Alfredo García (Cuba)

Alfredo García Santiago

• Born July 7, 1951 in Matanzas, Matanzas Cuba

Biographical Information

Alfredo García pitched for ten years in Cuba, twice winning strikeout titles.

García twirled a no-hitter for the Henequeneros against the Azucareros on April 6, 1969. He won 12 games in 1969-1970, tying Gregorio Pérez for the Serie Nacional lead. In the Serie 10 Millones of 1970, he tied Santiago Mederos and Roberto Valdés for the most complete games (9) and led in innings (161 1/3) and strikeouts (129).

In 1971-1972, Alfredo led the league with nine sacrifice hits. During 1972-1973, he led in hits allowed (149) and walks (71, tied with Orlando Figueredo and Julio Romero) but also led in strikeouts (160). With the Cuban national team in the 1973 Amateur World Series, he went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

García completed 16 starts in 1973-1974 to tie Braudilio Vinent for the lead. He went 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games, winning a second Gold Medal with the Cuban national team. He struck out 13 in 12 1/3 IP and was 3 for 6 with two runs at the plate. He beat the Virgin Islands and Venezuela. Amazingly, his ERA was higher than the team ERA of 0.62. He tied Lionel Quijada for 5th in the event in ERA, tied for 3rd in wins (one behind Juan Pérez and Héctor Flores) and tied Carlos Julio Pérez for 6th in strikeouts.

Overall, he went 70-72 with 8 saves, a 2.41 ERA and .220 opponent average in his career in Cuba.

Primary Sources: 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol, A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman, 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games Final Report