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Who Have Been the Top Players in Cuba in the Castro Era?


by Jim Albright


List of Players Covered in this Article:

Omar Ajete Jose L. Aleman Victor Bejerano Luis G. Casanova Faustino Corrales
Lazaro de la Torre Enrique Diaz Michel Enriquez Rogelio Garcia Jose Ibar
Lazaro Junco Orestes Kindelan   Pedro L. Lazo Omar Linares Romelio Martinez
Santiago Mederos Javier Mendez Victor Mesa Antonio Munoz Antonio Pacheco
Pedro J. Rodriguez   Wilfredo Ruiz Fernando Sanchez   Wilfredo Sanchez   Luis Ulacia
Osmani Urrutia Jorge L. Valdes Braudilio Vinent Carlos Yanes  

Despite its success in international competition, Cuban baseball under Castro is an enigma to the vast majority of fans in the States. I don't have data to accurately assess the strength of Cuban ball relative to the majors, and will therefore not attempt anything of that sort here. That said, I don't think there's serious reason to doubt Cuba has players with major league talent. I think Cuban ball has had major league caliber players since at least the time Cuba was able to restock its talent after the talent drain which occurred once Castro came to power.

Hopefully, some day someone will be able to come up with a persuasive measure of the average quality of Cuban ball during the Castro years. To date, though I have seen some attempts at this, it seems to me the attempts have been based on data which is not enough to base sound conclusions on. My goal in this article is more limited: I am aiming to identify many of the best players in Castro-era Cuban ball and to provide some information on those players.

My sources are Peter Bjarkman's A History of Cuban Baseball, the 1999 and 2006 Official Cuban Baseball guides, and the official website of Cuban baseball.

As good as those sources are, I'm still having to make do with limited data. Really, the only things I have in complete enough form to make my choices are career and single season leader lists. I would not be surprised to learn that I have missed some middle infielders and/or catchers who are renowned for their defense. I am sure that if I had the top tens for each season that my choices would be stronger, but I only have that detailed data for a few seasons. Of course, if I had data which enabled me to properly evaluate defense, park effects and seasonal norms, my selections would be superior to those I will make below. However, I have always taken the position that if one can do a reasonable job with the data at hand, it is better to do so if doing so increases the amount of information available to fans who care. I feel I have done so, and will cite in support of my feeling the fact I have largely matched the list of Castro-era Cuban greats given by Bjarkman by totally independent means.

I have virtually complete sets of leaders for the Cuban National Series, so that's a key component of my rating system. This component follows Bill James' black ink system. There have been several other series, such as the Revolutionary Cup, the Super Series, the Select Series, the Ten Million Series, and several multi-game all-star series. I used all of these except one two game all-star series (all other series were significantly longer than two games). Fortunately, these other series do not overlap. However, they have tended to be shorter than the National Series. Also, there have been years where the National Series is the only one which took place. Still, I did a black ink rating in which I clumped all these "other series" together into one essentially miscellaneous category.

Here are the top players in the two sets of seasonal black ink ratings (minimum 25 points):


Player National Series        Player Other Series
Junco, Lazaro 59 Munoz, Antonio 82
Linares, Omar 53 Kindelan, Orestes 47
Sanchez, Wilfredo 50 Vinent, Braudilio 41
Vinent, Braudilio 49 Sanchez, Wilfredo 33
Garcia, Rogelio 46 Romero, Ormari 33
Ibar, Jose 45 Ajete, Omar 32
Munoz, Antonio 42 Garcia, Rogelio 32
Diaz, Enrique 36 Linares, Omar 31
Jimenez, Antonio 33 Mesa, Victor 29
Rodriguez, Pedro J. 33 Cepeda, Frederich 28
Aleman, Jose L. 32 Rodriguez, Pedro J. 28
Urrutia, Osmani 31 Lazo, Pedro L. 27
Cuevas, Miguel 31 Martinez, Romelio 26
Perez, Juan C. 30
Valdes, Jorge L. 30
Lazo, Pedro L. 29
Licea, Ciro S. 29
Kindelan, Orestes 27
Mederos, Santiago 27
Perez, Isidro 25

