2007-2008 Cuban National League

The 2007-2008 season was the forty-seventh season of Cuba's national baseball system. The season was noted for its offensive explosion thanks to the introduction of the Mizuno 150 baseball. Several records were set at the plate, most notably by Alexei Bell. Bell, a slugging outfielder for Santiago de Cuba despite his small frame, set new league marks for home runs and RBI. Alfredo Despaigne, another young outfielder, set a new record with 58 extra-base hits. Due to the increase in offense, pitch counts in the league were increased during the season from 100 to 120 to allow starters to work deeper into games.

A couple pitchers also set records in the 2007-2008 Serie Nacional. Yulieski González went 15-0 to set a new record for most consecutive wins in a season, breaking the old standard of 14. Pedro Luis Lazo, meanwhile, set a new career record for Cuban pitchers with his 235th win late in the year; Lazo picked up 9 victories during the season to show he was still productive.

Serie Nacional

The 47th Serie Nacional was won by Santiago de Cuba, 4 games to 0, over Pinar del Río. Pinar del Río was a surprise contestant given their .500 regular season performance, but some playoff upsets enabled them to make it to the finals, where they were a heavy underdog and proved to be no match for Santiago de Cuba. It was the third title in four seasons for Santiago de Cuba. Santiago de Cuba was managed by Antonio Pacheco. Rolando Meriño set a new postseason record with 25 RBI in the playoffs and finals; he was named MVP of the playoffs.

Game one of the finals was won by Santiago de Cuba, 8-2. Veteran hurler Norge Vera went the distance and did not allow a run until the 6th, by which point his team was well ahead. 2B Héctor Olivera Jr. went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI to pace a balanced attack. Pinar del Rio turned to Pedro Luis Lazo for game two but Cuba's all-time win leader allowed 7 runs in 6 innings in a 9-2 loss. Catcher Rolando Meriño went 3 for 4 with a homer, 3 runs and 2 RBI while RF Alexei Bell homered twice and drove in four. Santiago de Cuba starter Alberto Bicet was knocked out after one-third of an inning but reliever Yaumier Sánchez allowed only one run in 8 2/3 innings after replacing him to pick up the win.

Meriño drove in 3 runs in a game 3, 10-4 win for Santiago de Cuba. They won it with 6 runs in the 6th. Olivera was 3 for 5 with 2 runs while Pedro Poll doubled twice and drove in two. Santiago de Cuba completed the sweep with a 2-1 pitching duel in game four, the only close contest of the finals. 3B Ronnier Mustelier homered off of Yuniesky Maya in the third to put Santiago ahead, but Pinar tied it in the bottom of the third against Ormari Romero. In the 8th, Olivera reached on a fielder's choice. With Lazo on the hill for Pinar, Olivera stole second and Meriño was walked intentionally. Santiago star Bell singled in Olivera for the winning run. Reinier Roibal was the winning pitcher and Vera got the save.

Standings

Bold indicates Zona champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion

Zona Occidental

Grupo A							Grupo B
Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB		Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Pinar del Río	90	45	45	0.500	--		La Habana	90	61	29	0.678	--
Isla de la Juventud	90	40	50	0.444	5		Industriales	88	53	35	0.602	7
Matanzas	90	34	56	0.378	11		Sancti Spíritus	88	48	40	0.545	12
Metropolitanos	89	28	61	0.315	16.5		Cienfuegos	90	33	57	0.367	28

Zona Oriental

Grupo C							Grupo D
Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB		Team	G	W	L	WPCT	GB
Villa Clara	88	55	33	0.625	--		Santiago de Cuba	90	61	29	0.678	-.-
Ciego de Ávila	90	53	37	0.589	3		Guantánamo	89	44	45	0.494	16.5
Las Tunas	90	49	41	0.544	7		Holguín	90	41	49	0.456	20
Camagüey	90	35	55	0.382	21		Granma	90	36	54	0.400	25

