1982 Central American and Caribbean Games

The 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games were very unusual - they were the only major international event of the 1980s in which Cuba competed and did not win Gold. Even more interesting is that they had home field advantage as the Games were held in Havana.

Dominican Republic won Gold for the first time in 20 years, going 5-1. They lost 4-1 to Cuba but beat everyone else. Their only player among the leaders was Orlando Guerrero with 6 steals. One of their players was future major leaguer Félix Fermín‎.

Cuba was 4-2, losing one-run games to Panama (2-1) and Puerto Rico (3-2). Antonio Muñoz (.333) led the event in doubles (4) and tied for the most runs (6) while Pedro Rodriguez Sr. (.190) tied for the lead in homers (2) and RBI (6). The other 6-RBI man was Lourdes Gourriel Sr. (.217). Lazaro de la Torre was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA as the top pitcher of the event while Braudilio Vinent was 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA. The rest of the staff was clearly not as effective, going 0-2.

Panama finished with a Bronze at 3-3. Crispin Poveda pitched them to a stunning upset of Cuba.

Netherlands Antilles also was 3-3, missing out on a medal. Players included Renato Anastagasti, Rafael Jozefa Sr., Eithel de Caster and Sherwin Cijntje.

Nicaragua went 2-4. Apolinar Cruz tied for the lead in home runs with 2.

Puerto Rico was 2-4, both wins going to Mariano Quiñones (2-0). Ruben Machado hit 2 homers, tying for the most.

Venezuela also was 2-4. Jesus Cartagena had the best average (.523) and most hits (11) while O. Torres (2-0) got both wins. R. Valbuena tied for the lead in runs with 6.