The career leaders were rated on a slightly different basis. Only categories used in the black ink ratings were used for the career rating. The top ten players in each category were ranked, and their rank was subtracted from eleven, so that first got 10 points, second nine, fifth six, ninth two, and so forth. To this, I added five times the (Black ink category score minus one). Thus, for a first place finish in a four point category like RBI, the point value assigned is (11-1) + 5 * (4-1) or 25 points. Similarly, a fifth place finish in a two point category like walks drawn is (11-5 ) + 5 * (2-1) or 11 points. I wanted to give some added emphasis to career categories and also to reward higher finishes, and this approach did both. Here are the top players in this measure (minimum 40 points)


Player Points
Linares, Omar 153
Kindelan, Orestes 108
Valdes, Jorge L. 103
Vinent, Braudilio 103
Pacheco, Antonio 100
Garcia, Rogelio 99
Yanes, Carlos A. 93
Munoz, Antonio 90
Lazo, Pedro L. 87
Mesa, Victor 80
de la Torre, Lazaro 74
Junco, Lazaro 61
Sanchez, Fernando 60
Mendez, Javier 58
Casanova, Luis G. 57
Ajete, Omar 52
Diaz, Enrique 52
Rodriguez, Pedro J. 51
Bejerano, Victor 49
Sanchez, Wilfredo 48
Ulacia, Luis 46
Martinez, Romelio 45
Aleman, Joe L. 45
Corrales, Faustino 44

The next question was how to combine these three measures into one. My solution was to start with the rating being about one half career, and about one half single seasons (i.e. the seasonal black inks) for the guys near the cutoff. However, in the single seasons, I wanted the National Series to count at least twice as much, given that it was almost always at least nearly twice as long as any of the "other series". I also didn't want to penalize anyone by using the "other series" rating, given that in some years, there were none. My solution for this was to calculate my rating as follows:

(3 * career leaders' score) + ( 2 * National Series black ink) + (greater of National Series black ink and Other Series black ink).


Before I produce the list ranking the players with this method, I want to make clear that I am quite aware that my approach has its limitations, including the aforementioned issue of defensive play. Also, I am only considering play in Cuba, so guys like Contreras and El Duque are unfortunately in a bit of a no-man's land for these purposes. It's hard enough to evaluate the Cuban play in its own right without trying to merge in major league or international play, and my choice is simply not to try to do so. The bottom line in that regard is that this is my article, and that's my choice, regardless of who agrees or disagrees with it.

The list of players receiving at least 150 points in this rating system are as follows:


Player National Other Career Score
Linares, Omar 53 31 153 618
Vinent, Braudilio 49 41 103 456
Munoz, Antonio 42 82 90 436
Garcia, Rogelio 46 32 99 435
Kindelan, Orestes 27 47 108 425
Valdes, Jorge L. 30 15 103 399
Junco, Lazaro 59 8 61 360
Lazo, Pedro L. 29 27 87 348
Yanes, Carlos A. 18 4 93 333
Pacheco, Antonio 4 9 100 317
Sanchez, Wilfredo 50 33 48 294
Diaz, Enrique 36 6 52 264
de la Torre, Lazaro 6 19 74 253
Casanova, Luis G. 21 17 57 234
Ibar, Jose 45 7 33 234
Aleman, Jose L. 32 9 45 231
Sanchez, Fernando 10 16 60 216
Mendez, Javier 10 8 58 204
Ajete, Omar 7 32 52 202
Mederos, Santiago 27 21 38 195
Rodriguez, Pedro J. 33 28 31 192
Martinez, Romelio 12 26 45 185
Corrales, Faustino 16 3 44 180
Ulacia, Luis 14 4 46 180
Enriquez, Michel 23 3 35 174
Urrutia, Osmani 31 0 25 168
Ruiz, Walfrido 14 14 39 159
Bejerano, Victor 1 0 49 150

The number one guy on the list is third baseman Omar Linares at 618 points. Linares is first in career runs scored and slugging percentage, second in career walks and average, third in career hits and homers, ninth in career doubles, and tenth in career steals. In the National Series, he won in batting average five times, runs six times, walks seven times, and triples once. In other series, his wins all came in Select Series. He won batting average, homers, and hits once each, RBI and runs twice each, and walks three times. I'm quite impressed by the broad range of his skills demonstrated by these marks: hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, and plate discipline.

Linares acquired almost mythological status for his ability to supplement these superior marks with a penchant for delivering in key situations on big stages. As with many myths based on historical fact, it can be difficult to separate the myth from fact.

