314:, or SNB) generally runs from March to July (beginning with the 2022 season) with a schedule of 98 games per team in the regular season. The series is then followed by three playoff rounds culminating in a championship. This series was originally played each winter since 1961-62 until the 2020–21 season, before being moved to the spring in 2022. There are 16 teams organized in a West League and an East League. The top four teams from each league advance to a playoff, with the winner crowned in the championship series. Two teams have dominated the National Series in recent years:
383:, baseball continued to thrive as Cuba's national game. In February 1961 the government created the National Institute for Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (INDER) and in March, after the close of the 1960–61 Cuban League season, it decreed the abolition of professional baseball and plans to hold a national amateur championship. Thus, the National Series was conceptualized to serve as the national league circuit. Opening Day for the new league was slated for fall 1961.
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390:, included four charter teams: Occidentales, Orientales, Habana, and Azucareros. The next season the number of teams had increased to six, and in 1967 to 12. The expansion of baseball to the provinces was accompanied by the construction of new stadiums in provincial capitals, bringing first-tier baseball to the provincial population. This expansion greatly enhanced the nationwide accessibility of top-flight baseball. The two new
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players are able to make the municipal team and advance through the sport without training in the academies, but those players are exceptional. Although players are amateurs, elite players are subsidized and given special rewards. A problem confronting Cuba's top athletes, however, is the lack of opportunities to compete against the best players in the world.
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In 2022, INDER and the BFC officially ended the long monopoly of the
National Series as the sole national baseball circuit, beginning that year the Cuban Elite League was launched as the country's fall baseball circuit with the NS now moved to the spring, in competition with Major League Baseball and
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The Cuban baseball system is designed as much to develop the nation's athletic talents as to provide entertainment to the public. Children showing athletic promise are sent to sports academies for extensive competitive training and development, with the goal of developing the nation's athletes. Some
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in that
Industriales, like Almendares, wore blue, while Habana/Metropolitanos, like Habana, wore red. However, after Industriales went on to capture four consecutive championships from 1963 to 1966, they became known as the premier Cuban team. Metropolitanos after the '80s, on the other hand, was
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In 2015 the Super Series was replaced by the 23U National Series on the behest of the BFC, but with a June to
September season following the CNS season and with nearly the same teams as the National Series. As it name suggests, its rosters are made up of players aged below 23 and it serves as the
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Beginning with the 2023-24 LEB season, the top six teams of the Cuban
National Series now directly qualify for the regular season of the Elite League; those teams may draft players from the lower twelve CNS teams. Previously, the Cuban National Series employing relegation of the lower eight teams
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that had been dominated by the
National Series since its foundation season. It runs from October to February with a similar schedule and format as the SNB formerly had, with the winner of the championship series after the postseason playoffs assuming the role as Cuban representative to the
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For many years the Cuban Super Series, a summer league, usually played from May through July with a schedule of about 28 games. The series is followed by a playoff between the two top teams. Its teams are selected from the best players of the
National Series. In turn, the
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Since 1991, however, a number of prominent Cuban baseball players have emigrated to compete in the MLB, the
Mexican League, other Central American and Caribbean leagues and beginning in the 2000s,
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In 2015, the Under-23 division of the Cuban
National Series began its debut season, with its players being below 23 years of age, which replaced the Super Series officially.
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unable to be competitive and has failed to re-establish the rivalry; it is now considered a second-class team, where young players and fading veterans share playing time.
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On 16 January and 25 January 1966, right-hander Aquino Abreu pitched back-to-back no-hitters (against
Occidentals and Industriales), matching a feat accomplished by
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hit better than .400 for the third time to win his third batting title. Linares is widely considered to be one of the greatest third basemen of all time.
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In 1985 Lázaro Vargas of
Industriales set the Cuban National Series record for consecutive-game hitting streak by hitting safely in 31 straight games.
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645:(LEB). However, there is no "relegation" in the traditional sense, as all 16 teams start in the SNB regardless of their finish in the previous LEB.
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593:. The 2023 World Baseball Classic national team was the first ever to feature international players either from Cuba or of Cuban ancenstry.
365:, various professional, semiprofessional, industrial, and amateur baseball leagues and teams flourished in Cuba, including the professional
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managed the early national team and conveyed his vast knowledge of the game to the new generation of amateur players.
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established an all-time season record of 309 strikeouts. Although López struck out 12 batters, he lost the game 2–0.
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many of the former professional baseball players emigrated, but for the next 30 years relatively few left Cuba.
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An opportunity for competition against the world's best professional players was finally made available by the
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wins his eighth home run title. Junco retired with the career record of 405 home runs (later surpassed by
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is not a single baseball league; rather it is a structure of leagues and series that are governed by the
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On 12 April 1980, two players from the same team, Rey Vicente Anglada and Jorge Beltrán of Habana, hit
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Some other memorable events in the history of the Cuban national baseball system are the following:
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is selected from the players in the Super Series. Five regional teams competed:
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managed several provincial teams and was pitching coach of the national team.
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450:) remained in Cuba where he was a pitching coach for several teams.
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and culminate in national championships and the selection of the
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A number of immigrants from Cuba (sometimes described as "
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also were prominent transitional coaches and managers.
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team in 40 years to play in Cuba, playing against the
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57:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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695:The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball
641:(SNB) are effectively promoted to the top-level
729:Joe Connor on Cuba baseball: At a crisis stage?
570:List of baseball players who defected from Cuba
353:minor league division of the National Series.
264:Organization of Cuban national baseball system
279:Created in 2022, the Elite League (Spanish:
493:in one inning. Remarkably, on the same day
357:History of the Cuban baseball league system
348:The champion and runner up teams of the CNS
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
406:), were similar to the old professional
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637:The top six teams from the
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683:. 21 October 2022.
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643:Cuban Elite League
482:On 13 August 1966
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139:Country
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