Sigfredo Barros

PERHAPS never before has the word 'new' been so appropriate. Cuban Baseball's 51st National Series will see the debut of 11 new managers, one more team, an extra six games and two new measures meant to reduce the escalating dominance of the offense.

Only six of the managers from last season are returning. Among the rest, only Felipe Sarduy in Camagüey, Pinar del Río's Juan Castro and Víctor Mesa in Villa Clara have had previous experience leading teams at this level. The other rookie coaches will face challenges ranging from returning Granma to the play-offs to getting Industriales back on a winning track. Not easy.

The increase in the number of teams to 17, playing 96 games, involves a new level of commitment on the part of organizers, as well as players. One team will always be resting, but in reality, it is to be expected that the team out of play will be training and practicing with provincial or juvenile teams, to stay in shape and maintain rhythm.

Since a baseball season is much like a marathon, there is always the danger of starting out strong and then falling behind, if adequate plans are not made. During the 90-game season, there were teams which imploded after mid-season, like a long-distance runner out of breath.

The height of the pitcher's mound has always been a controversial subject since John Montgomery Ward, a Hall of Fame pitcher and shortstop came up with the idea of an elevated pitcher's mound in 1880. Since then the height has changed. Set at 15 inches in 1950, it was reduced to 10 inches in 1968, when the best hitter in the major leagues had an average of only .301. Cuban baseball has once again adopted a height of 15 inches.

Although the season will begin with Mizuno 150 balls, and these will be used until those on hand run out, the rest of the season will be played with the Mizuno 200. This is expected to slow down the offense, which batted 300 as a whole last year, hitting an inordinate number of homeruns.

But it's not enough. I am of the opinion that there are three main shortcomings in Cuban pitching: lack of control, tactical thinking and specialization. We need to do away with the phrase, heard on thousands of occasions, "Everyone here opens, relieves and closes."

The issue of records deserves its own article. It could be assumed that with six more games, the records established during the 90-game season will be left in the dust and new ones will be marked with an asterisk, as happened with the 61 homerun record set by Roger Maris 50 years ago.

However, with the pitchers mound being three inches higher and the ball less responsive, the likelihood of setting new records this season appears remote. That is a shame, since if there is one thing that excites the fans and makes the game more attractive, it's seeing a record broken, be it for homeruns or strike-outs.