1996-1997 Cuban National League

The 1996-1997 season was the thirty-sixth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional

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

Bold indicates Grupo champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion

Grupo A

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

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

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

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

	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

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	José Antonio Estrada	Matanzas	.391	104 hits in 266 at-bats
Runs Scored	José Antonio Estrada	Matanzas	60
Base Hits	José Antonio Estrada	Matanzas	104
Doubles	Óscar Valdés	Metropolitanos	23
Triples	Enrique Díaz	Metropolitanos	9
Home Runs	Julio G. Fernández	Matanzas	15
Runs Batted In	Julio G. Fernández	Matanzas	60
Base-on-Balls	Juan Manrique	Matanzas	53
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Gilberto Rodríguez	Las Tunas	12
Hit-by-Pitch	Ernesto Arzuaga Yobal Dueñas Rafael O. Acebey	Granma Pinar del Río Villa Clara	13
Strikeouts	Ariel Cutiño	Santiago de Cuba	55
Sacrifice Hit	Wilber de Armas	Metropolitanos	13
Sacrifice Fly	Antonio Pacheco	Santiago de Cuba	9
Stolen Bases	Eduardo Paret	Villa Clara	43

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	José Contreras	Pinar del Río	14
Win-Loss Percentage	Osnel B. Bocourt	Industriales	1.000	6 - 0
Earned Run Average	Pedro L. Lazo	Pinar del Río	1.15	14 ER in 109.1 IP
Innings Pitched	José Ibar	La Habana	132.2
Games Pitched	Juan E. Pérez	Holguín	15
Games Started	Ciro S. Licea Alexis Riera José Ibar José Contreras	Granma Guantánamo La Habana Pinar del Río	17
Games Relieved	Jorge F. Fumero	Industriales	28
Complete Games	Ormari Romero	Santiago de Cuba	12
Shutouts	Eliecer Montes de Oca	Villa Clara	5
Hits Allowed	José Ibar	La Habana	139
Strikeouts	José Contreras	Pinar del Río	135
Base-on-Balls	Alfredo Fonseca	Granma	58
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Evacio Negrín	Ciego de Ávila	8
Hit Batters	Alexis Riera	Guantánamo	27

Award Winners

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

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

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

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

Batting

• 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

• 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

• (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