1996-1997 Cuban National League
The 1996-1997 season was the thirty-sixth season of Cuba's national baseball system.
Serie Nacional[edit]
The 36th Serie Nacional was won by Pinar del Río, who were managed by Jorge Fuentes. After posting the league's best regular season record, the Vegueros swept both their semifinal. In the final series, the team swept the suprising Villa Clara team who won their semifinal series against the league's second best team in Santiago de Cuba. After the season the second and final Copa de la Revolución is played.
The Pinar del Río team featured batters Yobal Dueñas, Daniel Lazo, along with two sets of brothers; Juan Carlos and Omar Linares as well as Lázaro and Yosvani Madera. On the pitching side, the team was lead by Pedro Luis Lazo whose 1.15 ERA (14 earned runs in 109.1 innings) led the league. Other pitchers included Faustino Corrales, Abel Madera and the league-leader in wins, with 14, José Contreras.
José Antonio Estrada of Matanzas is the league's top hitter with a .391 average by getting 104 hits in 266 at-bats. Estrada also leads the league with his 104 base hits and 60 runs scored. Villa Clara's shortstop Eduardo Paret's 43 stolen bases breaks Enrique Díaz's streak of four stolen base titles. Over the next six years, Díaz and Paret battle each other annually for the stolen base crown.
Standings[edit]
- Bold indicates Grupo champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion
Grupo A[edit]
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinar del Río | 65 | 50 | 15 | 0.769 | -.- |
| Metropolitanos | 65 | 42 | 23 | 0.646 | 8.0 |
| Matanzas | 65 | 39 | 26 | 0.600 | 11.0 |
| Isla de la Juventud | 65 | 31 | 34 | 0.477 | 19.0 |
Grupo B[edit]
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industriales | 63 | 33 | 30 | 0.524 | -.- |
| La Habana | 65 | 30 | 35 | 0.462 | 4.0 |
| Cienfuegos | 65 | 25 | 40 | 0.385 | 9.0 |
| Sancti Spíritus | 65 | 16 | 49 | 0.246 | 18.0 |
Grupo C[edit]
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Clara | 64 | 37 | 27 | 0.578 | -.- |
| Camagüey | 65 | 33 | 32 | 0.508 | 4.5 |
| Las Tunas | 65 | 28 | 37 | 0.431 | 9.5 |
| Ciego de Ávila | 65 | 20 | 45 | 0.308 | 17.5 |
Grupo D[edit]
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago de Cuba | 65 | 49 | 16 | 0.754 | -.- |
| Holguín | 65 | 34 | 31 | 0.523 | 15.0 |
| Granma | 65 | 28 | 37 | 0.431 | 21.0 |
| Guantánamo | 64 | 23 | 41 | 0.359 | 25.5 |
Playoffs[edit]
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| A | Pinar del Río | 4 | ||||||
| B | Industriales | 0 | ||||||
| A | Pinar del Río | 4 | ||||||
| C | Villa Clara | 0 | ||||||
| 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]
Pitching[edit]
Award Winners[edit]
The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was José Estrada a outfielder with Matanzas. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was José Contreras of Pinar del Río. Maique Quintero of Industriales was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).
Copa de la Revolución[edit]
The second 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 | 21 | 9 | 0.700 | -.- | Santiago de Cuba | 30 | 22 | 8 | 0.733 | -.- |
| Industriales | 30 | 16 | 14 | 0.533 | 5.0 | Villa Clara | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0.667 | 2.0 |
| Habana | 30 | 13 | 17 | 0.433 | 8.0 | Camagüey | 30 | 12 | 18 | 0.400 | 10.0 |
| Metropolitanos | 30 | 9 | 21 | 0.300 | 12.0 | Holguín | 30 | 7 | 23 | 0.233 | 15.0 |
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 (Oriental) defeated the Pinar del Río (Occidental), 4 games to 2.
Leaders[edit]
Batting[edit]
- Batting Average: .462 - Javier Méndez, Industriales
- Base Hits: 46 - Juan Carlos Linares, Pinar del Río
- Runs Scored: 28 - Orestes Kindelán, Santiago de Cuba
- Doubles: 11 - Ariel Pestano, Villa Clara
- Triples: 5 - Yobal Dueñas, Pinar del Río
- Home Runs: 12 - Gabriel Pierre, Santiago de Cuba
- Runs Batted In: 33 - Gabriel Pierre, Santiago de Cuba
- Stolen Bases: 13 - Eduardo Paret, Villa Clara
Pitching[edit]
- Win-Loss Percentage: 1.000 (6 - 0) - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba; Pedro Luis Lazo, Pinar del Río
- Games Pitched: 15 - Juan E. Pérez, Holguín
- Complete Games: 3 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba; Pedro Luis Lazo, Pinar del Río; Ciro Silvino Licea, Granma; Ariel Tapanes, Pinar del Río; Carlos Yanes, Industriales
- Wins: 6 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba; Pedro Luis Lazo, Pinar del Río
- Innings Pitched: 53.1 - Ormari Romero, Santiago de Cuba
- Strikeouts: 42 - Pedro Luis Lazo, Pinar del Río
- Earned Run Average: 0.70 - Abel Madera, Pinar del Río
Sources[edit]
- (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1997 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la XXXVI serie 1997 (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
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