1974–75 Cuban National Series

Last updated
1974–75 Cuban National Series
Serie Nacional de Béisbol 1974–75
League Cuban National Series
Sport Baseball
Number of games39
Number of teams14
Regular season
ChampionAgricultores (24–15)
SNB seasons

The 14th Cuban National Series was won by Agricultores, a team from Havana, who finished just one game ahead of two other teams. The short season of 39 games coincided with the first Selective Series, a sort of domestic all-star league for Cuban baseball players. While the size of the league (14 teams) remained the same as during the prior season, half of the teams in the league changed.

Contents

Standings

TeamWLPct. GB
Agricultores2415.615-
Vegueros2316.5891
Constructores2316.5891
Granjeros2217.5642
Citricultores2217.5642
Metropolitanos 2117.552
Cafetaleros2118.5383
Ganaderos2018.526
Serranos1821.4616
Mineros1821.4616
Azucareros 1722.4357
Forestales1722.4357
Henequeneros1326.33311
Arroceros1326.33311

Source: [1]

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The inaugural season of the Cuban National Series was won by Occidentales, composed largely of players from Pinar del Río.

Industriales began to make a habit of Cuban National Series titles during the 1964-65 season, the fourth installment of Cuba's new post-revolutionary amateur baseball league. The team, representing Havana, won its third straight title.

In the seventh season of the Cuban National Series, Habana won the title, outdistancing Industriales by five games. The season saw a significant expansion of the league, from six to 12 teams. Additionally, each team's schedule grew from 65 to 99 games.

The 15th Cuban National Series was won by Ganaderos, representing the province of Camagüey. They finished the season with all other teams more than five games behind. The length of schedule and the teams within the league remained the same as the prior season.

The 17th season of the Cuban National Series saw Vegueros of Pinar del Río Province win the title, finishing with a slim lead over Industriales of Havana. The makeup of the league was directly influenced by the administrative restructuring of the provinces of Cuba. The league expanded from 14 to 18 teams, and the regular season increased from 39 to 51 games.

In the 19th season of the Cuban National Series, Santiago de Cuba won its first title, edging Villa Clara, Forestales, and Vegueros, each of which finished within two games of the champion. The league's 18 teams and 51-game schedule remained unchanged from the prior season.

In the 21st season of Cuban National Series, Vegueros, from Pinar del Río Province, repeated as champions, finishing with a one-game lead over Citricultores, from Matanzas Province. Metropolitanos finished well ahead of its Havana rival, Industriales. The league's teams and length of schedule remained unchanged from the prior season.

The 24th Cuban National Series saw Vegueros of Pinar del Río Province win the title, outdistancing Camagüey by seven games. The Vegueros roster included notable players Luis Casanova, Omar Ajete, and Omar Linares. Forestales, also from Pinar del Río, again finished atop the second division.

The silver jubilee 25th season of the Cuban National Series was the first to feature a scheduled postseason, as the first-place and second-place teams from each of the new Eastern and Western divisions qualified for a round-robin tournament to determine the league champion. The 18 teams in the league remained unchanged from recent seasons, but each team's regular-season schedule was reduced from 75 games to 48 games.

The 32nd season of the Cuban National Series saw a slight contraction of the league. Two of the Cuban provinces that had been fielding two teams each since the 1977–78 season, Pinar del Río Province and Matanzas Province, began fielding one team each. Vegueros and Forestales became the Pinar del Río team, while Henequeneros and Citricultores became the Matanzas team. Ciudad de La Habana Province continued to field two teams, Industriales and Metropolitanos.

The 31st season of the Cuban National Series again featured a four-team postseason bracket tournament, with the semifinal round increased to best-of-five series. Two-time defending champion Henequeneros of Matanzas Province advanced to the championship series, but lost to Industriales of Havana in five games. The league makeup of 18 teams, each with a 48-game schedule, was unchanged from recent seasons. This was the final time the league fielded 18 teams.

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In the 27th season of the Cuban National Series, Vegueros, from Pinar del Río Province, repeated as champions. La Habana and Santiago de Cuba both won at least 80% of their regular-season games, but Vegueros, with an all-star lineup including Luis Casanova and Omar Linares, prevailed in the postseason. Camagüey advanced to the four-team round-robin tournament for the first time, but lost all but one of their games. The 18 teams within the league, each playing a 48-game regular-season schedule, remained unchanged from recent seasons.

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The 30th season of the Cuban National Series featured a postseason bracket tournament for the first time, with the top two teams from each division qualifying. Semifinals were played as best-of-three series, followed by a best-of-seven final series. Both semifinals were won by division runners-up, with Henequeros then defeating Camagüey to repeat as league champions. The 18 teams of the league were unchanged from recent seasons, as was each team's regular-season schedule of 48 games.

References

  1. "Las 40 primeras Series Nacionales". Granma (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 27, 2014.

Further reading