The legendary career of Santiago “Changa” Mederos

Answering your question about whether Changa Mederos has been the best left-handed pitcher of all time in the Cuban National Series of baseball.

December Memories: In the remaining days of December, I will be writing columns related to stories from each day. They could be milestones, feats, or great moments worth remembering. There really won't be a script here. I hope I can surprise you! It's offseason in Cuban baseball. We won't have games until March 2025. So, I hope you enjoy all the stories I will be writing to try to brighten your Christmas days with a dose of baseball. As always, thank you for taking a minute of your time to read Inside BaseballdeCuba. You are part of the inspiration that drives me. Have a great week.

Sadly, this Sunday marked 45 years since the death of Santiago “Changa” Mederos, for many the best left-handed pitcher who has ever played in the Cuban National Series of baseball. I include myself among those who believe that Changa was the best left-handed pitcher of his time, and one of the best of all time in the National Series.

I wonder how far Changa’s amazing career would have gone if he had not lost his life when he still had plenty of talent and perseverance to continue challenging hitters. We will talk about that here in a minute, to pay a well-deserved tribute to one of the most elegant and courageous pitchers in Cuban baseball. Changa was the victim of a car accident on December 10, 1979. Five days later, he passed away at the age of 35. Changa's physical departure generated deep pain throughout Cuba. With 15 seasons of experience, Changa still stood out as one of the most dominant pitchers in the Cuban pitching elite.

At 25 years old, he set an impressive record of 208 strikeouts in 1969, where he also led the league with 17 wins and six shutouts. Since then, no left-handed pitcher has been able to lead the league with 200 or more strikeouts and 17 or more wins. The only reason Changa did not win the Triple Crown in the 1969 season was because of the brilliant 1.03 ERA of Mineros ace Roberto “El Jabao” Valdés. I'm going to tell you some stories, testimonies, and what the big impact numbers were that you've probably never heard about Changa Mederos' legendary career.