The recent four-homer-game performance by Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers – the sixteenth in the history of professional North American major league baseball – brings to mind the much rarer four-homer-game outings in Cuban League annals. The four-homer feat has been rarely achieved during big-league games, occurring only 14 times in the post-1903 modern era (109 seasons); but it has not actually been among the very rarest of slugging feats, since it has now happened eight times in the approximate half-century since Willie Mays turned the trick in April 1961. Far rarer is a hitter stroking two grand slams in the same inning of a game (only once in MLB and once in Cuba), or even hitting two “salamis” in a single game, or two homers in a single inning. Over the same half-century (1961-2011) the modern-era Cuban League has witnessed only three such slugging explosions (admittedly in seasons generally only half as long as the major league campaigns), but Cuba also did not have a single occurrence until December 1989, when Leonel Moa struck four in a single National Series contest for Camagüey. Moa’s exceptional feat has only twice been duplicated, first by light-sticking Matanzas shortstop Alberto Diaz in December 1996 (National Series #35) and later by Omar Linares in April 1997 (during the short-season 30-game Revolutionary Cup tournament).

Major Leaguers (16) with Four-Homer Games

Player (Date) Season, Team vs. Opponent

Nineteenth Century

1. Bobby Lowe (May 30, 1894) National League, Boston Beaneaters vs. Cincinnati Reds (two in third inning)

2. Ed Delahanty (July 13, 1896) National League, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago Colts

Twentieth Century

3. Lou Gehrig (June 3, 1932) American League, New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Athletics (first of modern era)

4. Chuck Klein (July 10, 1936) National League, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (10 inning game)

5. Pat Seerey (July 18, 1948) American League, Chicago White Sox vs. Philadelphia Athletics (11 inning game)

6. Gil Hodges (August 31, 1950) National League, Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Boston Braves

7. Joe Adcock (July 31, 1954) National League, Milwaukee Braves vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (also a double, for 18 total bases)

8. Rocky Colavito (June 10, 1959) American League, Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles

9. Willie Mays (April 30, 1960) National League, San Francisco Giants vs. Milwaukee Braves

10. Mike Schmidt (April 17, 1976) National League, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago Cubs (10 inning game)

11. Bob Horner (July 6, 1986) National League, Atlanta Braves vs. Montreal Expos

12. Mark Whiten (September 7, 1993) National League, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds (one was grand slam)

13. Mike Cameron (May 2, 2002) American League, Seattle Mariners vs. Chicago White Sox (two in first inning)

14. Shawn Green (May 23, 2002) National League, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers (also a double and single, for 19 total bases)

15. Carlos Delgado (September 25, 2003) American League, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Twenty-First Century

16. Josh Hamilton (May 8, 2012) American League, Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles (also a double, for 18 total bases)

 

Cuban Leaguers (3) with Four-Homer Games

Player (Date) Season, Team vs. Opponent (Stadium)

1. Leonel Moa (December 10, 1989) National Series #29, Camagüey vs. Granma (Martires de Barbados, Granma)

2. Alberto Diaz (December 17, 1995) National Series #35, Matanzas vs. Camagüey (Mario Martínez Arará (Matanzas)

3. Omar Linares (April 8, 1997) Revolutionary Cup II, Pinar del Río vs. Villa Clara (Capitán San Luis, Pinar del Río)

Cuban League game details are not always easy to track down (although most relevant facts for all but the initial few National Series seasons are today squirreled away somewhere in the archives of INDER, the National Sports Ministry) and therefore such data as the innings and opposing pitchers for the homers by Moa, Diaz and Linares are largely lost to history (at least for the present). Game scores and game winners for the three historic Cuban events are also now buried in obscurity. But we do have knowledge of the ballparks involved and also of one most interesting oddity that serves to unite the three Cuban games. Strange as it may seem, the same umpire – Nelson Diaz, who also served behind home plate for the two Team Cuba-Baltimore Orioles exhibitions of 1999 and worked the initial World Baseball Classic – was involved in all three contests (twice at second base and once behind the plate). It is also interesting to note that while Linares stands number three on the all-time Cuban home run list with 404, and Moa was also a reputable slugger who amassed 272 round-trippers across 15 National Series campaigns, Diaz was not particularly known for long-ball prowess. Over 16 seasons with Matanzas, the right-handed-swinging shortstop blasted a grand total of only 67 lifetime home runs.

When it comes to any discussion of single-game home run feats, it is always necessary to revisit the remarkable achievement a few years back by Santiago de Cuba outfielder Alexei Bell. On opening day of National Series #49 the Cuban “Toy Cannon” smacked a pair of first-inning grand slams in his first pair of plate appearances on the season. Bell thus matched the only pair of single-inning bases-loaded homers in big league annals, those struck St. Louis Cardinals infielder Fernando Tatis in Dodgers Stadium back in 1999 (April 23). But Tatis’s odd round trippers were of course not hit in the first frame of the season’s very first game. If there is any rare slugging achievement in baseball annals likely never again to be duplicated it is most probably Bell’s November 2009 lid-lifter “grand salamis.”

But the story doesn’t quite end there for Alexei Bell. Two grand slams in a single game (not a single inning) has been accomplished by only 13 players in the majors and only three sluggers in Cuba; 27 Cuban Leaguers (including Bell himself twice) have smacked two homers in a single inning and countless more have done it in the majors. But it is a feat never duplicated during a post-season contest in the big leagues. Alexei Bell nonetheless also pulled off the two-homer-inning feat during a 2007 playoff contest (as did one other Cuban Leaguer, Habana’s Ernesto Molinet in the spring of 2009). Furthermore, only two big leaguers have achieved three base hits in a single frame (Gene Stephens in 1953 and Johnny Damon a half-century later, both with the Boston Red Sox, in Fenway Park) and that event also has never occurred during an MLB post-season affair. But incredibly Alexei Bell also struck three base knocks in a single inning during a springtime 2008 Cuban League post-season match.

Alexei Bell’s Three Remarkable Single-Inning Explosions

1. April 18, 2007 (Playoffs, Finals Game 1) in Guillermón Moncada Stadium (Santiago de Cuba): Two homers in the first inning versus Industriales (hit off pitchers Frank Montieth and Sandy Ojito).

