Óscar Macías

Óscar Macías Hernández

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 194 lb.

• Born February 2, 1969

BR Minors page

Óscar Macías was a longtime infielder in Cuba.

Playing for La Habana in 1991-1992, he led the Cuban Serie Nacional with 45 RBI. He hit .408/.467/.519 in the 1995 World Port Tournament

He was 4 for 6 for the Cuban national team in the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games, which Cuba won. He was 0 for 4 with a run and a sacrifice fly in the 1998 Baseball World Cup, while making one error in ten chances as the backup to Antonio Pacheco at second. He did not play in the Gold Medal game, which Cuba won. He was 3 for 14 with a walk in the 1998 Haarlem Baseball Week.

Macías won his second RBI title in 1998-1999 when he plated 81 runs. He also led with eight sacrifice flies. He was with Cuba for game two of the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series. He hit .257/.282/.514 in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup and played error-free ball at second. He tied for 6th in the event with 8 RBI and tied Mike Moyle for the most home runs, 3. Hitting 5th in the Gold Medal game, he went 1 for 5 in a 4-3 loss to Australia as Cuba got a Silver. He was named the Outstanding Defensive Player in the event and was named the All-Star second baseman.

Óscar split second base and DH with Pacheco in the 2000 Olympics and produced at a .345/.387/.655 rate and fielded .950 at second. He led Cuba in slugging. Hitting sixth in the Gold Medal game, he went 1 for 3 against Ben Sheets; the only other Cuban hits came from Omar Linares as Cuba was shut out and settled for a Silver.

Macías went deep 23 times in 2000-2001 to tie Roberquis Videaux for the league lead; he also was plunked a league-high 19 times. He only hit .200/.226/.400 as Cuba's primary DH in the 2001 Baseball World Cup. In the Gold Medal game, Linares started at DH. Macías came off the bench in the 7th as a pinch-hitter for Yasser Gómez with a 2-2 tie and was retired by Tom Shearn. He did not stay in the game, which Cuba went on to win to take the title.

Backing up Yobal Dueñas in the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, he had one double in seven at-bats and made one error at second in an unimpressive showing. Cuba still won the Gold. The veteran defected in 2005 along with Amaury Casañas. At age 36, he spent one more year in baseball, hitting a resounding .350/.388/.467 with 12 runs and 11 RBI for the El Paso Diablos before retiring.

Through 2009, Macías ranked tied for 9th in Cuba in homers (286, even with Pedro Jose Rodriguez Sr.) and 8th in total bases (3,237). In 18 seasons, he had hit .310/.393/.513 with 1,124 runs and 1,080 RBI. He had fielded .974. He ranked 5th with 4,994 assists and 4th with 1,359 double plays. No second baseman had turned more twin killings - the only players with more were 1B Agustín Lescaille, SS Enrique Esteban Díaz and 1B Antonio Muñoz.