Linares was born in October, 1967, the son of a baseball player good enough to have made the Cuban National team in his own right as an outfielder. Omar broke on to the scene at the tender age of 14, in 1982. This is a major reason he earned the nickname "El Nino" ("The Kid").

At his peak, Linares was just over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. He was professionally courteous though soft spoken. He was also a staunch supporter of the Castro government. He had a quick bat, foot speed, nimble feet on defense, and a powerful throwing arm.

However, in his final five seasons in Cuban ball, Linares gained weight and appeared to have lost some enthusiasm for the game. Some of this may have been due to nagging injuries exacerbated by an already lengthy playing career. Chief among the injuries were his shoulders and knees. Other issues may have been the general lack of financial incentives for a living legend like Linares to continue playing, but also conditions somewhere between those experienced by Negro Leaguers and modern minor leaguers: travel on buses lacking air conditioning over poor roads, then sleeping in sparse dormitory-style accomodations under ballpark grandstands.

Here's the season-by-season record of Linares' career inside Cuba, which includes the National Series, the Revolutionary Cup, and the Selective Series as given on page 355 of Bjarkman's book, though I will note I have had to calculate AB from H/avg and TB/slg and OBP from (H + BB)/(AB + BB). My sources give the career AB, but my calculations may not add up to that figure.


YEAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB AVG OBP SLG
1982-83 27 77 12 19 3 1 0 4 5 .247 .293 .312
1983-84 112 457 86 140 24 3 11 35 37 .306 .358 .444
1984-85 111 440 96 160 24 11 18 59 68 .364 .449 .591
1985-86 96 333 84 129 16 3 20 70 67 .387 .490 .634
1986-87 94 340 88 116 14 2 24 59 65 .341 .447 .606
1987-88 94 347 101 135 15 4 31 91 63 .389 .483 .723
1988-89 108 424 106 160 21 2 36 87 58 .377 .452 .691
1989-90 110 391 109 166 18 3 35 90 87 .425 .529 .754
1990-91 108 364 109 136 23 3 26 75 102 .374 .511 .668
1991-92 107 356 109 140 28 1 34 94 107 .393 .533 .764
1992-93 91 305 91 129 18 5 26 73 85 .423 .549 .770
1993-94 99 329 93 120 15 7 27 96 93 .365 .505 .699
1994-95 84 280 93 100 19 0 25 71 87 .357 .510 .693
1995-96 95 324 98 118 14 3 31 96 88 .364 .500 .713
1996-97 68 235 69 91 16 2 23 63 61 .387 .514 .766
1997-98 61 196 46 67 9 1 10 31 48 .342 .471 .551
1998-99 30 103 21 28 4 0 2 12 28 .272 .427 .369
1999-00 92 305 50 99 21 1 8 31 75 .325 .458 .479
2000-01 58 182 47 71 14 1 9 40 69 .390 .556 .626
2001-02 46 145 35 56 11 1 8 41 29 .386 .489 .641
Totals 1700 5962 1547 2195 327 54 404 1221 1327 .368 .483 .644

In his career, he had 246 steals against 95 caught stealings. His career defensive statistics are:


Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
13333.0 1581 3633 285 .948 476

He played in Japan from 2002-04 for the Chunichi Dragons. However, he appears to have been washed up by this time, posting poor .246/.327/.387 avg/OBP/slg marks in less than 400 PA in those three seasons. Please note that all data in this article is only through 2006.

Second place goes to right hand pitcher Braudilio Vinent. In career terms, he's first in complete games and shutouts, second in wins and IP, third in games started and strikeouts, and seventh in games pitched. In National Series, he led three times each in wins, strikeouts and shutouts, four times in complete games, twice each in ERA and games started, and once in IP. In other series, he led one all-star series each in ERA and strikeouts. In select series, he led in complete games five times, four times each in games started and IP, and once each in wins and winning percentage. He was dominant in the 1970's and was known as "The Meteor from La Maya". He also boasted a 56-4 record in international competition. The data on his career marks from Bjarkman's book is as follows, with the hits and homers marks added from the Official Guides.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
20 477 221 167 .570   3259.2 2645 157 2134 989 63   2.42

