1967-1968 Cuban National League

From BR Bullpen

The 1967-1968 season was the seventh season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional[edit]

The seventh Serie Nacional saw a significant expansion of the series as it doubled in size to twelve teams and went to a 99-game schedule. La Habana under Coco Gómez won the championship, setting a record for wins with 74. On the other end of the table Pinar del Río, goes 12 - 85 – 2 (.124) to establish a record for most losses and lowest winning percentage.

In the month of January, four no-hitters were pitched in the span of three weeks. On January 7, two were thrown on the same day; the first by La Habana's Leopoldo Valdés against Pinar del Río and was followed by Jesús Pérez, pitching for Industriales versus Vegueros. Florentino González threw a no-no on April 4 to bring the season's total to five.

The increased season length saw a plethora of records being set. La Habana's Julio Rojo won eighteen games, Manuel Alarcón of the Mineros struck out 200, while Gaspar Pérez throws 212 2/3 innings and 18 complete games for Matanzas. Eulogio Osorio for La Habana has 129 hits, the first batter to record more than 100 base hits and Miguel Cuevas of Granjeros drives in 86 runs, a record not broken for thirty years. Las Villas's Juan Díaz steals 52 bases to lead the league, no player will post more thefts for another 25 years.

On January 18 Industriales' Raúl Reyes became the first hitter to belt three home runs in a single game, versus Azucareros. Two of his round-trippers were grand slams, a record never surpassed, and he had eleven runs batted in, a record not broken for twenty years.

Granjeros hurler Douglas Sorriba throws two no-hitters in the span of a January week. He first no-hits Henequeneros on January 9 in Bauta, La Habana and a week later on January 16 he no-hits Vegueros at Camagüey's Estadio Cándido González. He wins both decisions by a score of 4 to 1.

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion
Team G W L T WPCT GB
La Habana 99 74 25 0 0.747 -.-
Industriales 99 69 30 0 0.697 5.0
Azucareros 98 63 35 0 0.643 10.5
Mineros 99 61 38 0 0.616 13.0
Las Villas 99 57 41 1 0.582 16.5
Henequeneros 99 52 47 0 0.525 22.0
Granjeros 98 49 49 0 0.500 24.5
Oriente 99 48 51 0 0.485 26.0
Camagüey 99 37 62 0 0.374 37.0
Matanzas 99 36 63 0 0.364 38.0
Vegueros 99 33 65 1 0.337 40.5
Pinar del Río 99 12 85 2 0.124 61.0

Leaders[edit]

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

Batting[edit]

Stat Leader Team Number Notes
Batting Average José Pérez Azucareros .328 102 hits in 311 at-bats
Runs Scored Antonio Jiménez Industriales 72
Base Hits Eulogio Osorio La Habana 129
Doubles Eulogio Osorio La Habana 24
Triples Fermín Laffita Mineros 8
Home Runs Felipe Sarduy Granjeros 13
Runs Batted In Miguel Cuevas Granjeros 86
Base-on-Balls Elpidio Mancebo Mineros 87
Intentional Base-on-Balls Fermín Laffita Mineros 15
Hit-by-Pitch Fermín Laffita
Reinaldo Isasi
Mineros
Matanzas
10
Strikeouts Ramón Gómez Henequeneros 75
Sacrifice Hit Jorge Hernández Camagüey 13
Sacrifice Fly Miguel Cuevas Granjeros 11
Stolen Bases Juan Díaz Las Villas 52

Pitching[edit]

Stat Leader Team Number Notes
Wins Julio Rojo La Habana 18
Win-Loss Percentage Modesto Verdura Las Villas 1.000 11 - 0
Earned Run Average Braudilio Vinent Mineros 1.03 14 ER in 122.1 IP
Innings Pitched Gaspar Pérez Matanzas 212.2
Games Pitched Raúl López Industriales 41
Games Started Walfrido Ruiz
Carlos Gálvez
Industriales
Las Villas
26
Games Relieved Raúl López Industriales 41
Complete Games Gaspar Pérez Matanzas 18
Shutouts Santiago Mederos
Carlos Gálvez
Industriales
Las Villas
8
Hits Allowed Gaspar Pérez Matanzas 164
Strikeouts Manuel Alarcón Mineros 200
Base-on-Balls Emilio Salgado Vegueros 111
Intentional Base-on-Balls Lázaro Santana Granjeros 13
Hit Batters Gaspar Pérez Matanzas 14

Award Winners[edit]

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Eulogio Osorio a outfielder with La Habana. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Manuel Alarcón of Mineros. Rodolfo Puente of La Habana was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

All-Star Series[edit]

The first All-Star Series was scheduled after the Serie Nacional season was completed. It featured two teams playing a 9-game series. Orientales, managed by Pedro Jiménez, defeated Occidentales, 5 to 3 with 1 tie.

Leaders[edit]

Batting[edit]

Pitching[edit]

Sources[edit]

Cuban National League Seasons
1962 1962-1963 1963-1964 1964-1965 1965-1966 1966-1967 1967-1968 1968-1969
1969-1970 1970-1971 1971-1972 1972-1973 1973-1974 1974-1975 1975-1976 1976-1977 1977-1978 1978-1979
1979-1980 1980-1981 1981-1982 1982-1983 1983-1984 1984-1985 1985-1986 1986-1987 1987-1988 1988-1989
1989-1990 1990-1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999
1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019
2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023