1962-1963 Cuban National League

The 1962-1963 season was the second season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional

The second Serie Nacional was won by Industriales, formerly Habana, who were managed by Ramón Carneado. The team defeated Orientales in a best-of-three playoff after both teams ended the season tied at 16 – 14. The newly rechristened team took on a similar identity to the professional league's Almendares club, having uniforms of the same royal blue color.

The league had a great deal of parity as third place Occidentales were one game back at 15 - 15 while last place Azucareros had a 13 - 17 record. Cuban national team manager Gilberto Torres assumed the helm of Occidentales after the ousting of Fermín Guerra.

Pacing the league in base-hits is Occidentales' Fidel Linares, with 36. Linares will be the father of two of Cuba's star players in the 1980s and 1990s, Omar and Juan Carlos Linares.

The first test of the Serie Nacional as a selection aid for the national team was at the fourth Pan American Games staged in late-April and early-May in São Paulo, Brazil. The team comprised, primarily of Serie Nacional players, won the tournament with a 7 and 1 record; the team's single lost was a 5 – 2 decision against México.

Standings

Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Industriales	30	16	14	0.533	-.-
Orientales	30	16	14	0.533	-.-
Occidentales	30	15	15	0.500	1.0
Azucareros	30	13	17	0.433	3.0

Playoffs

After Industriales and Orientales ended the regular season in a tie, a best-of-three series was played to crown a champion. Industriales won the series, 2 - 1.

All-Star Game

The first Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Havana. In the game, Oriente defeated Occidentales by a score of 5 to 0. Oriente had 9 hits to Occidentales's 5, while the errors were 3 to 1 in favor of Oriente. The winning pitcher was Florentino Alfonso and the losing pitcher was Juan Medina.

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	Raúl González	Occidentales	.348	32 hits in 92 at-bats
Runs Scored	Antonio González	Occidentales	24
Base Hits	Fidel Linares	Occidentales	36
Doubles	Jorge Trigoura Rolando Valdés	Industriales Orientales	7
Triples	Antonio Jiménez	Industriales	5
Home Runs	Rolando Valdés Miguel Cuevas	Orientales Orientales	3
Runs Batted In	Jorge Trigoura	Industriales	20
Base-on-Balls	Tomás Soto	Occidentales	31
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Raúl González	Occidentales	6
Hit-by-Pitch	Pedro Pérez (Garcia or Cueto?)	Azucareros	6
Strikeouts	Tomás Soto	Occidentales	17
Sacrifice Hit	Manuel Alarcón	Orientales	7
Sacrifice Fly	Tomás Soto Urbano González	Occidentales Industriales	3
Stolen Bases	Antonio Jiménez	Industriales	8

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Modesto Verdura Manuel Alarcón	Azucareros Orientales	7
Win-Loss Percentage	Modesto Verdura	Azucareros	0.875	7 - 1
Earned Run Average	Modesto Verdura	Azucareros	1.58	14 ER in 79.2 IP
Innings Pitched	Modesto Verdura	Azucareros	79.2
Games Pitched	Rolando Pastor	Industriales	15
Games Started	Manuel Alarcón Rolando Pastor	Orientales Industriales	10
Games Relieved	José F. Norat	Industriales	11
Complete Games	Modesto Verdura Manuel Alarcón	Azucareros Orientales	6
Shutouts	Franklyn Aspillaga	Occidentales	2
Hits Allowed	Manuel Alarcón	Orientales	62
Strikeouts	Modesto Verdura	Azucareros	55
Base-on-Balls	Rolando Pastor	Industriales	50
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Modesto Verdura	Azucareros	10
Hit Batters	Orlando Rubio	Industriales	5

Award Winners

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Modesto Verdura a pitcher with Azucareros. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Modesto Verdura of Azucareros.

Sources

• (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1963 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
• (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la II serie 1963 (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