1995-1996 Cuban National League

From BR Bullpen

The 1995-1996 season was the thirty-fifth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional[edit]

The 35th Serie Nacional was won by Industriales, who were managed by Pedro Medina.

Seeking their fourth consecutive title, which would tie them with Industriales' record from the mid-1960s, Villa Clara would dominate the regular season. However in the finals Industriales stops the Naranjas 4 – 2, preventing them from tying their franchise from three decades earlier. In the final game, long-time starter Lázaro Valle comes on in long relief and together with home runs by Ricardo Miranda, Juan Padilla, Carlos Tabares and Orbe Luis Rodríguez to win the game for the Leones. After the Serie Nacional, the first Copa de la Revolución replaced the Series Selectivas.

Camagüey's veteran outfileder Luis Ulacia hits .421 with 102 hits in 242 at-bats to lead the league. Ariel Benavides has 25 home runs for Guantánamo, top in the league. Future Major Leaguer Jorge L. Toca hits 26 doubles for Villa Clara. Óscar Gil has 11 wins for Holguín to lead the league, while Pinar del Río's Faustino Corrales leads the league in both strikeouts at 128 and base-on-balls with 63.

On March 19, 1996, Matanzas slugger Lázaro Junco hits his 405th and last home run against Las Tunas's Alejandro Cid. Earlier in the serie, Junco became the first Cuban batter to reach 400 career home runs. Junco will later be joined by Orestes Kindelán, who will surpass him, and Omar Linares.

All-time great shortstop, Germán Mesa, is left off of Cuba's gold medal winning baseball team at the 1996 Olympics. Later in the year he is suspended from league play in October under suspicion of taking money from a player agents. His suspension will be lifted in 1998.

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates Grupo champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion

Grupo A[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Pinar del Río 64 41 23 0.641 -.-
Matanzas 64 37 27 0.578 4.0
Metropolitanos 64 32 32 0.500 9.0
Isla de la Juventud 64 29 35 0.453 12.0

Grupo B[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Industriales 63 41 22 0.651 -.-
La Habana 64 37 27 0.578 4.5
Cienfuegos 65 28 37 0.431 14.0
Sancti Spíritus 65 21 44 0.323 21.0

Grupo C[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Villa Clara 65 48 17 0.738 -.-
Camagüey 65 38 27 0.585 10.0
Las Tunas 64 19 45 0.297 28.5
Ciego de Ávila 65 19 46 0.292 29.0

Grupo D[edit]

Team G W L WPCT GB
Santiago de Cuba 65 40 25 0.615 -.-
Granma 65 33 32 0.508 7.0
Holguín 65 30 35 0.462 10.0
Guantánamo 65 23 42 0.354 17.0

Playoffs[edit]

  Semifinals Finals
                 
A  Pinar del Río 0  
B  Industriales 4  
    B  Industriales 4
  C  Villa Clara 2
C  Villa Clara 4
D  Santiago de Cuba 2  



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 Luis Ulacia Camagüey .421 102 hits in 242 at-bats
Runs Scored Juan Manrique
Enrique Díaz
Matanzas
Metropolitanos
76 Leader in less at-bats
Base Hits Reemberto Rosell
Jorge Salfrán
Cienfuegos
Metropolitanos
106
Doubles Jorge L. Toca Villa Clara 26
Triples Enrique Díaz Metropolitanos 8
Home Runs Ariel Benavides Guantánamo 25
Runs Batted In Juan Manrique Matanzas 79
Base-on-Balls Omar Linares Pinar del Río 70
Intentional Base-on-Balls Omar Linares Pinar del Río 14
Hit-by-Pitch Ordanis Duboys Holguín 17
Strikeouts Jorge Salfrán
Daniel Lazo
Metropolitanos
Pinar del Río
51
Sacrifice Hit Eddy Cajigal
Omar Arrozarena
Santiago de Cuba
Sancti Spíritus
7
Sacrifice Fly Gilberto Rodríguez Las Tunas 6
Stolen Bases Enrique Díaz Metropolitanos 35

Pitching[edit]

Stat Leader Team Number Notes
Wins Óscar Gil Holguín 11
Win-Loss Percentage Luis A. González Industriales 1.000 5 - 0
Earned Run Average Jorge F. Fumero Industriales 1.94 14 ER in 65 IP
Innings Pitched Óscar Gil Holguín 118.1
Games Pitched Jorge Fumero
Rafael Delgado
Industriales
Matanzas
27
Games Started Lázaro Garro Matanzas 18
Games Relieved Jorge F. Fumero
Rafael Delgado
Industriales
Matanzas
27
Complete Games Faustino Corrales Pinar del Río 11
Shutouts Ernesto Guevara Granma 4
Hits Allowed Carlos A. Yánes Isla de la Juventud 141
Strikeouts Faustino Corrales Pinar del Río 128
Base-on-Balls Faustino Corrales Pinar del Río 63
Intentional Base-on-Balls Dessy Lomba
Arnaldo Bueno
Rafael Delgado
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos
Matanzas
7
Hit Batters Leonides Turcás Guantánamo 19

Award Winners[edit]

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Jorge Fumero a pitcher with Industriales. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Jorge Fumero of Industriales. Arael Sánchez of Villa Clara was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

Copa de la Revolución[edit]

The first Copa de la Revolución was won by Santiago de Cuba who defeated Pinar del Río in the best-of-seven championship series. Santiago de Cuba (Copa de la Revolución)|Santiago de Cuba was managed by the Higinio Vélez.

Standings[edit]

Zona Occidental Zona Oriental
Team G W L WPCT GB Team G W L WPCT GB
Pinar del Río 30 18 12 0.600 -.- Santiago de Cuba 30 23 7 0.767 -.-
Industriales 30 14 16 0.467 4.0 Villa Clara 30 20 10 0.667 5.5
Matanzas 30 13 17 0.433 5.0 Camagüey 30 11 19 0.367 8.5
Habana 30 12 18 0.400 6.0 Granma 30 9 21 0.300 12.0

Playoffs[edit]

The Copa de la Revolución Finals featured the winners of the Zona Occidental and Zona Oriental facing off in a best-of-seven series. Santiago de Cuba (Santiago de Cuba (Copa de la Revolución)|Santiago de Cuba) defeated the Pinar del Río (Occidental), 4 games to 1.

Leaders[edit]

Batting[edit]

Pitching[edit]

Sources[edit]

Cuban National League Seasons
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