1977-1978 Cuban National League

The 1977-1978 season was the seventeenth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional

The 17th Serie Nacional was won by Vegueros – managed by José Miguel Pineda – with Industriales a game and a half behind. This season marked the hundreth season that top-flight baseball had been played in Cuba, and saw some of the biggest changes in the league since the seventh Serie Nacional ten years earlier.

On the heels of the June 5, 1976 restructuring of Cuba's provinces from six to fourteen and one special municipality, the league added four teams. The eighteen-team league now had at least one team in each of the nations provinces and special municipality – with three provinces (Ciudad de la Habana, Pinar del Río Province, Matanzas Province) receiving with two teams.

The designated hitter rule was also introduced to the Cuban National League – four seasons after Major League Baseball's American League adopted the rule. In pre-season exhibition game between Havana's CDR and MININT amateur clubs, Lázaro Mádam became Cuba's first DH. The expanded league also increased the season length to 51 games, although fewer than half the clubs played a complete schedule.

Cienfuegos' Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr. again led the league in home runs with 13, while future big leaguer Bárbaro Garbey led the league in runs batted in, knocking home 40 Industriales teammates. Fernando Sánchez of Henequeneros hits for a league-leading .394 average with 43 hits in 109 at bats, a hit short of breaking the serie record of .396. Three pitchers – Maximiliano Gutiérrez (Vegueros), José M. Pedroso (La Habana), Servando Medina (Cienfuegos) – finish the season tied for the league lead with nine wins. Gutiérrez also goes 46.1 innings without allowing a run to set a new record.

Standings

Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion

Team	G	W	L	T	WPCT	GB
Vegueros	50	36	14	0	0.720	-.-
Industriales	51	35	16	0	0.686	1.5
Camagüey	51	30	21	0	0.588	6.5
Forestales	50	29	21	0	0.580	7.0
Metropolitanos	49	28	21	0	0.571	7.5
Villa Clara	49	28	21	0	0.571	7.5
Cienfuegos	51	29	22	0	0.569	7.5
Guantánamo	50	28	22	0	0.560	8.0
Ciego de Ávila	49	26	23	0	0.531	9.5
Citricultores	51	27	24	0	0.529	9.5
Granma	50	25	25	0	0.500	11.0
Santiago de Cuba	50	25	25	0	0.500	11.0
La Habana	48	21	26	1	0.447	13.5
Holguín	51	22	28	1	0.440	14.0
Sancti Spíritus	51	20	30	1	0.400	16.0
Henequeneros	47	16	30	1	0.348	18.0
Las Tunas	51	12	37	2	0.245	23.5
Isla de Pinos	51	10	41	0	0.196	26.5

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	Fernando Sánchez	Henequeneros	.394	43 hits in 109 at-bats
Runs Scored	Rey V. Anglada	Industriales	43
Base Hits	Julián Villar	Industriales	72
Doubles	Agustín Marquetti	Metropolitanos	14
Triples	Juan Navarro	Granma	8
Home Runs	Pedro J. Rodríguez	Cienfuegos	13
Runs Batted In	Bárbaro Garbey	Industriales	40
Base-on-Balls	Antonio Muñoz	Sancti Spíritus	54
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Antonio Muñoz	Sancti Spíritus	17
Hit-by-Pitch	Giraldo Iglesias Ángel Castillo Ramón Otamendi Freddy Portilla	Vegueros Ciego de Ávila Santiago de Cuba Las Tunas	7
Strikeouts	Reinaldo Fernández Gerardo Rionda	Camagüey Citricultores	44
Sacrifice Hit	Joaquín Martínez Alfredo Núñez	La Habana La Habana	9
Sacrifice Fly	Bárbaro Garbey	Industriales	6
Stolen Bases	Rey V. Anglada	Industriales	29

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Maximiliano Gutiérrez José M. Pedroso Servando Medina	Vegueros La Habana Cienfuegos	9
Win-Loss Percentage	Adalberto Herrera	Vegueros	1.000	6 - 0
Earned Run Average	José Riveira	Villa Clara	0.82	5 ER in 55 IP
Innings Pitched	Gaspar Legón	Camagüey	105.0
Games Pitched	Isidro Pérez	Villa Clara	17
Games Started	Félix Pino	Forestales	13
Games Relieved	Domingo Figueroa Luis Álvarez José Sánchez José Cruz	Industriales Industriales Camagüey Camagüey	14
Complete Games	José M. Pedroso	La Habana	10
Shutouts	Maximiliano Gutiérrez	Vegueros	5
Hits Allowed	Braudilio Vinent Francisco Labrada	Santiago de Cuba Isla de Pinos	101
Strikeouts	Rogelio García	Vegueros	120
Base-on-Balls	Rafael Rodríguez	Henequeneros	51
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Braudilio Vinent	Santiago de Cuba	10
Hit Batters	José M. Pedroso	La Habana	13

Award Winners

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Fernando Sánchez a outfielder with Henequeneros. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Maximiliano Gutiérrez of Vegueros. José Riveira of Villa Clara was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

Series Selectivas

The fourth Series Selectivas was won by Las Villas, managed by the Eduardo Martín. The team defeated Pinar del Río in a best-of- series to break the regular season tie.

Standings

Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Las Villas	60	35	25	0.583	-.-
Pinar del Río	60	35	25	0.583	-.-
Habana	60	33	27	0.550	2.0
Camagüeyanos	60	32	28	0.533	3.0
Matanzas	60	24	36	0.400	11.0
Orientales	60	21	39	0.350	14.0

Playoffs

After Las Villas and Pinar del Río ended the regular season in a tie, a best-of-five series was played to crown a champion. Las Villas won the series, 3 - 2.

Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average: .372 - Pedro Jova, Las Villas
• Base Hits: 92 - Pedro Jova, Las Villas
• Runs Scored: 55 - Antonio Muñoz, Las Villas
• Doubles: 15 - Pedro Medina, Habana
• Triples: 5 - Geraldo Iglesias, Pinar del Río
• Home Runs: 28 - Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr., Las Villas
• Runs Batted In: 75 - Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr., Las Villas
• Stolen Bases: 13 - Sixto Hernández, Las Villas

Pitching

• Win-Loss Percentage: 0.778 (7 - 2) - Santiago Mederos, Habana
• Games Pitched: 23 - Roberto Ramos, Las Villas
• Complete Games: 11 - Rogelio García, Pinar del Río
• Wins: 10 - Rogelio García, Pinar del Río
• Innings Pitched: 134.1 - Rogelio García, Pinar del Río
• Strikeouts: 111 - Rogelio García, Pinar del Río
• Earned Run Average: 2.21 - Rogelio García, Pinar del Río

Sources

• (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1978 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
• (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la XVII serie 1978 (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