1986-1987 Cuban National League

The 1986-1987 season was the twenty-sixth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional

The 26th Serie Nacional was won by Vegueros of Pinar del Río Province. The Jorge Fuentes-led team won the Zona Occidental and then won the four-team round-robin playoff for their fifth title. The playoff featured the same teams from the year before.

Javier Méndez, the longtime outfielder with Industriales and career .327 hitter, wins his only batting title with a .408 average (53 hits in 130 at-bats). Orestes Kindelán of Santiago de Cuba wins his first home run crown leader for the first time with 17 round-trippers. Metropolitanos' René Arocha – a future major leaguer – wins the ERA title with 15 earned runs in 103.0 innings for a 1.31 ERA.

Vegueros' Omar Linares scores 40 runs while teammate Lázaro Madera drives in an equal amount – both lead the league in their respective categories. Other players of note on the championship team were Omar Ajete, Juan Castro, Luis Giraldo Casanova, Reinaldo Costa, Fernando Hernández, Rogelio García, and Giraldo González.

Standings

Bold indicates Zona champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion

Zona Occidental

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Vegueros	47	34	13	0.723	-.-
Industriales	47	30	17	0.638	4.0
Metropolitanos	48	28	20	0.583	6.5
La Habana	46	26	20	0.565	7.5
Citricultores	45	23	22	0.511	10.0
Cienfuegos	47	24	23	0.511	10.0
Henequeneros	48	20	28	0.417	14.5
Forestales	48	16	32	0.333	18.5
Isla de la Juventud	46	10	36	0.217	23.5

Zona Oriental

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Santiago de Cuba	48	35	13	0.729	-.-
Villa Clara	47	33	14	0.702	1.5
Granma	48	29	19	0.604	6.0
Ciego de Ávila	48	26	22	0.542	9.0
Camagüey	47	24	23	0.511	10.5
Las Tunas	48	19	29	0.396	16.0
Holguín	48	17	31	0.354	18.0
Sancti Spíritus	48	16	32	0.333	19.0
Guantánamo	48	16	32	0.333	19.0

Playoffs

The playoffs consisted of the top two teams from each zona playing in a six-game "round robin" against each other, with two games against each other. Vegueros won five games to take the championship

Team	Zona	G	W	L	WPCT
Vegueros	Occidental - First	6	5	1	0.833
Santiago de Cuba	Oriental - First	6	3	3	0.500
Villa Clara	Oriental - Second	6	2	4	0.333
Industriales	Occidental - Second	6	2	4	0.333

All-Star Game

The twelfth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Havana. In the game, Oriente defeated Occidentales by a score of 4 to 3. Both teams had 9 hits, while both teams had 2 errors. The winning pitcher was José Riviera and the losing pitcher was Pablo Miguel Abreu.

Leaders

Bold indicates either wooden bat record or aluminum bat record (1976-1977 to 1998-1999), Italics indicate Serie Nacional record

Batting

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Batting Average	Javier Méndez	Industriales	.408	53 hits in 130 at-bats
Runs Scored	Omar Linares Antonio Pacheco	Vegueros Santiago de Cuba	40
Base Hits	Reemberto Rosell Luis A. Álvarez	Cienfuegos Las Tunas	66
Doubles	Pablo Bejerano Luis A. Álvarez	Granma Las Tunas	16
Triples	Pedro L. Rodríguez	La Habana	5
Home Runs	Orestes Kindelán	Santiago de Cuba	17
Runs Batted In	Lázaro Madera	Vegueros	40
Base-on-Balls	Romelio Martínez	La Habana	58
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Romelio Martínez	La Habana	11
Hit-by-Pitch	José Cano Rubén Prevot Jorge García José García	Vegueros Guantánamo Santiago de Cuba Ciego de Ávila	6
Strikeouts	Iván Rojas	Cienfuegos	46
Sacrifice Hit	Israel García	Citricultores	12
Sacrifice Fly	Jorge García	Santiago de Cuba	6
Stolen Bases	Enrique Díaz	Metropolitanos	22

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Luis Tissert	Santiago de Cuba	13
Win-Loss Percentage	Wilson Hawthorne	Santiago de Cuba	1.000	10 - 0
Earned Run Average	René Arocha	Metropolitanos	1.31	15 ER in 103 IP
Innings Pitched	Luis Tissert	Santiago de Cuba	132.0
Games Pitched	Fidencio Serrano	Holguín	20
Games Started	Jorge Matos Luis Tissert	Guantánamo Santiago de Cuba	16
Games Relieved	Jesús Bosmenier	Vegueros	17
Complete Games	Luis Tissert	Santiago de Cuba	13
Shutouts	José R. Riscart	Villa Clara	6
Hits Allowed	Jorge Matos	Guantánamo	128
Strikeouts	Juan Ramírez	Sancti Spíritus	91
Base-on-Balls	José A. Machiran	Guantánamo	56
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Israel Alonso	Isla de la Juventud	9
Hit Batters	Rolando Arrojo	Villa Clara	10

Award Winners

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Javier Méndez a outfielder with Industriales. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Luis Tissert of Santiago de Cuba. Alexis Cabreja of Industriales was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

Series Selectivas

The thirteenth Series Selectivas was won by Serranos, managed by the Higinio Vélez.

Standings

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Serranos	63	42	21	0.667	-.-
Habana	63	41	22	0.651	1.0
Pinar del Río	63	36	27	0.571	6.0
Las Villas	63	32	31	0.508	10.0
Matanzas	63	27	36	0.429	15.0
Agropecuarios	63	25	38	0.397	17.0
Mineros	63	25	38	0.397	17.0
Camagüeyanos	63	24	39	0.381	18.0

Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average: .384 - Luis Ulacia, Camagüeyanos
• Base Hits: 88 - Antonio Pacheco, Serranos
• Runs Scored: 54 - Jorge García, Serranos
• Doubles: 16 - Antonio Pacheco, Serranos; Orestes Kindelán, Serranos; Pedro Luis Rodríguez, Agropecuarios; Miguel Valiente, Agropecuarios
• Triples: 8 - Jorge Garcá, Serranos
• Home Runs: 16 - Orestes Kindelán, Serranos; Reinaldo Fernández, Camagüeyanos
• Runs Batted In: 60 - Orestes Kindelán, Serranos
• Stolen Bases: 30 - Victor Mesa, Las Villas

Pitching

• Win-Loss Percentage: 0.867 (13 - 2) - Osvaldo Duvergel, Serranos
• Games Pitched: 25 - Ramón Espinosa, Camagüeyanos
• Complete Games: 17 - Luis Tissert, Serranos
• Wins: 13 - Luis Tissert, Serranos; Osvaldo Duvergel, Serranos
• Innings Pitched: 169.0 - Luis Tissert, Serranos
• Strikeouts: 114 - Pablo Abreu, Habana
• Earned Run Average: 1.25 - Rogelio García, Pinar del Río

Sources

• (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1987 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
• (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la XXVI serie 1987 (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