Vamos: Let’s Play Beisbol 1/21/13
Hey baseball fans!
I decided to put up a blog in tribute to when baseball used to be played in the Olympics. Baseball is currently not an Olympic sport (it was last played in 2008), but I wanted to tell you guys about a pitcher from Cuba who dominated the Olympics every time he was out on the mound for the Caribbean country.
Baseball was most recently played in the Olympics as an official (non-exhibition) event from 1992 – 2008. Cuba took the gold in three of the five events, in ’92, ’96, and ’04. This probably would have never happened without Pedro Luis Lazo, a 6 foot 3 inch 250 pound 97 mph fastball-throwing Cuban pitcher nicknamed “King Kong”. Unlike Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras who decided to come to the USA and play MLB, Lazo stayed in Cuba for his whole career and helped the Cuban national team win two Olympic gold and two Olympic silver medals from 1996-2008. Lazo has the most medals won by any baseball player ever in Olympic baseball history.
Lazo also was stunning in the Cuban baseball league. He had a record of 257-136. He is second in career strikeouts with 2,426. Also, in the 2005 Baseball Word Cup in the Netherlands, he went 2-0 with two saves and a minuscule 0.54 ERA to help Cuba win gold. He helped his team win the Baseball World Cup four times, one time in Havana, Cuba (they came in second twice). In March 2006, he pitched for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic, and pitched an impressive four-and-a-half inning save against the Dominican Republic in the semis. In all of his gold medal chances in his active career, he has won 14 out of 19. He is one of the most respected Cuban pitchers worldwide.
Muy bueno!!
Hey, Matt… II really liked this post, and I want to share some more with you. I remember that I was about your age when Pedro Luis Lazo (the winningest thrower in the Cuban National Series) was first included in the Cuban National Team: he was termed by many as a fireballer who could do little damage sue to his lack of control and concentration. They were wrong. Even though he had a low start with the Cuban team, mainly because his lack of control, he managed to become one of the most dominant hurlers who have played the Cuban National Series. He gained some more command on his pitches as he grew older, and although he played as a starter in the Cuban League, he was used as a reliever (mainly as a closer) while pitching for the National squad… he was wrongly used as a starter for the Gold medal match against the US in the 2000 Olympics. He lost the game, not because he was not dominant, but because Cuba only managed 4 hits off Ben Sheets and reliever Jose Ibar could not hold on to a short deficit.
Congratulations for the digging you made, I know how hard it is to find online stats of Cuban players in the National Series.
Thanks for posting this!!!!