Legend of Cuban pitching high at home, but with suffering

By SwingCompleto / contact@swincompleto.com

Despite the fact that some unpleasant news has been received this month about Cuban ex-players who have not been able to win the battle against this contagious and terrible disease, in reality there have been more who have been cured and today they are at home.

Such is the case of the great former Avilanian pitcher Lázaro Santana, who had enough strength to leave the hospital, although his life is already being different, full of sadness.

And it is that in the hospital where the veteran expelotero was, was his wife “Lula”, who could not resist the onslaught of this harmful virus. She was a nurse at a polyclinic in the Venezuelan municipality where this long-standing marriage lived.

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Her death caused an impact, not only because of her husband’s fame but also because he was a very dear person for his way of being, together with the importance of the work he did until the moment of contracting the disease.

Santana could not say goodbye to “Lula”, as has happened in most cases since this evil began to afflict humanity practically two years ago.

“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 Radio Surco journalist 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.

Fortunately, Santana was able to save his life, although he will no longer have his usual companion to accompany him from now on.

Ciego de Ávila has been one of the provinces hardest hit on the island by the issue of the pandemic both in the number of cases and deaths, without showing any indexes that suggest an obvious improvement in the coming weeks. Two former launchers of the territory lost their lives last month, as were the cases of Julio Mantilla and Omar Carrero Jr.

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 wins 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 were plagued with stellar pitchers. 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 Lázaro Santana Jr. had good performances as a reliever for the Avilanian Tigers since the 2002 campaign. He currently resides in Chile.