2003-2004 Cuban National League

From BR Bullpen

The 2003-2004 season was the forty-third season of Cuba's national baseball system.

[edit] Serie Nacional

The 43rd Serie Nacional was won by Industriales, managed by Rey Vicente Anglada. It was their second straight title and tenth in franchise history. The azules once again swept Villa Clara in the finals.

In Zona Occidental, Pinar del Río was the top team at 57 – 33, tied with Villa Clara for the top record in the serie. In Grupo B, Sancti Spíritus finished two and a half games ahead of Industriales; Isla de la Juventud rounded out the playoff qualifiers. In the quarterfinals, Pinar del Río swept Isla de la Juventud while the Industriales-Sancti Spíritus went the full five games with Industriales winning. Industriales then won in the semifinals against Pinar del Río 4 game to 2.

Zona Oriental's top team was eventual serie runner-up Villa Clara, with Grupo C's second place team, Ciego de Ávila, trailing the naranjas by one and a half games. Santiago de Cuba and Granma of Grupo D were the other two playoff teams. The quarterfinals saw two sweeps as Villa Clara defeated Granma and Santiago de Cuba beat Ciego de Ávila. Villa Clara then defeated Santiago de Cuba in a seven-game semifinal to advance to the finals.

Industriales then rolled through the finals four straight games, outscoring Villa Clara 27 runs to 11 . The fourth contest at Estadio Latinoamericano ended in a dramatic fashion. In the bottom of the ninth, down 4 – 2, Industriales faced stellar reliever Eliecer Montes de Oca. Rudy Reyes leadoff with a double and then Yasser Ottamendi pinch hit for Eliú Torres. Otamendi bunted for a base hit and moved Reyes to third. Second baseman Enrique Díaz then came up with runners on first and third and no outs. He doubled home both runs to win the game for Industriales.

Las Tunas outfielder Osmani Urrutia posted a record-breaking season that won him the league's MVP. For his fourth straight batting title, Urrutia hit an all-time record .469 – 121 hits in 258 at-bats. He also tied for the league lead with 67 runs batted in – with Camagüey's Loidel Chapellí and Pinar del Río's Yosvani Peraza. He also came within three home runs of leader Reinier Yero's (Sancti Spíritus) 19. Urrutia's teammate Yordanis Scull scored a leading 74 runs and hit 131 base hits – most in league play.

The league's top pitcher was Villa Clara starter Luis Borroto. He was the ERA leader at 1.49 with 21 earned runs in 126.2 and struck out a league best 135 hitters. Ifreidi Coss of Sancti Spíritus went 10 – 2 and Isla de la Juventud's Carlos A. Yánes pitched in 167.0 innings while completing 12 games.

On February 21, Pinar del Río infielder Alexander Ramos played in his 1000th consecutive game – the first Cuban player to do so.

This season saw several newsworthy defections. Future major league infielder and former Villa Clara shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt defected July, 2003 to Mexico. In late October former national team members Maels Rodríguez and Yobal Dueñas defected to El Salvador via a speed boat. Two months later former World University Baseball Championship team member Alaín Soler left the island and was followed by Industriales's Amaury Sanit Sabouren and Matanzas's Michel Abreu Martínez in February.

[edit] Standings

Bold indicates Zona champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion

[edit] Zona Occidental

[edit] Zona Oriental

[edit] Playoffs

[edit] All-Star Game

The nineteenth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held at Santa Clara, Villa Clara on January 24, 2004. In the game, Oriente defeated Occidentales by a score of 4 to 3. Oriente had 10 hits to Occidentales's 7, while the errors were 0 to 1 in favor of Occidentales. The winning pitcher was Yolexis Ulacia and the losing pitcher was Carlos Yanes. Reinier Yero and Danel Castro each hit a home run.

[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 Osmani Urrutia a outfielder with Las Tunas. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was [[]] of [[]]. Frank Montieth of the Industriales was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

[edit] Súper Liga

The third Súper Liga was won by Orientales who defeated Industriales in the best-of-three championship series. Orientales (Súper Liga)|Orientales was managed by the Higinio Vélez.

[edit] Standings

[edit] Playoffs

The Súper Liga Championship Playoff featured the first and second place teams in a best-of-three series. The first place Orientales defeated the second place Industriales, 2 games to 0.

[edit] Leaders

[edit] Batting

• Batting Average: .417 - Rudy Reyes, Industriales
• Base Hits: 25 - Alexei Ramírez, Occidentales
• Runs Scored: 14 - Yasser Gómez, Industriales; Yoandi Garlobo, Occidentales
• Doubles: 7 - Antonio Scull, Industriales
• Triples: 2 - Rudy Reyes, Industriales; Enríque Díaz, Industriales
• Home Runs: 5 - Eduardo Paret, Centrales
• Runs Batted In: 15 - Amaury Casanas, Occidentales

[edit] Pitching

• Win-Loss Percentage: 1.000 (2 - 0) - Deinys Suárez Arag, Industriales; Vicyohandri Odelín, Orientales
• Games Pitched: 9 - Orestes González, Occidentales
• Wins: 2 - nine tied
• Innings Pitched: 24.0 - Yulieski González, Occidentales
• Strikeouts: 15 - Yovani Aragón, Centrales
• Earned Run Average: 1.25 - Luis Borroto, Centrales

[edit] Sources

• (May 24, 2006). "43 Serie Nacional de Béisbol (Spanish)". {{{title}}}. Redacción Deportiva del Periódico Granma. 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