Cuba’s top baseball league, the Serie Nacional, began play 63 years ago today at Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, restarting competitive baseball in the country following the Communist revolution led by Fidel Castro.
The first Serie Nacional game was played on Jan. 14, 1962, between the Orientales and the Azucareros.
Founded in 1961 following the breakup of the Cuban League, a winter league played on the island from 1878 to 1961, by the regime, Cuban authorities started the Serie Nacional de Beisbol as a replacement winter league with four teams. In the intervening years, it has grown to 12 teams and been the primary baseball league in the country.
Felicidades a todos los que, desde el 14 de enero de 1962, han sido parte de nuestras series nacionales de #Beisbol.
Nacieron ese día en el Estadio Latinoamericano, y desde entonces muchas y hermosas páginas han enriquecido su historia, para disfrute del pueblo.#BeisbolCubano pic.twitter.com/2Pq1bnN8JE— Federación Cubana de Beisbol y Softbol (@CubanaBeisbol) January 14, 2025
In 2022, the Serie Nacional moved its season to the summer, when the Federacion Cubana Beisbol y Softbol established the Cuban Elite League as a winter league.
Both leagues have sent champions to the Caribbean Series, with the Serie Nacional champions representing the island from 2014-19 and the Elite League sending its champion to the 2023 Caribbean Series.
In 2025, the 2024 Serie Nacional champion, the Lenadores de Las Tunas, will represent Cuba at the Serie de Las Americas, which will be played January 24-30 in Leon, Managua, and Masaya, Nicaragua. The tournament will be the first major competition for Cuban players in 2025.
In March, the Cuban Elite League will begin its third season, featuring the top six teams from last year’s Serie Nacional. The league’s season will run through June.
The Lenandores de Las Tunas will again represent Cuba in April, when they travel to Mexico to participate in the second Baseball Champions League Americas, which will include professional league champions from the American Association in the United States, the Liga Colombiana de Beisbol, Puerto Rico’s Liga de Beisbol Superior Doble ‘A’, the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, as well as teams from Curacao and Nicaragua. Held at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, the BCL Americas will be played from April 8-13.
In September, the 64th Serie Nacional will begin, with the season running until January, as the league returns to playing a winter schedule.
Photo: Estadio LatinoAmericano in Havana, Cuba. (Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Allsport)
