technically enlisted in the Nicaraguan National Guard, though many of them were foreigners hired to play winter ball (including a nearly all-Cuban team fielded in the early 1960s).[6]
The club won the 1964 Serie Interamericana, held in Managua, becoming the first Nicaraguan club to win an international competition (and the only one until Gigantes de Rivas won the 2016 Latin American Series).[7]
Cinco Estrellas folded in 1979, the year the Somozas were overthrown by the Nicaraguan Revolution.[8] The Sandinistas changed the name to Dantos, a team which continues to play in the Nicaraguan amateur baseball league, the Germán Pomares Ordóñez First Division.