Antonio Munoz, a left handed first baseman is in third place. He leads in career walks and is second in career RBI, fourth in each career doubles and career homers, fifth in career RBI, and tenth in career AB. He led National Series in walks nine times, twice each in runs, RBI and homers, and once in doubles. In the one 10 Million Series, he led in triples. In all-star series, he led in triples once and runs twice. In select series, he led in homers six times; walks, runs and RBI four times each, and twice in hits. He was most dominant in the 1970's and was known as "The Giant of Escambray". Sports Illustrated writer Ron Firmrite described him as a "left-handed Tony Perez." His career totals, cobbled together from Bjarkman and the Guides, are as follows:


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
24 6676 1281 2014 355 45 370 1407 1551 62 43 .302 .433 .535

His career defensive data is as follows:


Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
16345.2 17057 725 172 .990 1392

Fourth is Rogelio Garcia. He's first in career strikeouts, second in career shutouts, third in career complete games, fifth in career winning percentage, sixth each in career wins and career IP, and tenth in career games started. In National Series, he led in strikeouts seven times; twice each in ERA, shutouts and complete games; and once in wins. In select series, he led in shutouts five times; ERA three times; twice each in ERA, wins and games started; and once each in IP and complete games.

He was a right handed power pitcher whose dominant period was in the late seventies into the eighties. Unfortunately for him, the thing many Cuban fans remember about him is he was the losing pitcher in a memorable 1981 international game against the US and future pro Ed Vosberg. His career marks follow, compiled from the usual sources:


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
16 398 202 100 .669   2609.0 1961 88 2499 1077 56   2.39

Orestes Kindelan ranks fifth. He's the career leader in both homers and walks, second in both career runs and slugging percentage. He's fourth in career walks and eighth in career doubles. In the National Series, he led in homers three times, twice in walks, and once each in average, RBI and runs. He led the Revolutionary Cup Series in runs one time, and in the Selective Series, he led in homers five times, RBI three, twice each in walks and runs, and doubles once.

Kindelan played the vast majority of his career with an aluminum bat, and showed great power with that kind of club. He didn't just hit for power, as his .406 average in international play would attest. He starred in the 1980's and 90's, and Bjarkman reports a Japanese team once offered $10 million for the services of Linares, Lazo and him in a package deal, which the Cuban authorities declined. His career batting stats appear below:


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
21 6488 1379 2030 330 36 487 1511 1232 31 29 .313 .423 .600

Bjarkman also describes Kindelan as a merely middling fielder, which is supported by the fact he played a great deal at DH and also by his career defensive below:


Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
9832.1 5703 300 94 .985 370

Jorge L. Valdes is next. This lefty starred both internationally and in Cuba in the eighties. He's the leader in career wins and the runner up in both career games started and career complete games. He placed in both career games pitched and career IP, and adds a fourth place finish in career strikeouts. In the National Series, he led in wins four times, complete games twice, and ERA, IP and winning percentage once each. In the Selective Series, he led twice in each of the following: games started, complete games and shutouts, and once each in IP and wins.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
20 519 234 166 .585   3134.0 2980 221 1982 1024 46   3.13

The seventh spot goes to Lazaro Junco. He's second in career homers, fourth in career slugging percentage, and sixth in career RBI. In the National Series, he led in homers ten times, RBI four and doubles and triples once each. In the Selective Series, he led once each in RBI and homers.

This right-handed power hitting outfielder starred in the 80's and 90's. Bjarkman says he was adequate defensively, and adds the following:


what unquestionably diminishes Junco's image somewhat for current fans is that he never enjoyed any single sensational campaign featuring eye-catching offensive numbers; instead he accumulated impressive totals rather quietly and mostly through longevity . . . .To make matters worse, Junco never boasted a shining moment during any high-profile international events.

Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
18 5780 1018 1641 277 27 405 1180 590 110 61 .284 .350 .551

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
10832.2 1850 173 131 .939 18

Pedro L. Lazo is ranked eighth in my method. His best finish on a career level is third in wins. He adds three fifth place finishes in the categories of games started, IP, and strikeouts. He's sixth in complete games and tenth in winning percentage. In the National Series, he led in wins four times, complete games twice, and once each in ERA, shutouts, IP and games started. In the Selective Series, he led in winning percentage once. In the Super Series, he led once each in wins and IP. In the Revolutionary Cup, he led in strikeouts twice and once each in wins, winning percentage and complete games.

