2000-2001 Cuban National League

From BR Bullpen

The 2000-2001 season was the fortieth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional[edit]

In the fortieth Serie Nacional, Santiago de Cuba, managed by Higinio Vélez, became the third team in serie history to win three consecutive titles. For the second straight year they met Pinar del Río in the finals. The avispas won the series 4 games to 1. Santiago de Cuba won the fifth game due to the excellent relief pitching of Osmel Cintra, with the deciding runs were scored by a grand slam home run by legend Antonio Pacheco in the eighth inning.

The second season with wooden bats in a generation sees offense return to the Serie Nacional. Alexander Ramos of Isla de la Juventud has 147 base hits, the highest total with a wooden bat, but five less than the mark put up by fellow toronjero Michel Enríquez two years earlier. Osmani Urrutia of Las Tunas wins his first of five consecutive batting titles with a .431 with 125 hits in 290 at-bats. Two batters, Óscar Macías of La Habana and Roberquis Videaux of Guantánamo, hit 23 home runs to lead the league.

Camagüey rookie Leslie Anderson hits a rookie-record 28 doubles to tie La Habana's Pedro Arozarena for the league lead. Isla de la Juventud's Orlis L. Díaz has 87 runs batted in ties Óscar Machado's record from three years earlier. Eduardo Paret of Villa Clara scores 99 times, setting a record that will be broken two years later by Enrique Díaz.

On the pitching side, it is an bad year for Santiago Mederos as two of his records fall. First, Maels Rodríguez of Sancti Spíritus strikes out 263 opposing batters obiliterating Mederos's record of 208 strikeouts from the XVI Serie Nacional. Then on December 20, Faustino Corrales of Pinar del Río strikes out 22 Holguín batters in a nine-inning game, breaking Mederos's thirty-one year old record of 20. Only Rogelio García's sixteen inning 24 K performance in 1977 is better than Corrales's strikeout total.

Rodríguez is also tied for the league lead in wins with 15, tied with Villa Clara's veteran right hander Eliecer Montes de Oca. He also leads the league in ERA at 1.77, 35 earned runs in a league leading 178.1 innings pitched. La Habana's Lemay de la Rosa has the league's best record at 14 – 1. Cienfuegos reliever Duniel Ibarra, sets new marks for most games pitched at 45 and relief games at 44, but his record will be short lived as both are broken a year later by Orestes González.

On May 13, Santiago de Cuba's Antonio Pacheco hit his 356th double off Faustino Corrales at Estadio Capitán San Luis to set a new record. Industriales veteran 40-year old righthander Lázaro de la Torre wins his 200th career vitory on April 8 against Cienfuegos at Estadio Latinoamericano. The Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año) has a familiar name as Cienfuegos' outfielder Pedro José Rodríguez, Jr., son of team's legendary third baseman.

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates Zona champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion

Zona Occidental[edit]

Grupo A Grupo B
Team G W L WPCT GB Team G W L WPCT GB
Pinar del Río 90 59 31 0.656 -.- La Habana 90 50 40 0.556 -.-
Isla de la Juventud 90 53 37 0.589 6.0 Industriales 90 50 40 0.556 -.-
Metropolitanos 90 40 50 0.444 19.0 Sancti Spíritus 90 38 52 0.422 12.0
Matanzas 90 36 54 0.400 23.0 Cienfuegos 90 28 62 0.311 22.0

Zona Oriental[edit]

Grupo C Grupo D
Team G W L WPCT GB Team G W L WPCT GB
Villa Clara 90 59 31 0.656 -.- Santiago de Cuba 90 55 35 0.611 -.-
Camagüey 90 53 37 0.589 6.0 Granma 90 55 35 0.611 -.-
Ciego de Ávila 90 35 55 0.389 24.0 Guantánamo 90 43 47 0.478 12.0
Las Tunas 90 25 65 0.278 34.0 Holguín 90 41 49 0.456 14.0

Playoffs[edit]

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
  OCC1  Pinar del Río 3  
OCC4  Industriales 2  
  OCC1  Pinar del Río 4  
Occidental
  OCC3  La Habana 0  
OCC2  Isla de la Juventud 1
  OCC3  La Habana 3  
    OCC1  Pinar del Río 1
  OTE2  Santiago de Cuba 4
  OTE1  Villa Clara 1  
OTE4  Camagüey 3  
  OTE4  Camagüey 2
Oriental
  OTE2  Santiago de Cuba 4  
OTE2  Santiago de Cuba 3
  OTE3  Granma 1  

All-Star Game[edit]

The sixteenth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held at Pinar del Río in Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río (Serie Nacional)|Pinar del Río on February 11, 2001. In the game, Occidentales defeated Oriente by a score of 5 to 2. Oriente had 8 hits to Occidentales's 7, while both teams had 1 error. The winning pitcher was Raúl Valdés and the losing pitcher was Eliecer Montes de Oca.

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 Osmani Urrutia Las Tunas .431 125 hits in 290 at-bats
Runs Scored Eduardo Paret Villa Clara 99
Base Hits Alexander Ramos Isla de la Juventud 147
Doubles Leslie Anderson
Pedro Arozarena
Camagüey
La Habana
28
Triples Ariel Borrero Villa Clara 10
Home Runs Roberquis Videaux
Óscar Macías
Guantánamo
La Habana
23 Leader in less at-bats (246)
295 at-bats
Runs Batted In Orlis L. Díaz Isla de la Juventud 87
Base-on-Balls Frederich Cepeda Sancti Spíritus 86
Intentional Base-on-Balls Omar Linares Pinar del Río 17
Hit-by-Pitch Óscar Macías La Habana 19
Strikeouts Amaury Casañas Matanzas 89
Sacrifice Hit Norlis Concepción Las Tunas 13
Sacrifice Fly Orlando González Camagüey 8
Stolen Bases Enrique Díaz Metropolitanos 44

Pitching[edit]

Stat Leader Team Number Notes
Wins Maels Rodríguez
Eliecer Montes de Oca
Sancti Spíritus
Villa Clara
15
Win-Loss Percentage Lemay de la Rosa La Habana 0.933 14 - 1
Earned Run Average Maels Rodríguez Sancti Spíritus 1.77 35 ER in 178.1 IP
Innings Pitched Maels Rodríguez Sancti Spíritus 178.1
Games Pitched Duniel Ibarra Cienfuegos 45
Games Started Raúl Valdés
Orelvis Ávila
Luis M. Rodríguez
José Contreras
Maels Rodríguez
La Habana
Holguín
Holguín
Pinar del Río
Sancti Spíritus
23
Games Relieved Duniel Ibarra Cienfuegos 44
Complete Games Norge L. Vera Santiago de Cuba 12
Shutouts Luis Campillo
Luis M. Rodríguez
Yusmani de la Barca
Camagüey
Holguín
Villa Clara
4
Hits Allowed Ciro S. Licea Granma 174
Strikeouts Maels Rodríguez Sancti Spíritus 263
Base-on-Balls Maels Rodríguez Sancti Spíritus 76
Intentional Base-on-Balls Félix Borbón Holguín 12
Hit Batters Linoel Doris Guantánamo 22

Award Winners[edit]

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Maels Rodríguez a pitcher with Sancti Spíritus. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Maels Rodríguez of Sancti Spíritus. Pedro José Rodríguez Jr. of Cienfuegos was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).

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
1979-1980 1980-1981 1981-1982 1982-1983 1983-1984 1984-1985 1985-1986 1986-1987 1987-1988 1988-1989
1989-1990 1990-1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999
1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019
2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023