Amado Zamora

Amado Zamora Portilla

• Born August 20, 1953 in Sierra Morena, Villa Clara Cuba

Amado Zamora was a five-time Cuban batting champion. His son Andy Zamora also played in Cuba; they became the first father-son tandem to win batting titles in Cuba.

Amado hit .394 for Villa Clara in 1980-1981 to lead the Cuban Serie Nacional. He came one hit shy of breaking Fermín Laffita's six-year-old record for highest average in a Serie Nacional. In the 1983 Pan American Games, he went 1 for 7 in a rare stint for the Cuban national team; during the 1980s, Cuba relied on outfielders Luis Casanova, Lourdes Gourriel Sr., Victor Mesa and Luis Ulacia.

In 1984-1985, Zamora led in hits (115) and tied Omar Linares for the most triples (9). He followed with a .361 average for Las Villas in the Series Selectivas to top the loop. He repeated with a .392 mark for Las Villas in 1986. He won his last batting championship in the 1989 Series Selectivas, hitting .413 for Las Villas. Zamora's last big season came at age 41, when he batted .395 for Villa Clara in 1994-1995, 14 years after his first batting title. Amado was named the Serie Nacional Most Valuable Player, the first Villa Clara player ever to take that honor.

In 19 career seasons, Zamora hit .331/.382/.415 with 851 runs but only 39 home runs. He stole 156 bases in 271 tries and fielded .946. As of 2010, his 70 triples ranked 5th in Cuban annals (between José Estrada and Wilfredo Sánchez).

Sources

• 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol
• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman
• Ecured bio