1996-1997 Cuban National League

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(Redirected from 1997 Cuban Serie Nacional)

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]

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[edit]

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[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]

Pitching[edit]

Sources[edit]

Cuban National League Seasons
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1969-1970 1970-1971 1971-1972 1972-1973 1973-1974 1974-1975 1975-1976 1976-1977 1977-1978 1978-1979
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1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009
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