1965-1966 Cuban National League

The 1965-1966 season was the fifth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional

Industriales, managed by Ramón Carneado, won their fourth consecutive title in the fifth Serie Nacional. The season saw the expansion of the league by two teams, Henequeneros and Centrales, gave each of Cuba's provincias a team (from west to east):

• Pinar del Río: Occidentales
• La Habana: Industriales
• Matanzas: Henequeneros
• Las Villas: Centrales
• Camagüey: Granjeros
• Oriente: Orientales

The schedule was also nearly doubled to 65 games from 39. Industriales were narrow winners of the league championship as Orientales and newcomer Henequeneros were both within three games of the champions.

In January, Aquino Abreu, a crafty right hander for the last-place Centrales throws back-to-back no-hitters in consecutive starts. His first no-hitter came against Occidentales on the 16th, a 10 – 0 decision and a 7 – 0 win versus Industriales on 25. Abreu, in the process, throws a record 19 consecutive hitless innings.

Standings

Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Industriales	65	40	25	0.615	-.-
Orientales	65	38	27	0.585	2.0
Henequeneros	65	37	28	0.569	3.0
Occidentales	64	29	35	0.453	10.5
Granjeros	64	26	38	0.406	13.5
Centrales	63	23	40	0.365	16.0

All-Star Game

The fourth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Havana. In the game, Occidentales defeated Oriente by a score of 3 to 1. Occidentales had 8 hits to Oriente's 6, while both teams had 2 errors. The winning pitcher was Berto Betancourt and the losing pitcher was Aquino 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	Miguel Cuevas	Granjeros	.325	66 hits in 203 at-bats
Runs Scored	Félix Isasi	Henequeneros	44
Base Hits	Urbano González	Industriales	76
Doubles	Andrés Telemaco	Orientales	12
Triples	Agustín Marquetti	Industriales	5
Home Runs	Lino Betancourt	Henequeneros	9
Runs Batted In	Lino Betancourt	Henequeneros	45
Base-on-Balls	Antonio González	Industriales	54
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Felipe Sarduy	Orientales	14
Hit-by-Pitch	Pablo Cruz	Occidentales	10
Strikeouts	Gerardo Olivares Rolando Valdés	Orientales Granjeros	43
Sacrifice Hit	Seven players tied	N/A	5
Sacrifice Fly	Félix Rosa Rafael Herrera Pedro Chávez	Occidentales Henequeneros Industriales	5
Stolen Bases	Félix Isasi	Henequeneros	24

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Gaspar Pérez	Henequeneros	11
Win-Loss Percentage	Justino Gavilán	Orientales	0.857	6 - 1
Earned Run Average	Alfredo Street	Industriales	1.09	9 ER in 74.1 IP
Innings Pitched	Carlos Gálvez	Centrales	115.0
Games Pitched	Lázaro Santana Raúl López	Orientales Occidentales	28
Games Started	Carlos Gálvez	Centrales	15
Games Relieved	Raúl López	Occidentales	26
Complete Games	Alberto Reyes	Granjeros	7
Shutouts	Alfredo Street Justino Gavilán	Industriales Orientales	3
Hits Allowed	Carlos Gálvez	Centrales	91
Strikeouts	Rigoberto Betancourt	Occidentales	103
Base-on-Balls	Gaspar Pérez	Henequeneros	62
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Raúl López	Occidentales	13
Hit Batters	Gaspar Pérez	Henequeneros	7

Award Winners

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Lino Betancourt a first baseman with Henequeneros. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Alfredo Street of Industriales.

Sources

• (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1966 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
• (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la V serie 1966 (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