By Pablo Pichardo/ @Pablo_Pichardo1
Baseball is a sport in which the winner is the one that manages to score more times in nine innings–which is the general but not only duration of the game–so men with many runs scored throughout a season (and a career) are very important.
Cubans in the MLB (https://www.mlb.com/) add up to the extraordinary amount of 33,950 runs, with Rafael Palmeiro having a starring role, with 1,663 runs scored through his 20-year career.
Only six Cubans have managed over 1,000 career runs scored, with honorable mentions for Hall of Famers Tony Pérez (1,272) and Orestes “Minnie” Miñoso (1,225).
Among active players, White Sox first sacker José Abreu is at the lead with 612, despite not having scored more than 100 runs in a single season. Behind the Cienfuegos-born, his teammate Yasmani Grandal ranks in second place (471).
Interestingly, only eight Cuban-born players have managed to get 100-run seasons, as published by Official Baseball Stats by SC:
Bateadores cubanos 🇨🇺 con temporadas de 100 anotadas o más:
— Official baseball stats by SC (@OfficialStatsSC) March 2, 2022
▪️Rafael Palmeiro – 4
▪️Orestes Miñoso – 4
▪️José Canseco – 2
▪️Tony Pérez – 2
▪️Tony Oliva – 2
▪️Zoilo Versalles – 1
▪️Tony Taylor – 1
▪️Yoenis Céspedes – 1 #DatoConSwing #OrgulloCubano #SwingCompleto
1- Rafael Palmeiro
Apart from being the all team leader among Cubans in runs scored, the slugger, who made his MLB debut on September 8, 1986, is the Cuban with most seasons with over 100 runs scored.
The four-time All-Star and Silver Slugger managed the feat for the first time in 1991, for the Texas Rangers. He would repeat the feat in 1993 (Rangers), 1996 (Baltimore Orioles) and 2000 (Rangers again).
2- Minnie Miñoso
It is no surprise to find the 13-time All-Star Hall of Famer in this list, let along heading it along with Palmeiro.
Minnie managed the feat in five years, playing for the White Sox, 1951 (109 runs), 1953 (104), 1954 (119) and 1956 (106). After the 1956 campaign, he was close to the mark several times, but could not get there.
Apart from them, these great players also managed 100 runs in at least one season José Canseco (1988, 1991), Tony Pérez (1969, 1970), Tony Oliva (1964 y 1965), Zoilo Versalles (1965), Tony Taylor (1963) and Yoenis Céspedes (2015).
The curious fact is that only one National Series player–Céspedes–has managed the feat, which means it is one of the most elusive marks for our boys in the world’s grandest baseball stage.
