1995-1996 Cuban National League
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The 1995-1996 season was the thirty-fifth season of Cuba's national baseball system.
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[edit] Serie Nacional
The 35th Serie Nacional was won by Industriales, who were managed by Pedro Medina.
Seeking their fourth consecutive title, which would tie them with Industriales' record from the mid-1960s, Villa Clara would dominate the regular season. However in the finals Industriales stops the Naranjas 4 – 2, preventing them from tying their franchise from three decades earlier. In the final game, long-time starter Lázaro Valle comes on in long relief and together with home runs by Ricardo Miranda, Juan Padilla, Carlos Tabares and Orbe Luis Rodríguez to win the game for the Leones. After the Serie Nacional, the first Copa de la Revolución replaced the Series Selectivas.
Camagüey's veteran outfileder Luis Ulacia hits .421 with 102 hits in 242 at-bats to lead the league. Ariel Benavides has 25 home runs for Guantánamo, top in the league. Future Major Leaguer Jorge L. Toca hits 26 doubles for Villa Clara. Óscar Gil has 11 wins for Holguín to lead the league, while Pinar del Río's Faustino Corrales leads the league in both strikeouts at 128 and base-on-balls with 63.
On March 19, 1996, Matanzas slugger Lázaro Junco hits his 405th and last home run against Las Tunas's Alejandro Cid. Earlier in the serie, Junco became the first Cuban batter to reach 400 career home runs. Junco will later be joined by Orestes Kindelán, who will surpass him, and Omar Linares.
All-time great shortstop, Germán Mesa, is left off of Cuba's gold medal winning baseball team at the 1996 Olympics. Later in the year he is suspended from league play in October under suspicion of taking money from a player agents. His suspension will be lifted in 1998.
[edit] Standings
- Bold indicates Grupo champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion
[edit] Grupo A
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinar del Río | 64 | 41 | 23 | 0.641 | -.- |
| Matanzas | 64 | 37 | 27 | 0.578 | 4.0 |
| Metropolitanos | 64 | 32 | 32 | 0.500 | 9.0 |
| Isla de la Juventud | 64 | 29 | 35 | 0.453 | 12.0 |
[edit] Grupo B
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industriales | 63 | 41 | 22 | 0.651 | -.- |
| La Habana | 64 | 37 | 27 | 0.578 | 4.5 |
| Cienfuegos | 65 | 28 | 37 | 0.431 | 14.0 |
| Sancti Spíritus | 65 | 21 | 44 | 0.323 | 21.0 |
[edit] Grupo C
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Clara | 65 | 48 | 17 | 0.738 | -.- |
| Camagüey | 65 | 38 | 27 | 0.585 | 10.0 |
| Las Tunas | 64 | 19 | 45 | 0.297 | 28.5 |
| Ciego de Ávila | 65 | 19 | 46 | 0.292 | 29.0 |
[edit] Grupo D
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago de Cuba | 65 | 40 | 25 | 0.615 | -.- |
| Granma | 65 | 33 | 32 | 0.508 | 7.0 |
| Holguín | 65 | 30 | 35 | 0.462 | 10.0 |
| Guantánamo | 65 | 23 | 42 | 0.354 | 17.0 |
[edit] Playoffs
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| A | Pinar del Río | 0 | ||||||
| B | Industriales | 4 | ||||||
| B | Industriales | 4 | ||||||
| C | Villa Clara | 2 | ||||||
| C | Villa Clara | 4 | ||||||
| D | Santiago de Cuba | 2 | ||||||
[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 Jorge Fumero a pitcher with Industriales. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Jorge Fumero of Industriales. Arael Sánchez of Villa Clara was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).
[edit] Copa de la Revolución
The first Copa de la Revolución was won by Santiago de Cuba who defeated Pinar del Río in the best-of-seven championship series. Santiago de Cuba (Copa de la Revolución)|Santiago de Cuba was managed by the Higinio Vélez.
[edit] Standings
| Zona Occidental | Zona Oriental | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB | Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
| Pinar del Río | 30 | 18 | 12 | 0.600 | -.- | Santiago de Cuba | 30 | 23 | 7 | 0.767 | -.- |
| Industriales | 30 | 14 | 16 | 0.467 | 4.0 | Villa Clara | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0.667 | 5.5 |
| Matanzas | 30 | 13 | 17 | 0.433 | 5.0 | Camagüey | 30 | 11 | 19 | 0.367 | 8.5 |
| Habana | 30 | 12 | 18 | 0.400 | 6.0 | Granma | 30 | 9 | 21 | 0.300 | 12.0 |
[edit] Playoffs
The Copa de la Revolución Finals featured the winners of the Zona Occidental and Zona Oriental facing off in a best-of-seven series. Santiago de Cuba (Santiago de Cuba (Copa de la Revolución)|Santiago de Cuba) defeated the Pinar del Río (Occidental), 4 games to 1.
[edit] Leaders
[edit] Batting
- Batting Average: .475 - Yobal Dueñas, Pinar del Río
- Base Hits: 52 - Juan Bruzón, Granma
- Runs Scored: 38 - Enrique Díaz, Granma
- Doubles: 17 - Andy Morales, Habana
- Triples: 6 - Marino Moreno, Granma
- Home Runs: 14 - Daniel Lazo, Pinar del Río
- Runs Batted In: 42 - Daniel Lazo, Pinar del Río
- Stolen Bases: 12 - Enrique Díaz, Granma
[edit] Pitching
- Win-Loss Percentage: 1.000 (8 - 0) - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba
- Games Pitched: 15 - Jorge Fumero, Industriales; Ciro Silvino Licea, Granma
- Complete Games: 5 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba
- Wins: 8 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba
- Innings Pitched: 53.1 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba
- Strikeouts: 55 - Pedro Luis Lazo, Pinar del Río
- Earned Run Average: 2.19 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba
[edit] Sources
- (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1996 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la XXXV serie 1996 (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
