1983-1984 Cuban National League
From BR Bullpen
The 1983-1984 season was the twenty-third season of Cuba's national baseball system.
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[edit] Serie Nacional
The 23rd Serie Nacional saw the 18-team league split for the first time into divisions. The serie now consisted of two nine-team divisions – the Primera División (First Division) and Segunda División (Second Division). The Primera División and Serie Nacional was won by Citricultores of Matanzas, managed by Tomás Soto. They won the división by two and a half games over Industriales. Pinar del Río's Forestales won the Segunda División. The divisons split was also coupled with a lengthening of the season from 51 games to 75 games.
While Primera División's teams were comprised primarily of the top clubs from last season's Serie Nacional, there were some "second division" teams placed into the first division. The divisional alignment that was selected as follows:
| Team | XXII SN Placing | XXIII SN (Placing) |
|---|---|---|
| Villa Clara | 1 | Primera (3) |
| Citricultores | 2 | Primera (1) |
| Camagüey | 3 | Primera (4) |
| Industriales | 4 | Primera (2) |
| Vegueros | 5 | Primera (6) |
| Henequeneros | 6 | Primera (7) |
| Forestales | 7 | Segunda (1) |
| Ciego de Ávila | 8 | Segunda (8) |
| Santiago de Cuba | 9 | Primera (5) |
| La Habana | 10 | Segunda (2) |
| Guantánamo | 11 | Segunda (5) |
| Cienfuegos | 12 | Segunda (3) |
| Sancti Spíritus | 13 | Primera (9) |
| Granma | 14 | Segunda (4) |
| Isla de la Juventud | 15 | Segunda (7) |
| Metropolitanos | 16 | Segunda (6) |
| Holguín | 17 | Primera (8) |
| Las Tunas | 18 | Segunda (9) |
Following the end of this first two division serie, the league used a three-team promotion and relegation system. In this system the bottom three teams of the Primera División were relegated; Henequeneros, Holguín, Sancti Spíritus. However, the top three teams from the Segunda División were not promoted. While two of the three promoted teams - second-place La Habana and third-place Cienfuegos – were within the top three, the other promoted team was fifth-place Guantánamo. Forestales did not earn promotion - despite winning the Segunda División and being the only team in the division above .500.
Citricultores was led by Eduardo Terry, who went 13 – 1 to lead the league in winning percentage. Wilfredo Sánchez wins his fifth and final batting title with 79 hits in 205 at-bats for a .385 average for the team – sixteen years after he won his first. Citricultores' slugger Lázaro Junco ties for the Serie Nacional home run lead with Vegueros' Luis G. Casanova at 20 round-trippers. Victor Mesa of Villa Clara steals a career high 34 bases to lead the league. José Sánchez wins 15 games for Camagüey, the highest win total in a decade.
The league also adds a mercy rule to the books; if a team was ahead by ten or more runs after seven innings the game would be called.
[edit] Standings
- Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion; indicates promoted team, indicates regulated team
[edit] Primera División
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citricultores | 75 | 52 | 23 | 0.693 | -.- |
| Industriales | 74 | 49 | 25 | 0.662 | 2.5 |
| Villa Clara | 75 | 48 | 27 | 0.640 | 4.0 |
| Camagüey | 73 | 46 | 27 | 0.630 | 5.0 |
| Santiago de Cuba | 75 | 47 | 28 | 0.627 | 5.0 |
| Vegueros | 75 | 44 | 31 | 0.587 | 8.0 |
| Henequeneros | 72 | 36 | 36 | 0.500 | 14.5 |
| Holguín | 75 | 36 | 39 | 0.480 | 16.0 |
| Sancti Spíritus | 75 | 30 | 45 | 0.400 | 22.0 |
[edit] Segunda División
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestales | 75 | 40 | 35 | 0.533 | -.- |
| La Habana | 75 | 37 | 38 | 0.493 | 3.0 |
| Cienfuegos | 74 | 34 | 40 | 0.459 | 5.5 |
| Granma | 75 | 34 | 41 | 0.453 | 6.0 |
| Guantánamo | 75 | 34 | 41 | 0.453 | 6.0 |
| Metropolitanos | 73 | 30 | 43 | 0.411 | 9.0 |
| Isla de la Juventud | 74 | 28 | 46 | 0.378 | 11.5 |
| Ciego de Ávila | 73 | 25 | 48 | 0.342 | 14.0 |
| Las Tunas | 75 | 19 | 56 | 0.253 | 21.0 |
[edit] All-Star Game
The ninth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Havana. In the game, Occidentales defeated Oriente by a score of 7 to 0. Occidentales had 14 hits to Oriente's 2, while the errors were 1 to 0 in favor of Occidentales. The winning pitcher was Julio Romero and the losing pitcher was Braudilio Vinent.
[edit] Leaders
- Bold indicates either wooden bat record or aluminum bat record (1976-1977 to 1998-1999), Italics indicate Serie Nacional record
[edit] Batting
[edit] Pitching
[edit] Award Winners
The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Luis Giraldo Casanova a outfielder with Vegueros. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was José Sánchez of Camagüey. Luis Rolando Arrojo of Citricultores was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).
[edit] Series Selectivas
The tenth Series Selectivas was won by Pinar del Río, managed by the Jorge Fuentes.
[edit] Standings
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinar del Río | 43 | 28 | 15 | 0.651 | -.- |
| Las Villas | 43 | 24 | 19 | 0.558 | 4.0 |
| Matanzas | 45 | 24 | 21 | 0.533 | 5.0 |
| Habana | 45 | 22 | 23 | 0.489 | 7.0 |
| Camagüeyanos | 45 | 18 | 27 | 0.400 | 11.0 |
| Orientales | 43 | 17 | 26 | 0.395 | 11.0 |
[edit] Leaders
[edit] Batting
- Batting Average: .391 - Luis Casanova, Pinar del Río
- Base Hits: 63 - Lázaro Madera, Pinar del Río
- Runs Scored: 38 - Victor Mesa, Las Villas
- Doubles: 12 - Pedro José Rodríguez, Las Villas; Javier Méndez, [[]]
- Triples: 12 - Oscar Rodríguez, Orientales
- Home Runs: 12 - Orestes Kindelán, Orientales; Alejo O'Reilly, [[]]
- Runs Batted In: 38 - Pedro José Rodríguez, Las Villas; Lázaro Madera, Las Villas
- Stolen Bases: 14 - Victor Mesa, Las Villas
[edit] Pitching
- Win-Loss Percentage: 0.923 (12 - 1) - Reinaldo Costa, Pinar del Río
- Games Pitched: 16 - José Sánchez, Camagüeyanos
- Complete Games: 9 - Reinaldo Costa, Pinar del Río
- Wins: 12 - Reinaldo Costa, Pinar del Río
- Innings Pitched: 113.0 - Reinaldo Costa, Pinar del Río
- Strikeouts: 60 - Reinaldo Costa, Pinar del Río
- Earned Run Average: 1.67 - Reinaldo Costa, Pinar del Río
[edit] Sources
- (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1984 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la XXIII serie 1984 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- (November 18, 2005). "Guía Digital 2005-06". Guía Oficial de Béisbol 2005 (Digital). Instituto Nacional de Deportes, Educación Física y Recreación. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- Peter C. Bjarkman. A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864–2006. : McFarland, 2007. ISBN 0786428295