2. April 5, 2008 (Playoffs, Semifinals Game 2) in Guillermón Moncada Stadium (Santiago de Cuba): Three base hits in the second inning versus Villa Clara, including a home run (hit off starter Juan Yasser Serrano) and two singles (off relievers Alex Suárez and Daniel Medina).

3. November 4, 2009 (Opening Day, National Series #49) in Guillermón Moncada Stadium (Santiago de Cuba): Two grand slam homers (8 RBI) in the first inning versus Camagüey (hit off pitchers Vicyohandry Odelín and Dunieski Alvarez).

When it comes to hitting four homers in one ball game, such is indeed a rare and much-to-be-celebrated feat. But talk all you want about four-homer outbursts, when we turn to genuinely unique and unparalleled one-day slugging performances, Cuba’s Alexei Bell is in a realm all his own. Bell remains the only ballplayer at the top professional level ever to smack two grand slams in the first inning of the first game of the year, to blast two homers in the same inning of a post-season contest, and to smash three base hits in the same frame of a playoff game. And he did it all within the span of three consecutive seasons.

Ciego de Avila’s 20-0 “super knockout” thrashing of Granma in last night’s Oriental League opening semifinals contest was hardly very gripping or even faintly artistic. But it certainly was a game that put several dents in the professional baseball record books. The lopsided “laugher” surpassed anything in the way of previous post-season romps found in big league annals, and it even managed to outstrip (if only on a few technicalities) all similar games in Cuban League history. Surprisingly it was not, however, the most one-sided shutout in five decades of Cuban League action, or even the biggest romp in the quarter-century-plus of National Series playoff rounds.  Yet it was the first one-sided affair that was stopped as a super-sized “mercy killing” after only four-plus innings of relentless home club onslaught.

To the delight of a dizzy home crowd of 10,000-plus in nearly packed José Ramon Cepero Stadium, the unprecedented game was all-but-over about halfway through the home club part of the first inning. The first four Tigers to stride to the plate all singled, the inning’s first out was recorded on a run-producing sacrifice fly hit by the fifth batter in the order, and the first ten home club players either reached base or produced a run-batted home. By contrast, Tigers manager Roger Machado’s ace starter, Vladimir Garcia, yielded a lead-off single to Granma’s Ramón Tamayo and then retired eight straight before allowing a base on balls (again to Tamayo). For the night Garcia surrendered only two tame singles and two free passes and will now be well rested for perhaps two additional starts (if needed) in this still-very-much-alive and crucial semifinals series.

For those who may not be fans or followers of Cuban League play a few explanations are likely in order to clarify the discussion that follows. Cuba has long played with the 10-run and 15-run “mercy rules” that cut short one-sided contests and are a staple of international tournament baseball. While post-season play in Cuba abandons the novel and controversial extra-inning “tie-breaker conditions” that are also employed in such international events as the Baseball World Cup, Olympic baseball, and even the MLB World Baseball Classic, Cuban playoff games do maintain the “mercy rule” conditions. If a team leads a game by 10-plus runs at the conclusion of seven innings (6½ innings if the home club is in the lead), the game is considered a KO victory and action is suspended. If the margin is 15 or more after five frames (4½ with the home team up, as was the case last night in Ciego), then the game is also ended and goes into the record books as a “Super KO” victory.

Major League Baseball—despite its many tradition-killing innovations such as DH batters, plastic turf, indoor ballparks, and video replays—has not yet joined the modern baseball world with either a KO condition or a “tie-breaker” scenario. And of course since MLB contests are now high-production commercial spectacles—designed in large part to lure “consumer fans” into “shopping mall venues” to purchase beer, foodstuffs and a plethora of tee-shirts and caps and all manner of other memorabilia—we would hardly expect to find changes that might curtail the length of such a lucrative marketing enterprise. But Cuban ball games are the product of a very different-style entertainment universe.

If yesterday’s shortened 20-0 game was not actually the most lopsided in island baseball annals, the game nonetheless can now claim unique status. Only four years back Pinar del Río blitzed proud Industriales 24-0 in a quarterfinal round lid lifter and that earlier contest remains the league’s most one-sided post-season affair. But since Pinar had not stretched its advantage to as many as 15 runs but the end of the fifth, the game had to continue on through the seventh. It was thus a record-busting KO but not a “Super KO” game. Last night’s match is now the first Cuban League playoff game to claim that distinction.

The March 2008 Pinar-Industriales blowout contest also supplanted an earlier 21-0 Villa Clara win over Holguín (during regular-season National Series action on January 20, 1995) as the widest margin in a league shutout game. But the Villa Clara win was also achieved in seven innings as a KO but not a Super KO. The Ciego whitewash also surpasses big-league standards for most single-team runs in a World Series (18, by the New York Yankees in 1936), most runs by a winner in an MLB playoff contest (19, also by the Yankees in 2004), and widest shutout margin in a big-league post-season game (15-0, by Atlanta in 1996).

Other Most One-Sided Post-Season Games

Most One-Sided Game in Cuban Playoffs

Pinar del Río 24, Industriales 0 (7 inns) (March 27, 2008, Quarterfinals Game 1)

This game, played at Capitán San Luis Stadium in Pinar, provided the widest margin for a post-season Cuban League KO game but was nonetheless not a 5-inning “Super” Knockout. Pedro Luis Lazo was the winning pitcher (career victory 237) and Ian Rendón started for Industriales. Pinar hit 7 homers, two each by Yosvany Pereza, Tomás Valido and Donald Duarte.

Most Runs by Single Team in MLB World Series Game

New York Yankees 18, New York Giants 4 (October 2, 1936, World Series Game 2)

Bill Dickey and Tony Lazzeri homered for the Yankees and the Giants used five pitchers. Giants’ starter Hal Schumacher lasted into the third inning, when the Yankees scored 7 runs. The Yanks added 6 more in the ninth.

Most Runs by Single Team in MLB Playoff Game

New York Yankees 19, Boston Red Sox 8 (October 16, 2004, ALCS Game 3)

This game was tied 6-6 when the Yankees blew it open with 5 runs in the fourth, then later added 4 tallies in the seventh. Yankee batters slugged four homers (two by Hideki Matsui) but Boston also hit three. The combined 37 hits and 20 extra-base hits were also MLB post-season records. This game was not actually a lopsided blowout but instead a slugfest by both clubs.

