By SwingCompleto / contact@swincompleto.com
The bad news related to Cuban baseball does not stop, especially those that have to do with the death of figures related to this sport, several of which reached the category of stars or symbols of either a stage or a province.
That is the case of the santiaguero Ramón Hechavarría Yate, that together with Ricardo Lazo from Havana, he was among the elite of the Cuban catcher in the initial decade of the National Series that emerged in 1962.
This morning was when the death of one of the icons of that romantic stage of the sixties occurred, where Hechavarría had the offensive leadership together with Elpidio Mancebo and Fermín Laffita of those oriental teams that brought so much brilliance to the national championships.
Born in Palma Soriano (August 24, 1938), “Chava” kept battling for a long time, even years, against dissimilar health conditions that led to, among other consequences, losing the ability to walk.
He was one of the survivors of the first National Series, and he was in other momentous moments internally and externally. Their most important collective moment at home was the title of Orientales in the anthological 1966-67 campaign in which they defeated Industriales in the final game held at the Latinoamericano Stadium by their pitching star Manuel Alarcón.
In international events he was in most of the contests of the sixties, among them the unforgettable 1969 Dominican World Championship. He also attended the events of the world of Cartagena 1970 and Havana 1971. He was in the Pan American Games of 1963, 1967 and 1971, in addition to the Central Americans of 1962, 1966 and 1970.
Hechavarría was not a virtuoso defensively speaking, which is why Lazo had more chances with the Cuba team behind home plate. His main strength was in his offensive ability that made him one of the best hitters of his time, and the best with the wood among receivers.
In addition to his power, he also excelled as a born drive thanks to his mettle to take advantage of the crucial moments of the ball game.
He went down in history as the first and so far only active player to coach in a National Series, becoming manager in 1966 on an interim basis and temporarily after Roberto Ledo was suspended for an altercation with a referee.
He played a total of 17 National Series in which he amassed 53 homers and 362 RBIs with an offensive average of 263, which, when viewed coldly, are unimpressive statistics. But if we delve into that era of bad bat and ball, concentrated pitching in few teams and tournaments that often did not meet a broad schedule compared to more recent times, the conclusion may be quite different.
Those who saw him in action agree that it is totally fair to place him as one of the most important players of those initial years of the National Series, a true icon for the teams of the eastern territory and also in a general way.
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