Alazanes de Granma is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. ...

, based in the eastern province of Granma. Until the 2016-2017 season, the Alazanes were a frequent contender, but had never advanced to a National Series final. However, in 2017 Granma not only made it to the

final, but swept

Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373. Geography Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway ...

to win the series, breaking a 40-year record of being seen as underdogs who could not compete with dominant powerhouse teams. The team's nickname is the "Alazanes," which refers to horses which have

sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus '' ...

hair.

History

Early days

Granma first appeared in the XVII Cuban National Series of Baseball during the 1977-1978 season, ending in 11th place in the inaugural season. Agustín Arias played with the team for a short-term prior to his retirement, which a time of relative success for the team, but after his retirement the team become known as a mediocre team, often having a losing (below .500) season record.

The Landing of the Sorrel

Granma's history of losing was about to change, starting in the 1986-1987 season, and by 1988-1989, Granma made it to its first postseason, ending in third place. But consistency continued to be a problem with Granma reaching the playoffs in 1989-1990, 1991-1992 and 1999-2000, but also having many losing regular season records. Significant Granma pitchers in this era included Ernesto Guevara Ramos, Ciro Silvino Licea, Alfredo Fonseca, Manuel Vega Tamayo and Misael López Moreno. Offensively, star Granma players included Pedro Mora, Hermes Ortega, Marcos Naranjo and the brothers Valerio, Santiago and Victor Vicente Bejerano Morales.

21st Century Performance

Granam continued to build in the first decade of the new century, making playoff appearances in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, but then went through a downcycle of not appearing in the Series playoffs again until 2011, with appearances in 2012, 2015 and 2016. Finally in 2017, despite negative predictions by many commentators, Granma won the Cuban National Series, sweeping

Ciego de Avila Ciego is a Spanish word meaning "blind". It may refer to: Places *Ciego de Ávila, a Cuban city, seat of the homonym province *Ciego de Ávila Province, a Cuban province *Arriete-Ciego Montero, a Cuban village in Cienfuegos Province Other *Ciego ...

in four. Team manager Carlos Marti Santos dedicated the win to the memory of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

and to the Granma fans. Alfredo Despaigne Rodriguez (Olympic medalist and player in Japanese and Mexican league baseball) said that the Series win was the greatest moment of his life in baseball.''Radio Havana Cuba English language broadcast for January 25, 2017'' "Recording of Radio Havana Cuba English - January 25, 2017 show - Sports and Cuban Music Segments"
/ref> ''See 2016-2017 Season - Granma (baseball)''

Roster

Management

Granma has been managed by Carlos Marti Santos for 29 of the 40 seasons of the team's existence (1977-1997, 1998-2005, 2007–2008 and 2014-2017). Others managers have included Arnaldo Iznaga, Ramón Rodríguez, Marcos Fonseca, Osvaldo Avilés, Ángel Ortega, and Indalecio Alejandrez.

Notable players

Yoenis Céspedes Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), is a Cuban-born professional baseball outfielder. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics, and has also p ...

, outfielder in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) *

Alfredo Despaigne Alfredo Despaigne Rodriguez (born June 17, 1986) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He played for the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career In 2009, Despai ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granma (Baseball) Baseball teams in Cuba Bayamo Baseball teams established in 1977 1977 establishments in Cuba