By Full Swing / contacto@swingcompleto.com
The epidemiological crisis in Cuba not only remains at its peak due to the enormous number of infections, but deaths continue to rise unfortunately despite the intense vaccination campaign that has been applied on the island for a while.
Among the deceased on the last day is a nurse from Ciego de Ávila, no less than the wife of one of the pitching legends of that territory and at the national level.
Affectionately known as Lula, she was the long-time life partner of former pitcher Lázaro Santana, one of the most important monticulistas that baseball had on the island in the 1960s and 1970s.
A nurse from a polyclinic in the Avilanian municipality of Venezuela, dear Lula, could not resist the attack of the pandemic despite the efforts of her colleagues to save her life.
Not even her husband will be able to say goodbye to her, since Santana is admitted to the same hospital in Avilanian because he has the same virus in his body.
“Lula and Santana created a family that mourns the loss of its main trunk and the residents of their municipality mourn the death of those who for years served the Health system from the honorable profession of Nursing,” he wrote in his profile of Facebook Idania Pupo.
«Goodbye Lula. We will remember you with your joyous character, your jokes and your joy. EPD “, concluded his post who knew the deceased directly along with his family.
The only thing that is known so far about Santana, a member of the national team since 1969, was that his clinical picture was fairly stable despite being a man in his 70s.
Perhaps the fact of having practiced sports most of his life is being one of his main defense weapons against the pandemic.
Ciego de Ávila has been one of the provinces hardest hit on the island by the issue of the pandemic in both the number of cases and the number of deaths, without at the moment showing any indexes that suggest an obvious improvement in the coming weeks.
Santana was born on December 24, 1946 in the Avilanian town of Baragua. He debuted in the National Series in 1965 and in total he reached 140 victories until he retired in 1983. Among his records is that of retiring 29 batters in a row.
It was essential for the titles of Ganaderos in 1976 and Camagüey in the 1977 Selective, despite the fact that in those days the squads of the then Camagüey province they were riddled with star launchers. Santana played the dual role of starter and reliever.
He was undefeated in international events with a mark of 16 and 0, and among his most outstanding participations are the 1969 and 1978 World Cups, the 1978 Central American and the 1979 Pan American Games.
His son had good performances as a reliever for the Avilanian Tigers since the 2002 season.