1984-1985 Cuban National League

From BR Bullpen

The 1984-1985 season was the twenty-fourth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional[edit]

The 24th Serie Nacional was was dominated by the Pinar del Río teams. Vegueros, managed by Jorge Fuentes, won the Serie Nacional by winning the Primera División by seven games over Camagüey. It was the team's fourth title. For the second straight season, Forestales won the Segunda División.

Anchoring the Vegueros staff was Reinaldo Costa, who won a league leading 14 wins and was named the pitcher of the year. Nineteen-year-old Omar Linares wins the league's MVP award by becoming the first batter in league history to hit over .400. Linares also leads the league in runs scored (65) and ties for the league lead in triples with 9 (with Villa Clara's 115-base hitter, Amado Zamora). Other players on the team included Omar Ajete, José Cano, Luis Giraldo Casanova, and Fernando Hernández.

On December 29, Santiago de Cuba's Braudilio Vinent wins his 200th Serie Nacional game – the first pitcher to reach that mark – against Granma. Wilfredo Sánchez of Citricultores is the first player to reach 2,000 hits on against Guantánamo hurler Osvaldo Duvergel on January 19. Three months later, on April 11, Camagüey's Sergio Quesada hits his 2000th against Luis Tissert.

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates Serie Nacional champion

Primera División[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Vegueros 75 57 18 0.760 -.-
Camagüey 75 50 25 0.667 7.0
La Habana 75 46 29 0.613 11.0
Villa Clara 75 46 29 0.613 11.0
Santiago de Cuba 75 45 30 0.600 12.0
Industriales 75 44 31 0.587 13.0
Citricultores 75 43 32 0.573 14.0
Guantánamo 75 42 33 0.560 15.0
Cienfuegos 75 32 43 0.427 25.0

Segunda División[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Forestales 70 34 36 0.486 -.-
Henequeneros 75 37 38 0.493 2.0
Sancti Spíritus 74 32 42 0.432 6.5
Ciego de Ávila 75 31 44 0.413 8.0
Granma 75 31 44 0.413 8.0
Metropolitanos 74 30 44 0.405 8.5
Las Tunas 75 24 51 0.320 15.0
Isla de la Juventud 75 23 52 0.307 16.0
Holguín 75 22 53 0.293 17.0

All-Star Game[edit]

The tenth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Havana. In the game, Occidentales defeated Oriente by a score of 5 to 1. Both teams had 7 hits, while the errors were 3 to 0 in favor of Occidentales. The winning pitcher was Reinaldo Costa and the losing pitcher was Andrés Luis.

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 Omar Linares Vegueros .409 108 hits in 264 at-bats
Runs Scored Omar Linares Vegueros 65
Base Hits Amado Zamora Villa Clara 115
Doubles Fernando Hernández
Pedro L. Rodríguez
Vegueros
La Habana
20
Triples Omar Linares
Amado Zamora
Vegueros
Villa Clara
9
Home Runs Lázaro Junco Citricultores 24
Runs Batted In Lázaro Junco Citricultores 72
Base-on-Balls Antonio Muñoz Cienfuegos 63
Intentional Base-on-Balls Pedro J. Rodríguez Cienfuegos 12
Hit-by-Pitch Luis Cuesta
José García
La Habana
Ciego de Ávila
10
Strikeouts Luis Cuesta La Habana 70
Sacrifice Hit José L. Martínez Forestales 11
Sacrifice Fly Ernesto Baró Ciego de Ávila 7
Stolen Bases Lázaro Madera Vegueros 37

Pitching[edit]

Stat Leader Team Number Notes
Wins Reinaldo Costa Vegueros 14
Win-Loss Percentage Ramón Espinosa Camagüey 1.000 6 - 0
Earned Run Average Andrés Luis Camagüey 1.67 25 ER in 135 IP
Innings Pitched Félix Núñez Las Tunas 170.1
Games Pitched Fidencio Serrano Holguín 31
Games Started Pedro L. Palma Granma 23
Games Relieved Fidencio Serrano Holguín 24
Complete Games Félix Núñez Las Tunas 15
Shutouts Carlos Pérez
Octavio Gálvez
Forestales
Cienfuegos
6
Hits Allowed Pedro L. Palma Granma 176
Strikeouts Félix Núñez Las Tunas 138
Base-on-Balls Raúl Villa Sancti Spíritus 67
Intentional Base-on-Balls Carlos A. Yánes
Ernesto Acosta
Isla de la Juventud
Las Tunas
12
Hit Batters Rafael Castillo Holguín 14

Award Winners[edit]

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Omar Linares a third baseman with Vegueros. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Reinaldo Costa of Vegueros. Eddy Rojas of Villa Clara was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

Series Selectivas[edit]

The eleventh Series Selectivas was won by Las Villas, managed by the Eduardo Martín.

Standings[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Las Villas 45 26 19 0.578 -.-
Habana 45 25 20 0.556 1.0
Matanzas 45 24 21 0.533 2.0
Orientales 45 20 25 0.444 6.0
Camagüeyanos 45 20 25 0.444 6.0
Pinar del Río 45 20 25 0.444 6.0

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
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