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

OCC2

Industriales

0

OCC4

Pinar del Río

3

OTE2

Pinar del Río

4

Occidental

OCC4

Sancti Spíritus

3

OCC1

La Habana

1

OCC3

Sancti Spíritus

3

OCC4

Pinar del Río

0

OTE1

Santiago de Cuba

4

OTE1

Santiago de Cuba

3

OTE4

Las Tunas

0

OTE4

Villa Clara

2

Oriental

OCC3

Santiago de Cuba

4

OTE2

Villa Clara

3

OTE3

Ciego de Ávila

2

All-Star Game

The twenty-second Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held at Guillermón Moncada Stadium. In the game, the Occientales defeated the Orientales by a score of 6 to 5 behind a home run from MVP Yosvani Peraza. The winning pitcher was Alexei Gil and the losing pitcher was Jorge Longa.

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	Yoandy Garlobo	Matanzas	.398
Runs Scored	Alexei Bell	Santiago de Cuba	96
Base Hits	José Julio Ruíz	Santiago de Cuba	126
Doubles	Alfredo Despaigne	Granma	33
Triples	Ariel Sánchez	Matanzas	12
Home Runs	Alexei Bell	Santiago de Cuba	31
Runs Batted In	Alexei Bell	Santiago de Cuba	111
Base-on-Balls	Frederich Cepeda	Sancti Spíritus	93
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Yosvani Peraza	Pinar del Rio	37
Hit-by-Pitch	Dainniel Galvez	Isla de la Juventud	24
Strikeouts	Vismay Santos	Guantánamo	74
Sacrifice Hit	Maikel Caceres	Holguín	16
Sacrifice Fly	Yasser Gomez	Industriales	8
Stolen Bases	José Julio Ruíz	Santiago de Cuba	32

Pitching

Stat	Leader	Team	Number	Notes
Wins	Yulieski González	La Habana	15
Win-Loss Percentage	Yulieski González	La Habana	15-0
Earned Run Average	Jonder Martinez	La Habana	1.55	133 1/3 IP
Innings Pitched	Pedro Luis Lazo	Pinar del Rio	147 1/3 IP
Games Pitched	Yoandry Barrios	Villa Clara	53
Games Started	Leyan Lores	Guantánamo	22
Games Relieved	Yoandry Barrios	Villa Clara	53
Complete Games	Pedro Luis Lazo	Pinar del Rio	7
Shutouts	Jonder Martínez	La Habana	4
Hits Allowed	Yanier Gonzalez	Granma	154
Strikeouts	Yulieski González	La Habana	111
Base-on-Balls	Maikel Folch	Ciego de Ávila	68
Intentional Base-on-Balls	Vladimir García	Ciego de Ávila	16
Hit Batters	Frank Navarro Jorge Martinez	Guantánamo Matanzas	14
Saves	Sergio Espinosa	Isla de la Juventud	14

Award Winners

The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Alexei Bell of Santiago de Cuba. Yosvani Perez of Villa Clara was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año). Manager of the Year was Antonio Pacheco of Santiago de Cuba.

All-Stars were C Rolando Meriño (Santiago de Cuba), 1B Yoandy Garlobo (Matanzas), 2B Héctor Olivera Jr. (Santiago de Cuba), SS Yadil Mujica (Matanzas), 3B Yulieski Gourriel (Sancti Spiritus), Bell, OF Alfredo Despaigne (Granma), OF Yoandry Urgellés (Industriales), DH Yosvani Peraza, UT Adonis García (Ciego de Avila), RHP Jonder Martínez (La Habana), LHP Yulieski González (La Habana) and RP Sergio Espinosa (Isla de la Juventud). Gold Glove winners were C Ariel Pestano (Villa Clara), 1B Garlobo, 2B Raiko Olivares (Industriales), SS Eduardo Paret (Villa Clara), 3B Jorge Rodriguez (Cienfuegos), Bell, OF Juan Carlos Linares (La Habana), OF Andy Zamora (Villa Clara) and P Yoelkis Cruz (Las Tunas).