By José Alejandro Rodríguez Zas
Orestes Kindelán has been one of the best hitters that Cuban baseball has produced in its history. Regardless of whether or not he proved himself in the Major Leagues, if he is the best home runner in the history of the Antilles or if he is the Cuban team’s ideal first baseman of all time, his quality as a slugger is indisputable.
“El Tambor Mayor”, as the man from Santiago is known in the baseball world, left impressive numbers as he passed through the National Series. In 21 seasons, Kindelan he amassed a total of 487 home runs, the absolute leader in that department in domestic classics, in 6,588 times at bat, with an impressive frequency of one home run every 13.56 official visits to the plate.
In addition, he compiled for a .313 career average within Cuba and his offensive line of .431 / .600 / .1031 (OBP / SLU / OPS) is one of the most impressive for any Antillean batter, driving in 1,511 runs. which ranks it as the greatest historical tug in Cuban baseball. He won the Triple Crown in Batting in 1989, with 24 homers, 58 RBIs and a .402 average, unbeatable marks by the rest of the players in that season.
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With the Cuba team, “Tambor Mayor” won the gold medal in multiple world championships, Olympic Games, Intercontinental Cups, Pan-American and Central American Games, while with his Santiago de Cuba team, he won the national title four times.
Following his retirement from active sports, he played several seasons in Japanese professional baseball, before leading his provincial team in the 57th edition of the National Series. He was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
Today we bring you a fragment of an interview with Orestes Kindelán in the program “Mi Beisbol” on Cuban Television, in which the slugger from Santiago does not refer to his sporting career or to his impressive numbers at the ready, inside and outside the island , but offers his opinion on the current problems of Cuban baseball and possible solutions in this regard.
“According to the comments that I have heard from many athletes, the affection, the unity, a little love and the desire of the athletes have been lost to go out on the field to fight for their baseball, to brighten up their baseball and to sacrifice for their baseball” Kindelán said.
«I think that all that has been lost a lot, because there is a lot of disagreement on the part of the athletes and very little sincerity on the part of many federationals. That is a bit of a difficult blow and something very bad for our baseball to lift. As long as there are people who feel baseball from their mouths to the outside and not inside their chest, our baseball will never again reach the place that it has always wanted to have and that it has had years ago. These things must be analyzed now and step forward to draw conclusions soon. “
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“Talking about bad things in baseball tightens my chest, because my life has been completely dedicated to him. Treating my baseball with so much affection and with so much love to now talk about so many bad things that I see every day, there are ways to solve them, it is difficult. Our baseball, right now, is going through difficult times. The championships that were achieved are no longer being won. »
“A lot is happening, there is a lot of disappointment, they talk a lot with the athletes, but things are not going well at all. I hope that these problems will be solved shortly, to give our people the joy of having a baseball like the one they have always seen, enjoyed and experienced. The sooner that comes, the more joy we will have. We are living through difficult times, joy needs to come in some way and I believe that baseball, which is our national pastime, can bring joy. Baseball is something that people can see a lot and to observe the athletes giving themselves in the game, their jersey and their team, it would be very good »
«The measures in our baseball must be taken quickly and we must go to the concrete, to the mistakes that we are making, because if we give it time and arguing the problems, we will not get out of the pothole, baseball will continue in the place which is or go further down. The measures in our baseball must be taken urgently, both in athletes and in federation. All of us who are involved in Cuban baseball must step forward and very soon, analyze things and tell the truth, “he concluded.
You can see all the video notes of «The Complete Swing Show» by clicking on this link.