The never seen — new edition

I think that the surprise edition of “The Never Seen” in the Cuban National Series was quite easy to notice at the end of this Tuesday's games: there were a lot of runs everywhere, with the exception of the duel in which Guantánamo won 5-4 to Holguin. Before we got to the final count of the day, I was thinking about how out of proportion everything has become again.

In the last 62 National Series — especially during the postseason — home runs were lost from the baseball scene. The Las Tunas Lumberjacks, who were crowned champions, reached the final with a single home run. Regular season MVP Osday Silva hit more homers (3) than Camagüey (0) and Sancti Spíritus (one: by Alejandro Escobar) in 527 plate appearances combined.

Yes, with the exception of Silva's power, it could be assumed that no pitcher would be in danger against any set of hitters. A couple of weeks ago, when Alexei Ramírez returned to the Latinoamericano stadium to face Industriales, Luis Giraldo Casanova said something that makes a lot of sense: “baseball is different when the ball is live.” At the end of the road, several close games were played in the postseason of the 62nd National Series. The rivalry was not lacking, but the poor bounce of the Teammate-190 ball was disconcerting.

This year, trends have taken a completely opposite rhythm. Since the pitchers' explosions on Opening Day, it was to be expected that the pitching could not contain the ruthless offense. Still, no official note from the organizers or manufacturers has revealed a change to the Teammate-190 ball. It is said that it is still the same ball as last year, but the percentages of home runs and extra bases show us the opposite. Last week I wrote a column where, in great detail, you can analyze how absurd it has been to justify much of the offensive surge due to pitching inconsistency.

As promised, I will return with an analysis as we get more samples. Now, the big story to follow is our Never Seen Edition, and I think you know why: In five of Tuesday's seven games, at least 20 combined runs were scored between both teams. That was really beastly!

This is how it all began: Industriales scored four runs in the first inning against Mayabeque, Matanzas hit Villa Clara with a five-run rally, and Camagüey crossed the plate three times against Granma. Strangely, Santiago de Cuba and Pinar del Río did not score runs in the first inning, but the Wasps put together a five-run rally at the start of the second inning. Here are the final results:

Santiago de Cuba 11, Pinar del Río 10: 21 runs, 5 home runs, and 26 hits (5 batters with multi-hits) combined.

Industriales 13, Mayabeque 7: 20 runs, 3 home runs, and 24 hits (5 batters with multi-hits; Industriales rookie Roque Tomás went 5 for 6) combined. Mayabeque was the only team in this selection without hitters with multi-hits.

Artemisa 16, Cienfuegos 4: 20 runs, no home runs, and 26 hits (7 batters with multi-hits) combined. The Hunters scored 10 runs at the top of the second inning, and that was a fatal blow.

Matanzas 17, Villa Clara 8: 25 runs, no home runs, and 30 hits (11 batters with multi-hits) combined. For Matanzas, the first five starters recorded multi-hits, in addition to a substitute player (shortstop Adrián Pérez). The Crocodiles appear to be waking up offensively in their final games, the best news for manager Armando Ferrer as his pitchers try to recover. The duel against Villa Clara seemed decided in the first inning when starter Osdany Rodríguez threw 32 pitches and did not get any outs. All five batters he faced reached base, and all crossed the plate. Still, with a 6-0 lead, rookie Roilán Averohff was unable to complete the five innings. To make matters worse, Villa Clara made six errors.

After four losses, the Bulls have won nine consecutive games. Photo: Radio Bayamo.

Camagüey 12, Granma 8: 20 runs, 2 home runs, and 33 hits (10 batters with multi-hits) combined. Leonel Moas Jr. drove in (4) a third of the team's runs, and outfielder Michael Thompson hit a two-run home run, giving the team a 5-1 lead. For the Toros, it was the ninth consecutive victory, a streak that has placed them in second place in the standings with a 9-4 record. Yes, they're still 10 games shy of the team's best streak in history, and we'll be talking about that here soon.

So what did you think of that impressive amount of racing? You're probably wondering if those bulky combined scoreboards had ever been seen on the same day before. You know, this column is about that: “The never seen before”, so the answer is… No, of course! In days of seven or eight games in National Series, there had never been five games with combined scores of 20 runs or more. The longest-running offensive eruption had occurred in two historic days:

-28 National Series, Tuesday, January 17, 1989, when half of the eight games ended with combined scores of at least 20 runs:

Santiago de Cuba 29, Sancti Spíritus 16

Industriales 16, Forestales 11

Henequeneros 14, Metropolitanos 13

Granma 11, Guantánamo 10

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*The duel Ciego de Ávila vs Las Tunas, where the Tigres won 10-9, was one race away from extending the collective record.

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-61 National Series, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Eight games were also played, and four of them ended up equaling the 1989 marks:

Matanzas 17, Santiago de Cuba 13

Granma 14, Cienfuegos 6

Pinar del Río 17, Ciego de Ávila 4

Industriales 12, Camagüey 8

With so much career, I think the next column of “The Never Seen” in the National Series will return soon. In fact, home run runs have increased 4% compared to last year's 17% rate, and that could be another of the predominant trends at the end of the first third of the season.