This 34 year old right hander is still active. He's been a dominant starter in Cuba since the mid-90's, but has performed as a closer for the National team in international competition. He reputedly has a fastball in the high mid 90 MPH range and a wicked slider. One of the few knocks on him (according to Bjarkman) is that he sometimes "sleepwalks through non-vital mid-season outings." Whether that is accurate or not, he served as the ace on back to back National Series champion squads, which is certainly notable. He's also had to deal with batters armed with aluminum bats during most of his career.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
16 443 213 117 .645   2705.0 2469 212 1974 828 31   3.27

Ninth in the ranking system is Carlos A. Yanes. He's still active despite pitching since the early 90's and, according to Bjarkman, laboring much of it in a hitter's park. He's the career leader in IP, games pitched and games started. He's fourth in career wins, fifth in complete games, and sixth in career strikeouts. In the National Series, he led in IP and games started three times each, and shutouts, wins and complete games once each. In the Selective Series, he once led in games pitched, and in the Revolutionary Cup, he led in games started and complete games once each.

The selection of a .500 pitcher with a 4.53 career ERA seems surprising at first. I'm not thrilled with it, but there are reasons for it. He's had a very long and productive career, and in this method, it pushes him forward quite strongly. It may well be that in this try, I've given too much weight to career accomplishments. However, since the rest of the list seems to comport with the kinds of choices I'm happier with, I'll go with it. It would be most interesting to know exactly how strong Yanes' clubs were (if they were generally weak, it could go a long way toward explaining the .500 record) and the actual park effects (that 4.53 ERA may be better than it appears). Those things said, I doubt this is one of the method's finest moments.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
23 630 208 208 .500   3386.2 3763 421 1972 1140 28   4.53

Rounding out the top ten is Antonio Pacheco. According to Bjarkman, he's regarded as one of the two best defensive second basemen in the Castro era. His most dominant years occurred in the 1980's. He was regarded as a leader and was a consistent performer. He's the career hits leader, and is third in each career RBI and career doubles, fifth each in career AB and career average, sixth in career runs, and ninth in career triples. In the National Series, he led in triples and runs once each. In Selective Series, he led in hits twice, and doubles and triples once each.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
22 7045 1258 2356 366 63 284 1304 741 60 44 .334 .398 .525

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
14197.2 4054 4630 205 .977 1139

The second ten begins with Victor Mesa. He's second in career steals, fourth in career runs, fifth in career doubles, sixth in career hits, and seventh in both career AB and career RBI. In the National Series, he led in steals seven times, and doubles and runs twice each. In the Select Series, he led in steals nine times, and once each in hits, runs and walks.

According to Bjarkman, Mesa


was best known throughout his playing days for daring base running . . . plus a desire to always play the game with the utmost joy and the most outrageous flair for the dramatic, even for the downright reckless. [He] was a powerful and consistent hitter as well as a flashy outfielder with a wide range and a rifle-like arm. But he was also . . . a "hot dog" in English parlance. His appropriate nickname was "El Loco" ("The Crazy One").

Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
19 6834 1282 2171 351 46 273 1174 662 588 238 .318 .372 .502

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
14153.0 3769 136 150 .963 24

Wilfredo Sanchez is ranked twelfth. This lefty outfielder sprayed line drives to all fields. He starred by hitting for high averages from the late 1960's to the early 80's. These qualities earned him the nickname of "The Hit Man". He's fifth in both career hits and career steals, sixth in career triples, and tenth in average. In the National Series, he led in hits sixt times, average five, steals four, and runs and triples once each. He led two all-star series in steals. In the 10 Million Series, he lead in average, hits and runs. In the Selective Series, he led in hits four times, and once each in steals, triples and average.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
19 6565 891 2174 228 69 16 523 503 339 192 .331 .379 .394

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
9189.0 1919 116 81 .962 26

Lucky thirteenth place is held by Enrique Diaz. He starred from the 1980's to several years ago. He's first in career triples and steals, third in career runs, and seventh in career walks. He led the National Series in steals eleven times, triples and runs three times each, and walks once. In the Revolutionary Cup, he led once each in runs and steals, and he once led the Super Series in triples.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
20 6211 1328 1893 226 90 28 605 1065 665 244 .305 .407 .384

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
13368.1 4345 4907 228 .976 1416