Most Lopsided Shutout in MLB Playoff Game

Atlanta Braves 15, St. Louis Cardinals 0 (October 17, 1996, NLCS Game 7)

Atlanta scored 6 times in the first frame off starter Donovan Osborne and added four more in the fourth. Javy López, Andruw Jones and Fred McGriff all homered for Atlanta. Ironically this game broke a record set only two games earlier (October 14, NLCS Game 5) when the Braves won 14-0 on the strength of 5 first-inning tallies and a 22-hit attack. Cardinals’ starter Todd Stottlemyre was knocked out in the first inning of that earlier game.

Ciego de Avila Game Play-by-Play

For those wanting all the gruesome details of this historic diamond slaughter, here is the play-by-play for Ciego de Avila at-bats across the game’s first three innings:

First Inning: (Alberto Soto pitching for Granma) Raúl González singles to left; Mario Vega singles to right (moving González to second); Rusney Castillo reaches on infield single to third (bases loaded); Yorelvis Charles singles to center (scoring González and leaving bases loaded); Isaac Martínez hits sacrifice fly to center (scoring Vega and moving runners to second and third); Yoelvis Fiss triples to center (scoring Castillo and Charles); (José Peña now pitching for Granma) Yorbis Borroto singles to center (scoring Fiss); Lisdey Diaz doubles to center (scoring Borroto); (Ramiro Ferral now pitching for Granma) Ricardo Bordon singles to center (Diaz moves to third after error by centerfielder Roel Santos); Raúl Gonzalez reaches on infield single to third (scoring Diaz and moving Bordon to second); Mario Vega lines out to center; Rusney Castillo reaches on infield single to second (loading the bases); Yorelvis Charles hits grand slam homer to left (scoring Bordon, González and Castillo); (José Rodríguez now pitching for Granma) Isaac Martínez pops out to third (11 runs, 11 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB)

Second Inning: Yoelvis Fiss base on balls; Yorbis Borroto singles to left (moving Fiss to second); Lisdey Diaz singles to center (scoring Fiss and moving Borroto to second); Ricardo Bordon reaches on fielder’s choice roller to second (Diaz out at second and Borroto moves to third); Raúl González singles to right (scoring Borroto and moving Bordon to second); (Asiel Diez now pitching for Granma) Mario Vega doubles to right (scoring Bordon and González); Rusney Castillo hit by pitch (dead ball); Yorelvis Charles lines to center (Vega moves to third); Isaac Martínez singles to center (scoring Vega and moving Castillo to third); Yoelvis Fiss homers to left (scoring Castillo and Martínez); Yorbis Borroto base on balls; Lisdey Diaz lines out to second (8 runs, six hits, 0 errors 1 LOB)

Third Inning: Ricardo Bordon singles to left; Raúl González singles to center (scoring Bordon); Ruben Valdés (batting for Mario Vega) reaches on fielder’s choice roller to second (González out at second); Abdel Civil (batting for Rusney Castillo) flies to center; Yorelvis Charles lines out to left (1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB)

In their final at-bat in the fourth Ciego was finally shut down without a single run, although Yoelvis Fiss did reach base on a double to left (giving him four-fifths of a “super cycle” with a homer, triple, double and walk). One interesting footnote here is that the Tigers sent 14 men to the plate in the first inning while Ciego starter García faced only 19 Granma batters in the entire game (only five innings, of course, with 15 Stallions making outs, two receiving bases on balls, and two reaching on base hits). This has to be one of the few games in pro baseball history in which one team registered only five less at-bats in the opening frame than their opponent did for the entire contest.

Baseball is indeed the most unpredictable of sports and what happens one day is never a good indicator of what might happen a day later. Team Cuba was slaughtered 12-2 in their laughable first match with Puerto Rico in the initial World Baseball Classic and yet bounced back a handful of days later to win a rematch and thus reach the WBC final round in San Diego. After their 18-4 Game 2 romp over the cross-town Giants in the 1936 World Series, the Yankees squeaked out a 2-1 victory a day later and needed 6 games to capture the tight series. Pinar del Río did indeed sweep their three-game quarterfinals series from Havana Industriales in 2008 but won the final two close matches by only a single tally in each.

So it now remains to be seen what transpires between Ciego and Granma over the next several days. Most pundits have already picked Machado’s Ciego club on the basis of a more balanced Tigers lineup, overall shoddy Granma pitching (especially relief pitching) and lame defense, and the presence of strong-armed Ciego ace Vladimir García. García didn’t need to break a sweat in the opener and now has plenty of innings left in his arm for the remainder of the series. But it is Granma (despite last night’s scoreboard) that owns the more hefty offense and we would be wise to expect a good deal of future noise from the recently embarrassed Stallions. Don’t assume this series is over quite yet.

You have to hand it to Victor Mesa – the legitimate headline grabber of this year’s National Series baseball season.  This truly has been “The Year of Matanzas” and “The Year of Victor Mesa.” Despaigne and Abreu chased a new home run record; an oddball and unprecedented tie-breaker-scenario tandem no-hitter spiced a season of record-book rewriting; Enriquito Diaz finally achieved his seemingly endless quest for a new base hits standard; and the capital city favorite Industriales club is back in the title hunt under rookie manager Lázaro Vargas, after an uncharacteristic off-season suffered during last year’s Golden Anniversary campaign. But the much-ballyhooed return of colorful Victor Mesa as the manager of usually hapless Matanzas has remained the talk of the Cuban baseball world ever since late last November, and the rather wild success saga of Victor and his upstart Crocodiles team just refuses to go away.

Victor enjoyed numerous managerial successes over the span covering his earlier 8-year reign (2002-2009) in Villa Clara. His National Series winning percentage (442-276, .616) ranks fifth all-time among managers with eight or more years of service, and only Jorge Fuentes (979), Higinio Vélez (623), and Eduardo Martin (548), won more regular-season league games. On three occasions Mesa guided his club into the championship finals. But on the whole his teams never seemed to do well in the post-season and his overall post-season record (36-42, .462) is one of only two sub-.500 playoff ledgers found among the five most successful National Series skippers (the other belongs to Eduardo Martin, who both preceded and followed Victor in Villa Clara). This notable dip in late-year playoff games may well have something to do with Mesa’s flamboyant and often controversial bench style – a style that most often calls more attention to the manager pulling the strings on the bench than to the players themselves on the field. Mesa inspires young athletes but seems to quickly wear out his welcome with seasoned veterans.

But the commission’s decision to reinstate Mesa in Matanzas (rather than in Villa Clara), where diamond fortunes have bottomed out over the course of two decades since a one-time powerful team known as Henequeneros was rebranded as Matanzas – seems to have been a pure stroke of genius. Matanzas was already staffed with a wealth of young talent at the finish of National Series #50 and seemed ready to move up despite last year’s seventh-place Occidental League finish. Prospects like catcher Lázaro Herrera, infielder Yurisbel Gracial, outfielder Ariel Sánchez and pitcher Jorge Alberto Martinez (who missed all of last season due to injury) only needed to be instilled with a huge shot of confidence and shown how to win, and Victor seemed the ideal man for the job. This year the young Crocodile ball club raced to an early advantage, then barely hung on at the wire to achieve a first-time, first-place finish (and thus also a first-ever playoff appearance) for any squad bearing the name of Matanzas. And it now suddenly looks like Victor may also be perfectly poised to make his best post-season showing ever.

Everything went pretty much as anticipated with the four opening-round quarterfinal series. If there were any mild surprises they were found in the ease with which Industriales handled the challenge from Cienfuegos, and also in the notion that Granma somehow managed to torpedo underachieving Villa Clara.  The Industriales-Cienfuegos matchup was the only one that failed to last the distance, even though most pundits had likely seen that pair of second and third-place Occidental rivals as the most tightly matched clubs among the eight contenders. Despite the presence of Alfredo Despaigne and a strong contingent of supporting sluggers (mainly Yordanis Samón and Urmanis Guerra), the Granma Stallions boast the worse defense and the shoddiest backup pitching found anywhere in the league, and thus hardly seemed a good bet to survive any post-season series – especially one against Villa Clara, easily the league’s most balanced club all season long. Ciego de Avila and Matanzas escaped from the other two opening series just as expected, but it took surprising small “miracle” comebacks for both to survive.

Industriales experienced few if any hurdles during the opening round and the renewed presence of the capital city team in the semifinals (after sitting on last year’s post-season sidelines) will now once again engage the bulk of Cuba’s rabid fan base. The Blue Lions were able to close down Cienfuegos even before the calendar turned a page into May and in the process assured themselves a lengthy and welcomed rest (eight days as it turns out) before having to face rival Matanzas. Mainstay right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne was the obvious pitching hero with his two solid outings: a complete-game four hitter in the lid-lifter and 7.2 shutout innings in Game 4. Veteran Cienfuegos southpaw Norberto González was on the losing end of both contests. Lions outfielder Yasmani Tomás upstaged Elephants slugger José Dariel Abreu with three round-trippers in the short five-game series. The only Cienfuegos triumph came in Game 2 at Latin American Stadium (by a 3-1 count) when the Elephants temporarily evened the series largely on the strength of a strong 7.1-inning, 3-hit shutout effort by starter Noelvis Entenza and some crafty bullpen work from reliable closer Duniel Ibarra.

In Matanzas the Cinderella story continues, but only after Mesa rallied his club from the 3-1 hole they had dug themselves on the road in Sancti Spíritus. Not only did the Crocodiles have to crawl out of their deep pit with three straight victories, but they also had to finally get around Gallos ace Ismel Jiménez, who had already beaten them twice in the series and was gunning in Game 6 for a record-tying twentieth victory on the year. In short, it wasn’t quite as smooth as everyone expected in what had appeared at the outset to be the easiest matchup of the four to predict. The turning point seemed to come in a must-win Game 5 – the final home match for the eventual losers. One victory away from moving on to the semis, and coming off an 11-1 laugher behind Jiménez a day earlier, Sancti Spíritus bats fell silent against Jorge Alberto Martínez (8.1 innings of 3-hit shutout pitching). It was all downhill after that for a Matanzas club that crushed five Gallos hurlers 8-2 in Game 6 and then squeezed past Jiménez 4-3 in the wrap-up game.

Granma provided the one small taste of upset seen so far in post-season 2012 and they did so by equally Ciego’s feat of taking two final must-win games on the road. Villa Clara looked like the league’s best team from November through April, and ironically Granma somehow managed to overcome the Orangemen more through heroics from their much-maligned pitching staff than from the exploits of their vaunted sluggers. Despaigne did provide three round-trippers in the series but none were struck during the final two critical games. Manager Indalecio Alejandrez’s Stallions benefitted most from outstanding bookend pitching performances by veteran Ciro Silvino Licea (Game 1 win, 1-0) and fast-developing fifth-year southpaw Leandro Martínez (Game 7 victory, 4-2). Licea’s gutsy opening-match 9-hitter erased an excellent complete-game effort by Freddie Asiel Alvarez for the Orange. In the finale Martínez upped his overall season’s mark to 12-4, only six victories shy of his entire previous four-year ledger. And in a pivotal fourth game that might have left Granma down 3-1 in the series, the Stallions prevailed (on the strength of a Despaigne homer) even though they committed several of the worst base-running blunders of the entire campaign.

Ciego de Avila and Granma will now restage their semifinals clash of a year ago – won by the Tigers in six games. The two Occidental contenders didn’t even make it into the post-season a year ago and that fact perhaps puts the intangible element of recent post-season experience squarely on the side of the two Oriental clubs. Manager Roger Machado started out at a huge disadvantage in this one, but an assist from the weather suddenly turned things back his way. Machado was forced to use Vladimir García (his normal series opener) in the final match of the regular season (a must-win game in Cienfuegos for playoff qualification) and thus had to leave his ace on the sidelines until quarterfinal Game number three. That also meant two starts at the most for Garcia – last year’s semifinals hero. When he finally did appear Vlad rewarded with a brilliant complete-game effort that produced the Tigers’ first victory of the series. But earlier rain delays also meant that the ace righty could be brought back for crucial Game 6 (after Ciego had rallied in a final home game to cut the series deficit to 3-2). Garcia again worked eight masterful frames of a one-sided series-tying 12-2 victory. In the decider on the road Yander Guevara (only a .500-level hurler for the entire season) essayed a brilliant complete-game 4-hit effort the kept Machado and Ciego squarely in the heart of championship contention.

Cuban Semifinals Schedule

Occidental League

Industriales at Matanzas	Game 1	May 9	8:30 pm	Victoria de Girón
Industriales at Matanzas	Game 2	May 10	5:00 pm	Victoria de Girón
Matanzas at Industriales	Game 3	May 12	8:30 pm	Latinoamericano
Matanzas at Industriales	Game 4	May 13	2:00 pm	Latinoamericano
Matanzas at Industriales	(Game 5)	May 14	8:30 pm	Latinoamericano
Industriales at Matanzas	(Game 6)	May 16	8:30 pm	Victoria de Girón
Industriales at Matanzas	(Game 7)	May 17	8:30 pm	Victoria de Girón

Cuban Semifinals Schedule

Oriental League

Granma at Ciego de Avila	Game 1	May 10	8:30 pm	José Ramón Cepero
Granma at Ciego de Avila	Game 2	May 11	5:00 pm	José Ramón Cepero
Ciego de Avila at Granma	Game 3	May 13	5:00 pm	Martires de Barbados
Ciego de Avila at Granma	Game 4	May 14	5:00 pm	Martires de Barbados
Ciego de Avila at Granma	(Game 5)	May 15	8:30 pm	Martires de Barbados
Granma at Ciego de Avila	(Game 6)	May 17	5:00 pm	José Ramón Cepero
Granma at Ciego de Avila	(Game 7)	May 18	8:30 pm	José Ramón Cepero

Industriales, with its first-series momentum, huge fan base, and relatively deep pitching, now looks to be in the driver’s seat. But Matanzas seems to have Destiny on its side – and also Victor Mesda, a factor that might yet tip the balance in either direction. Granma with its porous defense and penchant for sloppy efforts on the base paths is the one team that likely won’t hang around for very long. More than anything it appears that Ciego – back from the dead in Las Tunas – is now well positioned to be the true “dark horse” (and even the gambler’s favorite) in this complex race. My bet is that Matanzas will win out over Industriales in six games – mainly on the often overstressed strength of the home field advantage. Ciego should also edge past Granma, although the Stallions have enough offense to drag that series out to a full program of seven games. What may well be emerging piece-by-piece is a glamorous final-round faceoff between two of Cuba’s most controversial managers and also between two teams that have never before won a league title. If it happens it would in fact be the very first such title clash between first-time hopefuls.

Victor Mesa has his many critics who think that his bench antics (which have already led to one five-game suspension this season) detract from the on-field spectacle. Roger Machado is less than popular with most observers and commentators in the Cuban media who think he badly mishandles his frontline pitching (appearing to have little faith in his starters outside of ace righty Vladimir García). Both criticisms are largely unfair: if Victor is colorful he also usually gets the best out of his players; and Roger has reason enough to rely on the best arm in his arsenal. A clash between these two crafty bench bosses would certainly provide one of the most entertaining Cuban League finals in many years. But of course we have a long way to go yet before we get there.

Matanzas lived to play another day on Tuesday and Las Tunas took full command of their one-sided series with Ciego de Avila via a hard-fought victory that pushed the Leñadores into a commanding 3-1 matchup advantage. As a result, we now stand on the verge of ending all three remaining quarterfinal series during the full slate of Thursday evening games. Tied at three wins apiece the Gallos and Crocodiles square off in a dramatic seventh and final game in Victoria de Girón, while both the Villa Clara Orangemen and Las Tunas Woodsmen also hope to wrap things up over in the Oriental League. So far the Sancti Spíritus clash with Matanzas is the only quarterfinal series where the result has dramatically hung in the balance for the full duration of seven scheduled matches.

The Cinderella Matanzas squad looked like they were dead only two days ago when they trailed three games to one and needed a road victory just to get back home for a Game Six series extender. But suddenly the bats of Victor Mesa’s team have come alive and the Crocodiles are now in excellent position to survive a deciding showdown clash on their home field. One remaining hurdle, of course, is Gallos ace Ismel Jiménez, already winner of two games in the current series. Jiménez is not only manager Rupert Zamora’s final “ace in the hole” but also stands on the verge of history, needing only one more win to reach 20 on the campaign (17 during regular season play). Only José Ibar back in 1999 has crossed the plateau of 20 victories in a single National Series season.

Yesterday’s 14-hit  attack for the Crocodiles during an 8-2 romp was spearheaded by left fielder Ariel Sánchez whose perfect four-for-four day included two triples, a homer, six RBIs, and 11 total bases. Guillermo Heredia (also a double and a triple), José Miguel Fernández and veteran Yoandy Garlobo also enjoyed multiple-hit games for Mesa’s suddenly explosive lineup. Gallos starter Noelvis Hernández never got out of the first inning and his quick departure forced Zamora to turn to number three starter Angel Peña and three additional hurlers for largely ineffective relief work. The Gallos’ hopes now all come down to the possibilities of yet another sterling effort from Jímenez who allowed the Crocodiles only 13 hits and 2 earned runs during 16 total innings in his previous Game 1 and Game 4 starts.

Las Tunas got around a solid complete game effort by Ciego’s Yander Guevara who shut down the visitors for eight of nine innings and allowed only three hits overall and three unearned runs during a single disastrous fourth frame. Las Tunas parlayed a single by Jorge Jhonson and two walks in that odd inning into the deciding three unearned tallies when a disastrous wild heave to first by third baseman Raul González (after a grounder by Yosvani Alarcón) cleared the bases. Solo homers by Isaac Martínez (in the fourth, off starter Yoelkis Cruz) and Rusney Castillo (in the sixth, also off Cruz) provided the only scoring for the Tigers. Las Tunas ace Cruz worked six frames to pick up his fifteenth win on the season against only six defeats.

Games of May 2 (Wednesday)

Matanzas 8, Sancti Spíritus 2

Las Tunas 3, Ciego de Avila 2

Games of May 3 (Thursday)

Las Tunas at Ciego de Avila (5 pm EST) (Las Tunas leads series 3-1)

Sancti Spíritus at Matanzas (8:30 pm EST) (Series tied at 3-3)

Granma at Villa Clara (8:30 pm EST) (Villa Clara leads series 3-2)

The one remaining series finds Villa Clara now needing a single victory on home turf in Augusto César Sandino Stadium. Orange manager Ramón Moré will most likely rely on top southpaw Robelio Carrillo to close out the series in Game Six with Granma’s Ciro Silvino Licea the likely opponent. With three long balls in the series Granma’s Alfredo Despaigne has upped his record-breaking season’s total to 39 (with a new mark of 36 during regular season action). But without better pitching and defense from his inconsistent teammates, Despaigne may well be facing his final game of the year tonight in Villa Clara.

Industriales made short work of Cienfuegos in their opening Occidental League quarterfinal series, taking three straight road matches at Cinco de Septiembre Stadium to put an early end to the Elephants’ post-season hopes. In Monday evening’s final series game the visiting Lions rallied from an early 3-1 deficit with a three-run uprising in the fifth and two more game-icing tallies in the sixth. Southpaw Ian Rendón hurled seven strong frames for the winners and shortstop Raiko Oliveras proved the offensive hero with four RBIs (coming on two sacrifice flies and a pair of run-producing singles). Yasmani Tomás – the hottest Industriales batsman throughout the entire series – provided the club’s only pair of extra-base hits (both doubles) while Juan Carlos Torriente, Carlos Tabares and Frank Camilo Morejón also chipped in with multi-hit games. Cienfuegos starter and loser Noelvis Entenza (the club’s only winner back in Game 2) lasted 5.2 innings and Pavel Quesada (triple) produced the only extra-base hit for the Elephants. Industriales will now sit idle until May 7 awaiting their opening semifinals series lid-lifter with the Sancti Spíritus-Matanzas series winner.

Villa Clara also took an important step forward on Monday with a road victory in Bayamo. The Orangemen gave starter Freddy Asiel Alvarez plenty of support with a 19-hit attack that produced runs in every inning but the first and eighth. Every Villa Clara position player produced at least one safety and Andy Zamora led the charge with a four-for-five evening and a pair of RBIs. Andy Sarduy produced the only homer for the visitors while Urmanis García and Luis Ferrales produced solo round-trippers for the home club. Losing starter Ciro Silvino Licea worked into the fifth before surrendering to three ineffective relievers who did little to stem the Villa Clara onslaught. The victory moves Villa Clara into a three-two series lead and assures that the Orangemen will now return to home soil for the final one or two games of the series.

Meanwhile Matanzas got back on track at least temporarily in Sancti Spíritus with a 5-0 whitewashing that cut the Gallos series margin back to a single game. Matanzas starter Jorge Antonio Martínez worked into the ninth frame, striking out eight and allowing only three harmless singles from the inept Sancti Spíritus offense. Relievers Yoanni Yera and Felix Fuentes each struck out the only batter faced during ninth-inning mop-up duty. Gallos starter Angel Peña failed to reach the third inning and was tagged with the loss. Shortstop José Miguel Fernández was the hitting star for the rebounding Crocodiles with a perfect four-for-four outing that included a homer and a pair of RBIs.

Games of April 30 (Monday)

Matanzas 5, Sancti Spíritus 0 (Sancti Spíritus leads series 3-2)

Villa Clara 11, Granma 4 (Villa Clara leads series 3-2)

Industriales 7, Cienfuegos 3 (Industriales wins series 4-1)

Las Tunas at Ciego de Avila (Postponed)

The fourth match on Monday was cancelled by rain in Ciego de Avila – the second washout of that final Oriente League series. Las Tunas will still hold a slim 2-1 advantage when action finally resumes and the postponements have clearly aided Ciego manager Roger Machado who had to hold out ace starter Vladimir García until Game 3. Since Machado often uses Garcia on short rest he may now be able to get two additional starts from his top hurler if the series does extend to six or seven games. Games originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 1 (the two matches in the Occidental League) have now been cancelled, due to island-wide May Day celebrations. The three remaining quarterfinal series will continue Wednesday evening.

A familiar baseball stereotype of the mid-twentieth century was the “good field, no hit” Latino shortstop.  The prototype was captured by Willy Miranda – who many contend was the slickest Cuban glove man ever born but who ended his near-decade-long sojourn in the majors with a mere 70 extra base hits and a lightweight .221 batting average. Other Cuban imports like José Valdivielso, Humberto “Chico” Fernández, Juan Delis and Ozzie Alvarez also fit the popular pattern perfectly.

Havana-born Zoilo Versalles contributed heavily to overturning this image in the early 1960s by twice pacing the junior circuit in triples and reaching double figures for home runs on three consecutive occasions.  Then he obliterated the image altogether in 1965 with a breakout offensive campaign for the surprising American League champion Minnesota Twins. The wiry, at times bespectacled Cuban was the very first Latin American import – actually the first-ever non-USA-born athlete – to capture a big-league MVP award. That distinction, albeit much debated in later years, will always overshadow all the other peaks and valleys of an admittedly imbalanced and inconsistent career.

Some across the years have dismissed Versalles as one of baseball’s true all-time flops. Analyst Steve Treder stated the case most forcefully in an article examining 20 of the game’s most dramatic individual slides (“the Fades” in Treder’s terminology) and 30 of the biggest overnight disappointments (Treder dubs them “the Flops”). Rubén Sierra is Treder’s choice for all-time “Fade,” defined as a player who slowly and gradually recedes from earlier career glory. Zoilo Versalles tops his longer list of “Flops” – the more dramatic type of slide where a one-time star “plummets with sudden alacrity.” Treder interprets the Cuban’s extraordinary 1965 summer as a lofty perch from which “Versalles’ fall was immediate and sickening.”

Versalles has also been frequently dismissed simply as a one-year wonder, but this too is something of a misconception. Although the Cuban’s rise was indeed striking, he had already enjoyed some notable successes before the Twins’ championship summer. The two previous years he had already paced the junior circuit with double figures in triples; he slugged 20 homers in 1964 (one better than his MVP total and the same number Felix Mantilla reached a year later in Boston). He also made the AL All-Star team in 1963, and as early as his rookie summer of 1961, he had demonstrated considerable offensive talent with a .280 batting average and 25 doubles. The cascade off the mountaintop may have been rapid after 1965, but the build-up was more gradual than rocket-like. And if the new Cuban Comet (a designation he may have better deserved than the highly consistent Minnie Miñoso) failed to sustain his peak performance, he nonetheless left a strong legacy.

Read or download the entire Zoilo Versalles biography on the SABR Baseball Biography Project website at the following link:

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/273cca73

Sunday’s full day of action saw both Industriales and Sancti Spíritus widen the gap to a 3-1 margin over their Occidental League quarterfinal opponents, while in the Oriente sector things tightened up considerably with Granma drawing even against Villa Clara and Ciego de Avila notching a first victory over Las Tunas. With four games on tap Monday, both the Blue Lions of Industriales and the Gallos of Sancti Spíritus are now poised to make quick work of their western sector challengers while Granma and Ciego need to repeated their home field successes in order to remain contenders out east.

Industriales mainstay Odrisamer Despaigne and Sancti Spíritus ace Ismel Jiménez each gained a second post-season victory Sunday in moving their respective teams within a single step of advancement to the semifinals. Lions outfielder Yasmani Tomás tipped the scales in his team’s favor with a second inning homer (his third of the series) and ace southpaw Norberto González was able to survive only three rocky inning against a robust Industriales offense that plated five runs in the first four frames. Jiménez coasted in José Antonio Huelga Stadium behind a Gallos offense that provided 13 hits and 11 runs against five ineffective Matanzas hurlers. Victory number 19 for the Gallos right-hander made him only the third hurler in league history to reach that many in a single season (post-season wins included). Only José Ibar has ever reached the 20-victory plateau. And while Victor Mesa’s Matanzas club was the most pleasant surprise of National Series #51 regular season play, the inconsistent Crocodiles are now poised to be the biggest flop of the current post-season.

Cuba’s Top National Series Winners

José Ibar (Habana Province) 1998 (20-2)

Braudilio Vinent (Serranos) 1973 (19-4) (No Post-Season Play)

Ismel Jiménez (Sancti Spíritus) 2012 (19-5)

In Bayamo, Granma finally overcame its sloppy fielding and poor base running to draw even at home with the Villa Clara Orangemen. Despite another three errors in the field and some sloppy base running that killed a possible game-opening rally in the fourth, the Stallions hung on this time around despite being outhit 10-7 on their home field. Home run king Alfredo Despaigne produced his third round-tripper of the series and an additional smash by Urmanis Guerra provided the final margin of victory.

The home field win for the Ciego de Avila Tigers at José Ramon Cepero Stadium was sparked by the return of ace hurler Vladimir García who produced a solid complete-game effort while allowing only five hits (including a two-run homer by Joan Carlos Pedroso). Tigers manager Roger Machado was put at a distinct disadvantage in his confrontation with Las Tunas simply because he was forced to use García on the season’s final day in a game needed for playoff qualification. That meant that Machado had to wait until the third game of the series to finally employ his most reliable starter – and thus to finally enter in the win column.

Games of April 29 (Sunday)

Industriales 6, Cienfuegos 2

Granma 6, Villa Clara 5

Sancti Spíritus 11, Matanzas 1 (KO 8 innings)

Ciego de Avila 5, Las Tunas 4 (5:30 pm EST)

Games of April 30 (Monday)

Matanzas at Sancti Spíritus (5pm EST)

Villa Clara at Granma (5pm EST)

Industriales at Cienfuegos (8:30pm EST)

Las Tunas at Ciego de Avila (8:30pm EST)

On Sunday the Cuban Baseball Federation announced that games original scheduled for Tuesday, May 1 (the two matches in the Occidental League) will not be played, due to the special May Day workers holiday celebrations.

After Saturday’s limited playoff schedule all four Cuban League series now boast a clear leader. Las Tunas (rained out of their first road match with Ciego de Avila) maintains a two-game edge over the winless Tigers while Villa Clara, Industriales and Sancti Spíritus are all now leading by precarious 2-1 margins. The two Occidental League squads earned their advantages on Friday with nail-biting victories that featured some clutch early-inning slugging by the Blue Lions and another strong starting pitching effort for the Gallos contingent.

Industriales held on to survive their first road game at Cienfuegos by pounding out 16 hits overall and plating eight runs in the first three frames on route to a 10-8 victory over the host Elephants. The two clubs employed nine different pitchers in a wild game that saw Alex Mayeta and Yasmani Tomás homer for the winners and José Dariel Abreu also go deep in a losing cause for the hosts. The Gallos squeaked out a tense extra-inning win over Matanzas that ended in dramatic fashion: a walk-off tenth-inning single by Yunier Mendoza plated Yulieski Gourriel with the victory margin. Gallos starter Noelvis Hernández coasted into the ninth frame with a 3-0 advantage before Matanzas rallied to knot the game and send it to extra innings. Although Cuba plays with the game-shortening IBAF extra-inning tiebreaker rule during the regular season, post-season games to not employ the controversial “Schiller Rule” scenario that places runners on first and second to start each extra frame.

Saturday’s planned four-game schedule was largely obliterated by weather with three games rained out in Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Avila (all central region provinces). The lone contest played was staged on the far eastern end of the island in Bayamao (Granma) where the host Stallions fell in extra frames and thus dropped one game back of Villa Clara. The home club once again revealed its debilitating imbalance (strong offense and weak defense) with key slugging from Despaigne (3 RBI on the strength of his second homer of the series) but also crucial defensive lapses (three errors) that in the end sabotaged a crucial game. Only two of Villa Clara’s runs in the 5-4 victory were earned (both knocked home by second baseman Andy Sarduy). The game ended in the eleventh frame when Sarduy doubled for the Orangemen and eventually scored the game-winner as a result of consecutive errors by Despaigne and pitcher Alberto Soto.

Games of April 27 (Friday)

Industriales 10, Cienfuegos 8 (Industriales leads Series 2-1)

Sancti Spíritus 4, Matanzas 3 (10 innings) (Sancti Spíritus leads Series 2-1)

Games of April 28 (Saturday)

Villa Clara 5, Granma 4 (11 innings) (Villa Clara leads Series 2-1)

Industriales at Cienfuegos (Postponed)

Matanzas at Sancti Spíritus (Postponed)

Las Tunas at Ciego de Avila (Postponed)

Games of April 29 (Sunday)

Industriales at Cienfuegos (2 pm EST)

Villa Clara at Granma (2 pm EST)

Matanzas at Sancti Spíritus (5:30 pm EST)

Las Tunas at Ciego de Avila (5:30 pm EST)

It has also now been announced by the Federation that games original announced for Tuesday, May 1 (the two matches in the Occidental League) will not actually be played on the date, due to the special May Day workers holiday celebrations.

