Braudilio Vinent

Braudilio Vinent Serrano
(The Meteor from La Maya)

• Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 163 lb.

• Born July 10, 1947 in La Maya Cuba

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Braudilio Vinent was a star Cuban pitcher of the 1970s.

Vinent debuted in 1967-1968 with the Mineros, leading the Cuban Serie Nacional with a 1.03 ERA. He lost Pitcher of the Year honors to teammate Manuel Alarcón. By 1970, Vinent made the Cuban national team, going 1-1 with a 3.45 ERA in the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games as Cuba won Gold.

In 1970-1971, Braudilio led the Serie Nacional in shutouts (6, tied with Walfrido Ruiz), starts (15, tied), strikeouts (112) and hit batsmen (9); Antonio Jiménez was named Pitcher of the Year. In the 1971 Pan American Games, the right-hander had a 1-0, 1.35 record for the Gold Medalists.

Vinent led the 1971-1972 Serie Nacional in shutouts (6) and Ks (127). He then fanned 16 to tie for the All-Star Series lead. In the 1972 Amateur World Series, he was lights-out, going 4-0 with a 0.62 ERA to tie Jay Smith and Richard Smith for the Series lead in wins as Cuba claimed Gold. On the last day of the Series, December 5, Cuba faced a squad of All-Stars from all the other countries and Vinent promptly shut them out.

The Meteor from La Maya moved to the Serranos in 1972-1973 and set a Serie Nacional record with 19 wins, 45 percent of his team's total. He also led with a 0.85 ERA and tied Orlando Figueredo for the lead with 17 complete games. Vinent was named Most Valuable Pitcher for the first time. It would be 25 years before José Ibar broke his win record.

Vinent was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in the 1973 Amateur World Series as Cuba won Gold again. In 1973-1974, the workhorse right-hander tied Serranos teammate Rafael Castillo for the win lead, led in innings (191 2/3) and tied Alfredo García for the most complete games (14). In the All-Star Series, he had a 0.00 ERA. In the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games, his ERA was 2.00, the second-highest on a team with a 0.62 ERA. He was 0 for 3 with a RBI at the plate. Only Julio Romero (2.08) had a higher ERA for Cuba.

Braudilio did not lead the league in anything in 1974-1975, the first time that had happened in five years. He was 2-0 with a 3.44 ERA in the 1975 Pan American Games. In 1975-1976, the 28-year-old became the first Serie Nacional pitcher to top 100 wins, doing so on February 15; he would more than double that total by career's end. In the Series Selectivas, he starred for the Orientales, leading the league in winning percentage (.857), wins (12) and innings (127). Vinent had a 2-1, 2.84 record for the victorious Cuban squad in the 1976 Amateur World Series.

Vinent led the 1977 Series Selectivas in complete games (10) and innings (124 1/3). He led the 1977-1978 Serie Nacional with 101 hits allowed for the Santiago de Cuba Wasps (tied with Francisco Labrada). Vinent went 2-0 with a 4.95 ERA in the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games (won by Cuba) and 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in the 1978 Amateur World Series (won by Cuba also). In the '78 Series, he tied Mike Kinnunen and Mark Thurmond for third in wins, one behind Dong-won Choi and Shigekazu Mori. He was 4th with 26 K, trailing Choi, Mori and Shi-jin Kim.

The Meteor from La Maya starred for the Orientales once more in the 1979 Series Selectivas, leading in complete games (15), innings (137) and strikeouts (105). He went 4-0 with a 0.44 ERA in the 1979 Pan American Games to lead the tournament in wins and help Cuba take the Gold. In the 1979 Intercontinental Cup, the veteran was 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA and Cuba won Gold.

In 1979-1980, Vinent helped Santiago de Cuba take the title, leading the circuit with 12 victories, 124 innings and 13 complete games (tied with José M. Darcourt). He won his second Most Valuable Pitcher award, becoming the first two-time winner in league annals. Braudilio went 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in the 1980 Amateur World Series to help Cuba win Gold. He was one win behind South Korea's Sun-hee Lee for the lead.

The 33-year-old won his 4th and final strikeout title with 90 in 1980-1981. He was the only hurler to lead the league in a 7-year stretch other than Rogelio García. He was 3-1 in the 1981 Intercontinental Cup. In the Gold Medal game, though, he relieved García with one days' rest against Team USA and took the loss. It was the first major tournament in which Vinent represented Cuba and Cuba failed to win Gold.

Braudilio was 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA in the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games to tie for the tourney lead in wins but Cuba settled for a Silver as the Dominican Republic won it all. In 1983, the right-hander led the Series Selectivas with 10 complete games. In the 1983 Pan American Games, Vinent went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and Cuba won the Gold Medal. He had a 2-1, 4.36 record in the 1983 Intercontinental Cup and Cuba won Gold.

Vinent was the losing pitcher in the Cuban All-Star Game of 1983-1984. He was 1-0 with a 6.97 ERA with 3 homers in 10 2/3 IP in the 1984 Amateur World Series for a disappointing end to a storied international career. Cuba still won Gold. He had gone 35-4 in major international tournaments.

Vinent reached 200 career wins on December 29, 1985. On November 27, 1987, he became the first Cuban leaguer to fan 2,000 batters. It would be his final season.

Overall, Vinent had gone 221-167 with a 2.42 ERA and .220 opponent average in 20 seasons. He completed 265 of 400 starts, 63 of them for shutouts. He had hit .135 at the plate.

Through 2009, Braudilio still ranked among the all-time Cuban leaders (Castro era) in starts (4th, after Carlos Yánes, Pedro Luis Lazo and Jorge Luis Valdés), 9th in games pitched (477), tied for 6th in seasons pitched, complete games (1st by 36 over Valdés), wins (4th after Lazo, Valdés and Yánes; he had retired as the leader before Valdés surpassed him), shutouts (7 more than Rogelio García), losses (4th), innings (3,259 2/3, second to Yánes), hits allowed (2,645, 9th), runs allowed (1,122, 12th), strikeouts (2,134, 4th behind García, Faustino Corrales and Lazo) and walks (989, 6th).

Primary Source: A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman