El Rugido de los Leones!
Havana Leones
by "Che"
Legends League correspondent
El Habanero
Havana Wins 3
of 4
Imperialist
gamblers from that most corrupt of cities, Washington D.C. the home of
the Homestead Grays, are rumoured to have put the fix on the home
opener in Havana, but they could not suppress the voice of the people
-- and the Leones triumphed in the next three. There were lots of
American dollars being flashed all through the stands at La Gran
Estadio throughout all four games of the series, and the shadow of the
Miami Mob was lurking in all the dark corners. But baseball is about
sunshine and green grass so in the end there was only the sound of
great baseball being played.
The first game was a disapointment for the hometown fans as the Boys
from Havana went down 7-4 on the strength of a 6th inning outburst by
the Grays fueled by a walk, 2 doubles and 3 singles. But Havana
centerfielder, Alejandro Oms, put the All Time League on notice that he
has arrived with a double, home run, stolen base, outfield assist
and 2 RBI to start the season.
4/5/2004,
HOM05-HAV05, La Gran Estadio (1946-60)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 R H E LOB DP
2005
Grays
0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1
1 7 15 1 8 2
2005
Leones
0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1
0 4 12 0 8 0
Grays
AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH
SF AVG PO A E PB
Bell,CP
cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.200 1 0 0 0
Wells,W
ss 5 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
.200 2 2 1 0
Bonds,Ba lf
3 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 .667
6 0 0 0
Gehrig
1b 5 1 1 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.200 8 0 0 0
Freeman
rf 5 1 2 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.400 0 0 0 0
Beckwith 3b
5 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 .400
1 2 0 0
Hughes
2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
.500 1 5 0 0
Bassler
c 4 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.250 8 0 0 0
Redding
p 4 0 3 3 2 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.750 0 1 0 0
Hoffman
p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.000 0 0 0 0
40 7 15 7 4 1 1 2 3
1 1 0 0 0
0 27 10 1 0
Leones
AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH
SF AVG PO A E PB
Carew
1b 5 1 3 1 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
.600 11 1 0 0
Dihigo
2b 3 0 0 1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
.000 0 6 0 0
Oms
cf 5 1 3 2 1 0 1
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
.600 3 1 0 0
Torriente lf
4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
2 0 0 0
Clemente rf
4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
3 0 0 0
Cepeda,P ss
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1 4 0 0
Perez,T
3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
.250 1 1 0 0
Pena,T
c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.000 0 1 0 0
Fernandez, J c 3
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 .333 4
0 0 0
Salazar
ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.000 0 0 0 0
Alvarez
p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
.000 1 0 0 0
Muñoz
p 2 2 2 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1.000 1 0 0 0
Pizarro
p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
.000 0 0 0 0
Vargas
3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
.000 0 0 0 0
36 4 12 4 2 0 1 2 8
3 0 0 0 0
1 27 14 0 0
Grays
INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP
DP ERA
Redding W
1-0 7.1
10 4 4 1 6 116 74 32
1 0 0 0 0 4.91
Hoffman S
1
1.2 2 0 0 1 2 26
15 7 0 0 0 0 1
0.00
9.0 12 4 4 2 8 142 89
39 1 0 0 0 1
Leones
INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP
DP ERA
Muñoz
L 0-1
5.1 9 5 5 1 1 87
56 25 1 0 0 0 0 8.44
Pizarro
2.2 3 1 1 1 2 40
26 12 0 0 0 0 0 3.38
Alvarez
1.0 3 1 1 0 0 17
12 5 0 0 0 0 0
9.00
9.0 15 7 7 2 3 144 94
42 1 0 0 0 0
HAV: Salazar batted for Fernandez, J in the 8th
Vargas inserted at 3b in the 9th
Pena,T inserted at c in the 9th
GWRBI: Redding
Temperature: 81, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 8 MPH.
Mendez K's 9
In
the second game the Habaneros started a winning streak that swept the
Homesteaders right out of Cuba. The Black Diamond, Jose Mendez,
exhibited his mastery of the pitched ball by blanking the powerful
Grays offense through the first 8.2 innings Mendez struck out 9 and at
one point set down 10 batters in a row. A Lou Gehrig larrup brought
Jose Mesa out for the final pitch of the game, and the team's first
Save.
The knock on the Leones during the pre-season was their supposed lack
of pitching. The Black Diamond showed the northerners that pitching is
an expertise known well in Cuba. The Maximum Leader will remain on the
bench to manage and not take the mound himself, but there are plenty of
good pitchers available to him even though the lure of American dollars
has meant that some of the best have defected to northern teams.
4/6/2004, HOM05-HAV05, La Gran Estadio (1946-60)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2005 Grays 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 6 1 3 0
2005 Leones 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 x 4 8 0 5 0
Grays AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Bell,CP cf 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 .375 4 0 0 0
Wells,W ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .111 2 1 0 0
Bonds,Ba lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 2 0 0 0
Gehrig 1b 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 5 0 0 0
Freeman rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 4 0 1 0
Beckwith 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .375 2 1 0 0
Hughes 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 1 2 0 0
Bassler c 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 4 0 0 0
Saberhagen p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 2 0 0
Klein ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Ono p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
31 2 6 2 0 0 1 1 9 1 2 0 0 0 0 24 6 1 0
Leones AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Carew 1b 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .444 5 0 0 0
Dihigo 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 2 2 0 0
Oms cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .556 2 0 0 0
Torriente lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 2 0 0 0
Clemente rf 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 3 0 0 0
Cepeda,P ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 2 1 0 0
Perez,T 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 2 3 0 0
Fernandez, J c 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 9 2 0 0
Mendez p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Mesa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
30 4 8 3 2 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 27 8 0 0
Grays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Saberhagen L 0-1 7.0 8 4 3 1 4 112 71 30 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
Ono 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
8.0 8 4 3 1 4 117 75 33 0 0 0 0 0
Leones INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Mendez W 1-0 8.2 6 2 2 1 9 140 87 31 1 0 0 0 0 2.08
Mesa S 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
9.0 6 2 2 1 9 141 88 32 1 0 0 0 0
HOM: Klein batted for Saberhagen in the 8th
GWRBI: Clemente
Temperature: 82, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from right at 15 MPH.
The Pride of
Havana
In
the second game the Habaneros bats came alive as The Pride of Havana
allowed three scant runs for the opposition. Seventeen hits and
fourteen runs scored for the hometown boys -- the tropical 101 degree
heat, the gusting winds and threatening sky mirrored the power of of
the Havana ballclub in nature.
1 double, 2 triples and 2 home runs went with 12 singles, 8 walks and
an error as the Leones showcased their offensive skills. The Leones
were set down in order twice during the game, but in all other innings
but one they scored runs. The third inning saw 6 Leones cross the plate
on the strength of home runs by Cristobal Torriente and Perucho Cepeda,
as well as 3 singles, 3 walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt. The
onslaught continued in the rain-delayed (71 minutes) 4th inning, when 4
more runs scored on a walk, single, double, triple and a bunt
sacrifice. All aspects of the offensive game were on display.
Dolf Luque pitched 7 strong innings to earn his first win, and send the
Leones to Cincinnati with a 2-1 record.
4/7/2004, HOM05-HAV05, La Gran Estadio (1946-60)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2005 Grays 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 0 7 1
2005 Leones 0 2 6 4 0 1 0 1 x 14 17 2 10 1
Grays AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Bell,CP cf 5 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 .385 0 0 0 0
Wells,W ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .083 2 2 0 0
Bonds,Ba lf 4 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .273 3 1 0 0
Gehrig 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 8 0 0 0
Freeman rf 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 0 0 0 0
Beckwith 3b 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 0 3 0 0
Martinez,E ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0
Hughes 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182 3 3 0 0
Bassler c 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 7 4 0 1
Smith,H p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Brewer,C p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Haddix p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Ono p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Klein ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0 0
Sutter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
Nagaike ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
33 3 7 3 2 0 2 3 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 24 14 0 1
Leones AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Carew 1b 4 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .385 8 0 0 0
Dihigo 2b 3 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300 3 3 1 0
Bustamente ph 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 0 1 1 0
Oms cf 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 6 0 0 0
Coimbre ph 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0 0
Torriente lf 4 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .364 0 0 0 0
Vargas ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0 0
Clemente rf 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273 2 0 0 0
Salazar ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
Cepeda,P ss 5 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 1 4 0 0
Perez,T 3b 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 2 1 0 0
Fernandez, J c 5 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 4 1 0 0
Luque p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Alvarez p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0
37 14 17 13 1 2 2 8 6 0 0 0 0 3 0 27 11 2 0
Grays INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Smith,H L 0-1 2.0 6 5 5 3 0 52 31 14 1 0 0 0 0 22.50
Brewer,C 1.0 3 4 4 3 0 25 12 9 1 0 0 1 0 36.00
Haddix 0.1 2 2 2 0 1 11 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 54.00
Ono 2.2 2 2 2 1 3 42 27 12 0 0 0 1 0 4.91
Sutter 2.0 4 1 1 1 2 38 26 10 0 0 0 0 1 4.50
8.0 17 14 14 8 6 168 104 48 2 0 0 2 1
Leones INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Luque W 1-0 7.0 7 3 2 1 1 95 56 28 2 0 0 0 1 2.57
Alvarez 2.0 0 0 0 2 3 37 20 9 0 0 0 0 0 3.00
9.0 7 3 2 3 4 132 76 37 2 0 0 0 1
HOM: Klein batted for Ono in the 7th
Martinez,E batted for Beckwith in the 8th
Martinez,E moved to 3b in the 8th
Nagaike batted for Sutter in the 9th
HAV: Bustamente batted for Dihigo in the 6th
Bustamente moved to 2b in the 7th
Coimbre batted for Oms in the 7th
Vargas batted for Torriente in the 7th
Salazar batted for Clemente in the 7th
Vargas moved to rf in the 8th
Salazar moved to lf in the 8th
Coimbre moved to cf in the 8th
Harvey Haddix was removed after a rain delay
Temperature: 101, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: out to left at 14 MPH,
Rain Delays: 71 minutes.
Oms Wallops 3
Home Runs!
The
first game on United States soil came in Havana's sister city in
baseball, Cincinnati. The Habaneros took the opportunity to showcase
all aspects of their game, and thoroughly trounced the Reds 10-3.
Alejandro Oms smashed 3 out of Crosley Field, and knocked in 6 runs as
he
went 5-for-5, and scored 4 himself. Oms display of raw power brought
his batting average up to a lethal .647 for the first four days of the
season as he proclaimed loudly with his bat that he is here to stay.
Luis Tiant was on the mound for Havana, and his solid 9-hit, 9-inning
performance was overshadowed by Oms offensive fireworks. But the Havana
ballclub will need many more games like this from Tiant and the rest of
the pitching corps, and it is heartening for The Maximum Leader to see
his pitching hold up so early in the season.
Josh Gibson and Wilbur Cooper both went down to injury for the
Cincinnati club in this game.
4/8/2004, HAV05-CIN05, Crosley Field (1958-70)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2005 Leones 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 1 10 18 0 10 1
2005 Reds 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 9 2 6 1
Leones AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Carew 1b 5 1 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .444 7 0 0 0
Dihigo 2b 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .214 2 4 0 0
Vargas ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 1 0 0 0
Oms cf 5 4 5 6 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .647 3 0 0 0
Torriente lf 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .313 1 0 0 0
Clemente rf 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .375 6 0 0 0
Cepeda,P ss 5 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294 2 2 0 0
Perez,T 3b 5 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 1 1 0 0
Fernandez, J c 5 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 4 1 0 0
Tiant p 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 0 2 0 0
45 10 18 10 4 0 3 2 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 27 10 0 0
Reds AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Simmons lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .308 2 0 1 0
Speaker cf 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .273 2 0 0 0
Jackson,Jo rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 2 0 0 0
Foxx 1b 4 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .455 5 1 0 0
Gibson,J c 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 1 0 0 0
Porter c 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 6 0 0 0
Wilson,Ju 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 1 2 0 0
Ishige ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 4 1 0 0
Lynn ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Garciaparra ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 0 1 1 0
Gehringer 2b 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 3 3 0 0
Foster, R p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 2 0 0
Stanley,B p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Wynn,J ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0
Cooper,Wi p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
Aramaki p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Fingers p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Wallace ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
33 3 9 3 0 1 1 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 27 10 2 0
Leones INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Tiant W 1-0 9.0 9 3 3 2 3 128 76 36 1 0 0 0 1 3.00
9.0 9 3 3 2 3 128 76 36 1 0 0 0 1
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Foster, R L 0-1 4.0 9 5 5 1 2 66 43 21 2 0 0 0 1 11.25
Stanley,B 3.0 4 1 1 0 4 53 39 13 0 0 0 0 0 1.80
Cooper,Wi 0.1 0 1 0 0 0 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 8.10
Aramaki 0.1 3 2 2 1 0 11 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 27.00
Fingers 1.1 2 1 1 0 1 24 15 6 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
9.0 18 10 9 2 7 158 106 47 3 0 0 0 1
HAV: Vargas batted for Dihigo in the 9th
Vargas moved to 2b in the 9th
CIN: Porter inserted at c in the 3rd
Lynn batted for Ishige in the 7th
Wynn,J batted for Stanley,B in the 7th
Garciaparra inserted at ss in the 8th
Wallace batted for Fingers in the 9th
GWRBI: Oms
Josh Gibson was injured for this game and 5 more days
Wilbur Cooper was injured for this game and 13 more days
Temperature: 68, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 11 MPH.