The only post-season hopeful so far able to take full advantage of their home playing field, Las Tunas jumped out to a convincing lead Thursday night in their quarterfinal series with Ciego de Avila. Benefitting from a three-run uprising in the sixth – keyed by Yosvani Alarcón’s 2-RBI single – the Leñadoes were able to survive a couple of late rallies and move out to a two-game cushion over the visiting Tigers. Darian Nuñez mopped up for starter Dael Mejias to earn the save for manager Juan Miguel Gordo. Joan Carlos Pedroso enjoyed a three-for-three night (including a first inning round-tripper) for the winners while Rusney Castillo also homered for the Tigers in a losing cause.

In yesterday’s late match Villa Clara was able to get back on track and deadlock their series with Granma by squeezing out a 7-4 triumph in César Sandino. Alfredo Despaigne’s three-run homer in the third provided the bulk of the Granma offense but was largely cancelled out by a two-hit, three-RBI performance (including a solo homer) from Ariel Borrero. Yosvani Pérez provided four innings of efficient middle relief for the Orangemen and Yolexis Ulacia picked up the series-knotting save. Villa Clara pitching managed to largely contain if not entirely silence Despaigne and Yordanis Samón in Santa Clara, but it may well be a far different story this weekend when the series moves on to tiny Martires de Barbados Stadium in Bayamo. Despaigne smacked no fewer than 17 homers on the home field during this season’s record-breaking performance.

Both series in the Occidental League remain deadlocked heading into Friday’s renewals in Cinco de Septiembre (early game) and José Antonio Huelga (nationally televised nightcap). Both Industriales and Matanzas will now have to win at least one of three road games in order to remain alive and push their quarterfinal hopes back onto friendly home turf. Matanzas came out on top in a pair of regular-season road matches against the Gallos while also Industriales managed to find success on one earlier occasion this year when visiting the Elephants. Prospects would therefore seem promising for both Western quarterfinal series stretching out at least until a sixth game.

Games of April 26 (Thursday)

Villa Clara 7, Granma 4

Las Tunas 5, Ciego de Avila 4

Games of April 27 (Friday)

Industriales at Cienfuegos (5pm EST)

Matanzas at Sancti Spíritus (8:30pm EST)

Games of April 28 (Saturday)

Matanzas at Sancti Spíritus (5pm EST)

Las Tunas at Ciego de Avila (5pm EST)

Industriales at Cienfuegos (8:30pm EST)

Villa Clara at Granma (8:30pm EST)

Saturday will once more feature a full slate of games, with late afternoon matches (5 pm EST) scheduled at Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Avila and the night contests (8:30) penciled in for Cienfuegos and Granma. All eight clubs will also be in action on Sunday afternoon, with the later games (5:30) being staged in José Huelga and Ramón Cepero stadiums.

Both Cienfuegos and Matanzas got back on track during the second day of Occidental League play – the Elephants riding the arm of Noelvis Entenza to shut down a sputtering Industriales offense and Matanzas getting just enough pitching from starter Jorge Alberto Martínez to hold off the upset-minded Sancti Spíritus Gallos. Before 34,000-plus in Latin American Stadium Entenza wove his magic for 7.1 innings of near flawless work, allowing but three harmless hits and scattering six walks while striking out five. Two runs in the third frame gave the Elephants all the edge they would need as Industriales was kept off the scoreboard until Yasmani Tomás cracked a solo homer in the final at-bat for the Lions. Duniel Ibarra closed out the eighth and worked the ninth to pick up his 23rd save of the year for the visitors.

Matanzas gained their first-ever post-season victory (under the Matanzas team label) by manufacturing three tallies in a seventh-inning uprising that was opened by Yoandy Garlobo’s double and closed out by Yurisbel Gracial’s run-producing single. Lázaro Herrera also chipped in with a sacrifice fly. Earlier in that same inning José Alfonso had lifted the Gallos into a temporary lead with a two-run shot off starter Martínez. Another disappointing crowd of only 8,000 turned out to witness the first post-season victory for any team representing the city in two full decades. It was precisely twenty years ago (1992 and National Series #31) that a team then known as Henequeneros reached the playoff finals in its final campaign before the name switch to Matanzas.

Games of April 24 (Tuesday)

Industriales 2, Cienfuego 1

Sancti Spíritus 6, Matanzas 1

Games of April 25 (Wednesday)

Cienfuegos 3, Industriales 1

Matanzas 5, Sancti Spíritus 3

Las Tunas 6, Ciego de Avila 1

Granma 1, Villa Clara 0

Games of April 26 (Thursday)

Granma at Villa Clara (5pm EST)

Ciego de Avila at Last Tunas (8:30pm EST)

On the opening evening of Oriental League action Las Tunas got all the scoring it would need behind Yoelkis Cruz in the form of a sixth-inning three run homer by shortstop Alexander Guerrero. Cruz scattered nine hits over seven strong innings of work that was marred only by a Yorelvis Charles solo homer in the top of the sixth. But the game of the day unfolded in Augusto César Sandino Stadium when Ciro Silvino Licea and Freddy Asiel Alvarez locked horns in one of the best post-season mano-a-mano pitching duals in several seasons. In one of his strongest-ever career outings veteran Licea (often in the past criticized for subpar playoff efforts) bent but never cracked. The stocky Granma right-hander kept the Orangemen off the scoreboard for nine innings despite striking out only three and permitting nine Villa Clara safeties. The game’s solo run came in the top of the eighth when number-eight batter Adrian Moreno doubled, was moved to third on an infield roller, and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ramon Tamayo. The inability of the home club to muster any offensive thrust against Licea also wiped out a brilliant if largely futile complete-game effort from Freddy Asiel Alvarez. Freddy Asiel struck out seven, surrendered only four hits (two of them in the fateful eighth) and held Granma’s biggest guns – Alfredo Despaigne and Yordanis Samón – at bay for the entire nine innings.