Lazaro de la Torre is 14th. He was a durable, hard throwing right hander who starred from the late 70's to early 90's. He's fourth in both career IP and career games pitched, fifth in career wins, 7th in career games started, 8th in career strikeouts, and 9th in complete games. In the National Series, he led once each in shutouts, IP and complete games. In the Select Series, he led in games pitched four times, IP twice, and once each in complete games and winning percentage.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
20 516 208 139 .599   2818.1 2682 204 1713 930 26   3.30

Fifteenth place belongs to Luis G. Casanova, a top hitting OF of the seventies and eighties who had a knack of churning out special performances for the Cuban National team. He's third in career slugging, sixth in career homers, eighth in career walks, and tenth in career runs. In the National Series, he led in homers and walks twice each, and once each in RBI, runs and doubles. In the Selective Series, he led twice each in average, walks and triples, and once in runs.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
17 5288 1144 1705 288 41 312 1069 1049 120 74 .322 .435 .569

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
11514.2 4703 269 104 .980 283

Sweet 16th place belongs to Jose Ibar. He was a right handed starter who didn't excel until the latter half of his career, when he mastered a variety of breaking balls. In 1997-98, he was truly dominant, leading in wins, ERA, strikeouts, win percentage, and IP. He also is the winningest Cuban pitcher of the 90's. He's 10th in career wins and 9th in career strikeouts. In the National Series, he led in wins and IP three times each, twice in strikeouts, and once each in: saves, shutouts, games started and winning percentage. In the Selective Series, he led in ERA, complete games, and shutouts.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
18 366 173 100 .634   2371.0 2243 129 1709 723 31   3.45

Seventeenth place belongs to Jose Aleman, who had his best years in the 80's and early 90's. He's fourth in career complete games and ninth in each of the following career categories: wins, IP, shutouts and games started. In the National Series, he led in wins, complete games and IP twice each as well as ERA, saves and strikeouts once each. In the Select Series, he took one title in each of the following categories: ERa, games started, shutouts, and winning percentage.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
17 406 174 125 .582   2472.0 2322 207 1447 692 34   3.13

Fernando Sanchez is rated 18th. He played from the 1970's into the 1990's as a right-handed outfielder. He's second in career hits, fourth in both career RBI and career AB, seventh in career doubles and 8th in career triples. In the National Series, he led once each in average, homres and doubles. In the Selective Series, he led in RBI and hits twice each and in doubles once. Not as good as his brother Wilfredo, but quite good in his own right.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
23 7204 1115 2215 338 65 280 1223 866 135 76 .307 .382 .489

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
12326.1 2559 133 145 .949 34

Javier Mendez is rated 19th. He is one of the leading hitters for average in the 90's with a .333 mark for the decade. He had a long career as an outfielder. He's the leader in career doubles, third in career walks, eighth in career RBI, and 9th in career hits. In the National Series, he led once each in average, RBI and walks. In the Revolutionary Cup, he led in average once. In the Selective Series, he led in doubles and walks once each.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
22 6424 1139 2101 381 41 191 1174 1244 75 82 .327 .436 .488

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
14143.2 2947 125 94 .970 37

Omar Ajete rounds out the top 20. This hard throwing lefty was at his best in the 80's and 90's before arm troubles ended his career. In career marks, he's 7th in strikeouts, 8th in both wins and winning percentage, and 9th in games pitched. In the National Series, he led in complete games twice and winning percentage once. He led the Selective Series three times in each of the following: wins, games started, and complete games. He led in IP twice and ERA and saves once each.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
16 449 179 96 .651   2320.0 2252 167 1777 681 31   3.29

In 21st place is Santiago Mederos, a lefty who dominated in the 1970's before his untimely death in an auto accident. According to Bjarkman, he is one of the top three pitchers in Castro's Cuba before 1990. He's fifth in career shutouts, sixth in career ERA, and ninth in career winning percentage. In the National Series, he led in strikeouts three times, shutouts and IP twice each, and once each in wins, games started, and complete games. In the 10 Million Series, he led in complete games. In All-Star series, he led in complete games twice and IP and strikeouts once each. In the Selective Series, he led in winning percentage, IP and complete games once each.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
15 253 123 67 .647   1628.2 1149 44 1420 633 41   1.97

