2024-07-04 15:49:08
Text: Raul del Pino
Photos: RL Hevia
The postseason party of the 63rd National Series opens its curtains this Thursday and everything points to a much more attractive battle for the title than what was experienced during the regular season. The Cuban pastime par excellence, although far from its golden years, still arouses passions and captures the attention of a country that has never stopped breathing baseball.
Each of the eight teams that have qualified has elements to support their case, some with more history than others, but all the matches promise to provide a spectacle. That is why, at Cuba Noticias 360 we propose a review of each match, with their respective playoff precedents. Let’s get to the point.
Pinar del Rio (1) vs Sancti Spiritus (8) Debut: Thursday, June 27. Captain San Luis Stadium. 2:00pm.
The Gallos appear to be the ninth with the most doubts on paper, since they managed to get into the postseason in the last agonizing date of the qualifiers. However, they sealed their ticket after an excellent streak that allows them to arrive with high morale to the quarterfinals where they will have in front of them the main contender for the title, the reborn Vegueros de Pinar del Río, who added to this contest an ex-MLB player of the caliber of Alexei Ramírez, absolute leader of the squad.
With the endorsement of having won all the subseries of the regular phase, something that no team had achieved before, Alexander Urquiola’s pupils hope to repeat the same triumph that they already achieved in the same instance of the 60th series against the same rival. However, that match, which they reached in opposite positions (Sancti Spíritus was the leader and Pinar eighth), was decided in seven games, something that seems too much for this occasion. Historically, they have faced each other in six postseasons, with four smiles for the westerners, who also won 20 of the 34 games played between them.
Santiago de Cuba (4) vs Industriales (5) Debut: Thursday, June 27. Guillermón Moncada Stadium. 6:30pm.
The classic of Cuban baseball, a term that some attribute to the press, the main reason why the dispute between the two main provinces of the country reached stratospheric levels in past decades. However, history also supports it, because it is not by chance that they are the two teams that have stepped on the promised land of the playoffs the most times, 29 times those from the capital and 25 times those from the east.
After almost three decades without facing each other since those finals they played in the mid-2000s, the fight between Leones and Avispas revived in the semifinals of the previous season, with the Havana team winning seven games. For this Series, the forecast does not vary too much, since the absence of Yoelquis Guibert balances the action somewhat with respect to the multiple absences that Guillermo Carmona has had to deal with throughout the championship.
Both teams have seven previous postseason appearances, with the curious fact that two of them ended in a tie when the playoffs were played in a round-robin format in the 1980s, according to Benigno Daquinta’s data. Afterwards, the balance tipped 3-2 in favor of the self-proclaimed flagship team of Cuban baseball, which also dominates the overall standings with 17 wins, compared to 15 for the team from Santiago.
Granma (2) vs Matanzas (7) Debut: Friday, June 28. Mártires de Barbados Stadium. 2:00 p.m.
Without a doubt, the hottest rivalry of recent years, and the two consecutive finals they played in the 60 and 61 series are proof of this. But the particular confrontation in the postseason extends to four duels in total, all with smiles for the Alazanes who always had Carlos Martí at the helm. Now the Granma manager is Ángel Ortega, so those who believe in superstitions will have something to hold on to here, while those who prefer the field to have the last word will say that they have an Alfredo Despaigne in MVP mode who can perfectly make the difference on his own.
The truth is that these Crocodiles plagued by losses do not resemble those who won, for example, the last Elite League, although they will receive an important injection in their bullpen with the arms of Yoennis Yera, Yamichel Pérez and Renner Rivero. And they will need it to try to stop the powerful team of the easterners, who have 16 victories in the 25 postseason matches played between them.
Las Tunas (3) vs Ciego de Avila (6) Debut: Friday, June 28. Julio Antonio Mella Stadium. 6:30pm.
The current national champions from Las Tunas carved out another successful contest without making much noise. After a handful of suspended games at the beginning of the series, they never managed to settle on the top spot they conquered the previous year, however, they climbed to the top positions and were fighting for the lead until the end of the regular season.
Now they find themselves again in the quarterfinals against a Tigres team that they already defeated in the same instance on the way to the title of the 62nd series. Abeisy Pantoja’s Leñadores will depend again on their explosive batting and in the team work of a team that he knows by heart. They have won the last two of the three times they have faced Ciego de Ávila in the playoffs, with the overwhelming difference of 11 victories and only five defeats.
