1968-1969 Cuban National League

The 1968-1969 season was the eighth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional

The eighth Serie Nacional was won by Azucareros, who were managed by Servio Borges. Both defending champion La Habana and four-time winner Industriales trailed the club by a single game.

The season saw the emergence of two stars. The first was La Habana's 24-year old southpaw, Santiago Mederos who set a new strikeout record with 208 Ks. Three decades would pass before a pitcher, Maels Rodríguez, would to two hundred again. On January 30th he also struck out twenty Camagüeyanos to set a nine-inning record that would stand over thirty years.

The other star was Wilfredo Sánchez, a 20-year old left handed free-swinger with Henequeneros. He won his first of five batting crowns with a .354 average while raising the record for hits in season to 140 and triples to 13. His hits mark would take thirty years to fall while the triples record has yet to be bested.

Two all-time pitching records are set as Emilio Salgado (Vegueros) pitches 230.1 innings while Henequeneros' Gaspar Pérez walks 127. Despite the high walk total, Pérez is named Cuba's mejor atleta del año (Best Athlete of the Year) - the first baseball player to earn that distinction. Aquino Abreu has a career season going 10 - 1 for the Azucareros, three years after his back-to-back no-hitters.

Granjeros' Felipe Sarduy goes 29 consecutive games with a hit breaking José Pérez's one-year-old record of 21 games. On November 12, the Mineros' first baseman Elpidio Mancebo hits five extra-base hits against Matanzas to set a record. Agustín Marquetti (La Habana) slugs 19 home runs to set a record.

Standings

Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Azucareros	99	69	30	0	0.697	-.-
Industriales	99	68	31	0	0.687	1.0
La Habana	99	68	31	0	0.687	1.0
Mineros	99	62	37	0	0.626	7.0
Granjeros	99	57	42	0	0.576	12.0
Henequeneros	99	55	43	1	0.561	13.5
Las Villas	99	45	53	1	0.459	23.5
Pinar del Río	99	43	56	0	0.434	26.0
Matanzas	99	35	64	0	0.354	34.0
Oriente	99	33	66	0	0.333	36.0
Vegueros	99	32	67	0	0.323	37.0
Camagüey	99	26	73	0	0.263	43.0

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	Wilfredo Sánchez	Henequeneros	.354	140 hits in 395 at-bats
Runs Scored	Antonio Jiménez	Industriales	84
Base Hits	Wilfredo Sánchez	Henequeneros	140
Doubles	Elpidio Mancebo	Mineros	26
Triples	Wilfredo Sánchez	Henequeneros	13
Home Runs	Agustín Marquetti	La Habana	19
Runs Batted In	Agustín Marquetti	La Habana	85
Base-on-Balls	Felipe Sarduy	Granjeros	85
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Miguel Cuevas	Granjeros	12
Hit-by-Pitch	Agustín Marquetti	La Habana	15
Strikeouts	Luis Castro	Vegueros	67
Sacrifice Hit	Emilio Madrazo	Azucareros	14
Sacrifice Fly	Félix Rosa	Industriales	8
Stolen Bases	Antonio Jiménez	Industriales	49

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Santiago Mederos Rolando Macías	La Habana Azucareros	17
Win-Loss Percentage	Aquino Abreu	Azucareros	0.909	10 - 1
Earned Run Average	Roberto Valdés	Mineros	1.03	22 ER in 192 IP
Innings Pitched	Emilio Salgado	Vegueros	230.1
Games Pitched	Lázaro Santana	Granjeros	43
Games Started	Santiago Mederos Emilio Salgado Óscar Romero	La Habana Vegueros Granjeros	25
Games Relieved	Lázaro Santana	Granjeros	39
Complete Games	Roberto Valdés Emilio Salgado	Mineros Vegueros	20
Shutouts	Santiago Mederos Roberto Valdés	La Habana Mineros	6
Hits Allowed	Emilio Salgado	Vegueros	198
Strikeouts	Santiago Mederos	La Habana	208
Base-on-Balls	Gaspar Pérez	Henequeneros	127
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Gaspar Pérez Lázaro Santana	Henequeneros Granjeros	13
Hit Batters	Orlando Figueredo	Oriente	19

Award Winners

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Wilfredo Sánchez a outfielder with Henequeneros. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Santiago Mederos of La Habana. Armando Sánchez of Henequeneros was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

All-Star Series

The second All-Star Series featured two teams playing a 9-game series. Orientales, managed by Servio Borges, defeated Occidentales, 5 to 4.

Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average: .389 - Rigoberto Rosique, Occidentales
• Base Hits: 14 - Rigoberto Rosique, Occidentales
• Runs Scored: 9 - Andrés Telemaco, Orientales
• Doubles: 4 - Elpidio Mancebo, Orientales
• Triples: 1 - Andrés Telemaco, Orientales; Rigoberto Rosique, Occidentales
• Home Runs: 3 - Miguel Cuevas, Orientales
• Runs Batted In: 9 - Rigoberto Rosique, Occidentales
• Stolen Bases: 2 - Felipe Sarduy, Orientales; Wilfredo Sánchez, Occidentales; Félix Isasi, Occidentales

Pitching

• Complete Games: 1 - Santiago Mederos, Occidentales; Manuel Hurtado, Occidentales; Andrés Liaño, Occidentales
• Wins: 2 - Roberto Valdés, Orientales
• Innings Pitched: 18.2 - Santiago Mederos, Occidentales
• Strikeouts: 17 - Santiago Mederos, Occidentales
• Base-on-Balls: 11 - Orlando Figueredo, Orientales
• Earned Run Average: 0.82 - Rolando Macías, Orientales

Sources

• (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1969 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
• (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la VIII serie 1969 (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