Right handed slugging third sacker Pedro J. Rodriguez is ranked 22nd. He starred in the 70's and 80's and was nicknamed "Little Che". Some of his top performances came in international competition. He was darned good in Cuba, too, leading the National Series four times in homers, three in RBI, and once each in runs and walks. In the Selective Series, he led in RBI four times, homers twice, and doubles and walks once each. On a career basis, he was 10th in homers and 6th in slugging percentage.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
15 4171 699 1196 188 16 288 969 642 28 20 .287 .381 .545

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
9197.1 1065 2249 218 .938 191

Romelio Martinez takes 23rd place in this rating. His best years were in the 1980's and 90's. He is fifth in career homers, sixth in career walks, and seventh in slugging percentage. He led the National Series twice in walks and once each in RBI and homers. In the Select Series, he led in homers and walks three times each and in RBI twice. All data below is only through 1999.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
15 4752 927 1289 174 6 370 1055 1073 11 14 .271 .420 .544

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
4415.0 672 144 56 .936 14

One of the two men tied for 24th place is Faustino Corrales. This recently retired lefty had the best ERA of the 1990's in Cuba, largely due to his excellent curve. He had a no hitter and in another game set the Castro-era record of 22 strikeouts in a single game. He's second in career strikeouts, 4th in career games started and 8th in career IP. In the National Series, he led in strikeouts three times, shutouts twice, and complete games once. In the Select Series, he led in complete games once.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
23 445 172 135 .560   2544.1 2146 168 2360 1198 27   3.29

The other man tied for 24th is Luis Ulacia. This switch hitting shortstop/center fielder was at his best in the 80's and 90's. He moved to CF from short and developed into a fine flycatcher. He seemingly saved his best performances for the National team, for whom he led off. He's fourth in both career hits and steals, sixth in career AB, and ninth in career runs. He led the National Series three times in average,and once in steals. In the Select Series, he led in average and steals once apiece.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
21 6961 1147 2183 281 58 145 682 676 355 218 .314 .374 .433

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
12845.1 2692 4406 288 .961 785

Twenty-sixth place belongs to this active 28 year old (born 1979) who plays third for the current National Team, Michel Enriquez. Bjarkman calls him a "sure-fire" major league calber talent. He's third in career average and ninth in career slugging percentage. In the National Series, he's led in doubles three times, average twice, and runs, hits and slugging percentage once apiece. He once led the Super Series in hits.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
9 3103 629 1126 223 14 98 501 443 26 43 .363 .442 .539

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
6392.2 768 1906 145 .949 261

Twenty-seventh place belongs to another active player, 29 or 30 year old Osmani Urrutia . He's a right hander who won five consecutive batting titles, and is also described by Bjarkman as a "sure-fire" major league caliber player. He's the current leader in career average and has six National Series batting titles to his credit to go with titles in hits and RBI in that series.


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
13 3078 434 1141 168 13 103 565 341 11 25 .371 .433 .534

His four year run of seasons with .400 batting averages is most impressive (these are the first four of the five consecutive batting titles), and Bjarkman gives the data for those seasons:


YEAR AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SLG
2000-01 290 62 125 14 0 16 64 .431 .645
2001-02 240 35 98 4 1 6 41 .408 .508
2002-03 292 43 123 18 0 13 72 .421 .616
2003-04 258 51 121 18 7 8 67 .469 .636
Totals 1080 191 467 54 8 43 244 .432 .634

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
5233.0 1278 66 41 .970 17

Walfrido Ruiz is the next to last man we will discuss. He starred in the late 60's and 70's, and is fourth in career winning percentage, fifth in career ERA, and tenth in career shutouts. In the National Series, he led in games started twice, and shutouts, wins, ERA, and winning percentage once each. In All-star series, he led once each in wins, ERA, strikeouts and complete games.


Seasons    games   Won   Lost   Pct    IP   hits    HR K    walks    ShO     ERA
12 234 102 50 .671   1314.0 998 34 799 372 34   1.88

Our final man is Victor Bejerano, who scored precisely at the 150 point cutoff. He's second in career AB, fifth in career doubles, and eighth in both career runs and career hits. He once led the National Series in triples (in 1989).


Yrs   AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB CS AVG OBP SLG
23 7383 1166 2107 379 57 248 1087 865 99 77 .285 .368 .453

Def Inn   Putouts   Assists   Errors   Fld %    DP
16101.2 9592 468 142 .986 854

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