1999-2000 Cuban National League

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(Redirected from 2000 Cuban Serie Nacional)

The 1999-2000 season was the thirty-ninth season of Cuba's national baseball system.

Serie Nacional[edit]

The 39th Serie Nacional was won by Santiago de Cuba, their second straight title under manager by Higinio Vélez. The team was the best team in the regular season with a 62 – 28 record, the third most in history. In the playoffs, the avispas win eleven straight games, sweeping Camagüey, Granma and finally Pinar del Río for the championship. One of the quarterfinals features the two Havana-based rivals facing off against each other, the first time that this had occurred in the playoffs. The winner of the matchup for the veneration capitalinos was Industriales which defeated Metropolitanos in the best-of-fvie series, 3 games to 2. This is also the first season with wooden bats since the fifteenth Serie Nacional, making this the “year of the pitcher” as offense league-wide is depressed.

Ciego de Ávila's Yorelvis Charles led the serie with a .353 batting average by getting 108 hits in 306 at-bats. Home run leader Ivan Correa of Industriales blasts a mere 10 round trippers, the lowest total since 1977. Both were the lowest totals for a league leader since the mid-1970s. Metropolitanos' Enrique Díaz led the league with 59 runs scored as well as with 35 stolen bases. Amaury Sánchez of Las Tunas records a record 22 sacrifice hits.

Norge Luis Vera of Santiago de Cuba is the league's top pitcher with 17 wins and a 0.97 earned run average – 17 earned runs in 157 innings pitched – beating out four other starters who had sub-1.00 ERAs late in the season. Vera also records a record 8 shutouts.

However, much of nation's attention focuses on the 19-year-old phenom, Maels Rodríguez, pitching for the 39 – 51 Sancti Spíritus team. During the season, he is first pitcher to be officially clocked at above 100 mph during the Serie Nacional. A few weeks later on December 22, Rodríguez throws the first perfect game, a 1 – 0 decision, against Las Tunas at Estadio José Antonio Huelga in front of 4,500 fans. He also ties fellow Sancti Spíritus ace Yovani Aragón for the strikeout title at 177 each – however Rodríguez accomplished the feat in fewer innings.

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 -.- Industriales 90 57 33 0.633 -.-
Metropolitanos 90 46 44 0.511 13.0 Sancti Spíritus 90 39 51 0.433 18.0
Isla de la Juventud 90 42 48 0.467 17.0 La Habana 90 35 55 0.389 22.0
Matanzas 90 39 51 0.433 20.0 Cienfuegos 90 34 56 0.378 23.0

Zona Oriental[edit]

Grupo C Grupo D
Team G W L WPCT GB Team G W L WPCT GB
Villa Clara 90 53 37 0.589 -.- Santiago de Cuba 90 62 28 0.689 -.-
Camagüey 90 52 38 0.578 1.0 Granma 90 53 37 0.589 9.0
Ciego de Ávila 90 46 44 0.511 7.0 Holguín 90 40 50 0.444 22.0
Las Tunas 90 32 58 0.356 21.0 Guantánamo 90 31 59 0.344 31.0

Playoffs[edit]

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

All-Star Game[edit]

The fifteenth Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Sancti Spíritus, Sancti Spíritus on February 27, 2000. In the game, Oriente defeated Occidentales by a score of 4 to 1. Oriente had 10 hits to Occidentales's 9, while both teams had 1 error. The winning pitcher was Norge Luis Vera and the losing pitcher was Maels Rodríguez.

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 Yorelvis Charles Ciego de Ávila .353 108 hits in 306 at-bats
Runs Scored Enrique Díaz Metropolitanos 59
Base Hits Orlis L. Díaz Isla de la Juventud 117
Doubles Ariel Borrero Villa Clara 27
Triples Nguyen Boulet Matanzas 9
Home Runs Iván Correa Industriales 10
Runs Batted In Antonio Scull Industriales 65
Base-on-Balls Omar Linares Pinar del Río 69
Intentional Base-on-Balls Omar Linares Pinar del Río 16
Hit-by-Pitch Joan C. Pedroso Las Tunas 14
Strikeouts Lisnel Cirilo Ciego de Ávila 69
Sacrifice Hit Amaury Sánchez Las Tunas 22
Sacrifice Fly Joan C. Pedroso Las Tunas 6
Stolen Bases Enrique Díaz Metropolitanos 35

Pitching[edit]

Stat Leader Team Number Notes
Wins Norge L. Vera Santiago de Cuba 17
Win-Loss Percentage Aleydis García Isla de la Juventud 0.900 9 - 1
Earned Run Average Norge L. Vera Santiago de Cuba 0.97 17 ER in 157 IP
Innings Pitched Ciro S. Licea Granma 194.2
Games Pitched Roidel Enríquez Villa Clara 39
Games Started Ciro S. Licea
Carlos A. Yánes
Granma
Isla de la Juventud
25
Games Relieved Raidel Cordero
Roidel Enríquez
Las Tunas
Villa Clara
37
Complete Games Gervasio Miguel
Yovani Aragón
Isla de la Juventud
Sancti Spíritus
14
Shutouts Norge L. Vera Santiago de Cuba 8
Hits Allowed Jonder Martínez La Habana 180
Strikeouts Yovani Aragón
Maels Rodríguez
Sancti Spíritus
Sancti Spíritus
177
Base-on-Balls Yosvany Fonseca Matanzas 63
Intentional Base-on-Balls Raúl Reyes Camagüey 12
Hit Batters José M. Báez Las Tunas 17

Award Winners[edit]

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Norge Luis Vera a pitcher with Santiago de Cuba. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Norge Luis Vera of Santiago de Cuba. Yoandry Urgellés of Metropolitanos 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