1985-1986 Cuban National League
From BR Bullpen
The 1985-1986 season was the twenty-fifth season of Cuba's national baseball system.
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[edit] Serie Nacional
The 25th Serie Nacional was won by Industriales, who were managed by their former sixties star Pedro Chávez. It was the team's first title in thirteen years. This season featured the splitting of the teams into two geographically-based divisions and the first scheduled playoffs to determine a champion. The schedule was also reduced to 48 games.
Prior to the season the Serie Nacional's eighteen teams were split into two nine- team divisions. The Zona Occidental (West Zone) featured teams from Cienfuegos Province and west while the rest of the teams were placed in the Zona Oriental (East Zone). Thus the divisional alignment for the twenty-fifth Serie Nacional was:
At the end of the regular season, the first and second place teams from each Zona qualified for a four-team playoff – consisting of a six-game round robin, two games versus each opponent. The winner of the round-robin would then be crowned Serie Nacional champion. From the Zona Oriental first place Villa Clara and runner-up Santiago de Cuba made it into the playoffs while the serie's top team Industriales and the second place Vegueros were the Zona Occidental representatives. The Vegueros ended the season tied at 33 – 15 with Henequeneros, but made the playoffs over the Matanzas team.
In the playoffs Industriales went undefeated at 6 – 0 to win theier sixth Serie Nacional title. The final game of the playoff at Estadio Latinoamericano between the 4 – 1 Vegueros and 5 – 0 Industriales went tweleve innings. Against longtime strikeout king Rogelio García, Agustín Marquetti hit a home run to right field with a runner on first to win the game for the capital's team 7 to 5. Other players of note on the championship team were Pedro Medina, Javier Méndez, Juan Padilla, and Rolando Verde.
Vegueros' Omar Linares repeats as the serie batting champion by hitting .426 - 63 hits in 148 at-bats. Industriales third baseman Lázaro Vargas wins the MVP award by getting 75 hits and scoring 48 runs. Vargas also breaks Felipe Sarduy's 17-year old record of 29 consecutive games with a hit by going 31 games with a hit. Three pitchers tied for the league lead with 11 wins; pitcher of the year Lázaro de la Torre of Industriales, José Riveira of Villa Clara, and Luis Tissert of Santiago de Cuba. Vegueros rookie hurler Omar Ajete had a perfect record of 5 – 0.
[edit] Standings
- Bold indicates Zona champion; Italics indicates Serie Nacional champion
[edit] Zona Occidental
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industriales | 48 | 37 | 11 | 0.771 | -.- |
| Vegueros | 48 | 33 | 15 | 0.688 | 4.0 |
| Henequeneros | 48 | 33 | 15 | 0.688 | 4.0 |
| Citricultores | 48 | 26 | 22 | 0.542 | 11.0 |
| Metropolitanos | 47 | 21 | 26 | 0.447 | 15.5 |
| La Habana | 48 | 18 | 30 | 0.375 | 19.0 |
| Forestales | 48 | 18 | 30 | 0.375 | 19.0 |
| Cienfuegos | 47 | 15 | 32 | 0.319 | 21.5 |
| Isla de la Juventud | 48 | 14 | 34 | 0.292 | 23.0 |
[edit] Zona Oriental
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Clara | 48 | 35 | 13 | 0.729 | -.- |
| Santiago de Cuba | 48 | 34 | 14 | 0.708 | 1.0 |
| Camagüey | 48 | 32 | 16 | 0.667 | 3.0 |
| Ciego de Ávila | 48 | 24 | 24 | 0.500 | 11.0 |
| Granma | 48 | 21 | 27 | 0.438 | 14.0 |
| Sancti Spíritus | 48 | 21 | 27 | 0.438 | 14.0 |
| Guantánamo | 48 | 19 | 29 | 0.396 | 16.0 |
| Las Tunas | 48 | 16 | 32 | 0.333 | 19.0 |
| Holguín | 48 | 14 | 34 | 0.292 | 21.0 |
[edit] Playoffs
The playoffs consisted of the top two teams from each zona playing in a six-game "round robin" against each other, with two games against each other. Industriales swept the table to win the championship.
| Team | Zona | G | W | L | WPCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industriales | Occidental - First | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Vegueros | Occidental - Second | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0.667 |
| Villa Clara | Oriental - First | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.167 |
| Santiago de Cuba | Oriental - Second | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.167 |
[edit] All-Star Game
The eleventh Juego de las Estrellas (All-Star Game) was held in Havana. In the game, Oriente defeated Occidentales by a score of 4 to 0. Oriente had 6 hits to Occidentales's 5, while the errors were 2 to 0 in favor of Oriente. The winning pitcher was Regino Robaina and the losing pitcher was Pablo Miguel Abreu.
[edit] Leaders
- Bold indicates either wooden bat record or aluminum bat record (1976-1977 to 1998-1999), Italics indicate Serie Nacional record
[edit] Batting
[edit] Pitching
[edit] Award Winners
The Most Valuable Player (Jugadores más Valiosos) was Lázaro Vargas a third baseman with Industriales. The Most Valuable Pitcher (Lanzadores más Valiosos) was Lázaro de la Torre of Industriales. Buenafé Nápoles of Camagüey was the Series' Rookie of the Year (Novatos del Año).
[edit] Series Selectivas
The twelfth Series Selectivas was won by Serranos, managed by the Frangel Reynaldo.
[edit] Standings
| Team | G | W | L | WPCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serranos | 63 | 41 | 22 | 0.651 | -.- |
| Habana | 64 | 39 | 25 | 0.609 | 2.5 |
| Pinar del Río | 63 | 36 | 27 | 0.571 | 5.0 |
| Camagüeyanos | 63 | 34 | 29 | 0.540 | 7.0 |
| Las Villas | 63 | 29 | 34 | 0.460 | 12.0 |
| Matanzas | 63 | 27 | 36 | 0.429 | 14.0 |
| Agropecuarios | 63 | 24 | 39 | 0.381 | 17.0 |
| Mineros | 63 | 22 | 41 | 0.349 | 19.0 |
[edit] Leaders
[edit] Batting
- Batting Average: .392 - Amado Zamora, Las Villas
- Base Hits: 96 - Jorge García, Serranos
- Runs Scored: 63 - Orestes Kindelán, Serranos
- Doubles: 18 - Rolando Verde, Habana
- Triples: 9 - Evenecer Godinez, Serranos
- Home Runs: 30 - Orestes Kindelán, Serranos
- Runs Batted In: 84 - Orestes Kindelán, Serranos
- Stolen Bases: 30 - Jorge García, Serranos
[edit] Pitching
- Win-Loss Percentage: 1.000 (5 - 0) - Jesus Bosmenier, Pinar del Río
- Games Pitched: 27 - Fidencio Serrano, Mineros
- Complete Games: 11 - Lázaro de la Torre, Habana
- Wins: 12 - Luis Tissert, Serranos
- Innings Pitched: 128.2 - Enrique Cutiño, Serranos
- Strikeouts: 111 - Enrique Cutiño, Serranos
- Earned Run Average: 2.36 - Buenafe Napoles, Camagüeyanos
[edit] Sources
- (March 17, 2004). "Cronología: 1986 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- (March 22, 2004). "Tabla de Posiciones de la XXV serie 1986 (Spanish)". Radiococo. Radiococo. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- (November 18, 2005). "Guía Digital 2005-06". Guía Oficial de Béisbol 2005 (Digital). Instituto Nacional de Deportes, Educación Física y Recreación. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
- Peter C. Bjarkman. A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864–2006. : McFarland, 2007. ISBN 0786428295
