Luis Giraldo Casanova Castillo (born December 5, 1956) is a former baseball player in the Cuban National Series who had a successful career in international tournaments. He led 7 major international tournaments in home runs, over half of the competitions he appeared in. Casanova's teams won many titles in Cuban league play and he led the league in all three Triple Crown statistics at least once.

Personal life

He was born in

Bahía Honda, Cuba Bahía Honda is a municipality and town in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. Before 2011, the municipality belonged to Pinar del Río Province. Overview It is located on the northern shore of the island, in an inlet of the Florida Straits, west of ...

. He was nicknamed ''El Señor Pelotero''. He is the brother of Leovigildo Casanova and uncle of Reinier Casanova.

1970s

Casanova made his debut on the international stage in the

1978 Central American and Caribbean Games The 13th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Medellín, Colombia from July 7 to July 28, 1978, and included 2,605 athletes from nineteen nations, competing in 21 sports. Sports * * References Meta* Central American and Ca ...

. The 21-year-old outfielder helped the Cuban national team win a Gold Medal, going 20 for 33 and tying for the most doubles (5). In the

1978 Amateur World Series The 1978 Amateur World Series was the 25th Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 19 ...

, Casanova hit .444 with 12 runs and eight RBI in ten games. He was second in the tournament in batting average behind Roberto Espino. His 3 homers tied for 4th, behind Antonio Muñoz, Tim Wallach and Ernesto Lopez. Cuba won Gold. In the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

, Casanova had 13 hits in 35 at-bats to hit .371 and help Cuba win Gold. He tied Terry Francona for the most triples (3) and tied Francona and Agustin Marquetti for the most hits. In the

1979 Intercontinental Cup The 1979 Intercontinental Cup was an association football final played on a two-legged system. It was the last time in the history of the tournament that this format was used before Toyota became the main sponsor in 1980 and a single-game final was ...

, Casanova hit .375 as Cuba cruised to victory. Casanova had his first great season in domestic play in Cuba in the 1979-1980 Serie Nacional, leading in runs (64) and walks (57). He tied for the most sacrifice flies (5) and his 18 home runs tied Pedro José Rodríguez, Sr. for the most.

1980s

Casanova tied Antonio Muñoz for the

1980 Amateur World Series The 1980 Amateur World Series was the 26th Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 1 ...

lead in home runs with seven as Cuba won Gold. In the 1981 Serie Nacional season, Casanova led the league with 9 times hit by pitch. In the Selective Series of 1981, he hit .363, leading the league in batting average. He also tied for the league lead in triples, with four. During the

1981 Intercontinental Cup The 1981 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Flamengo of Brazil on 13 December 1981 at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The annual Intercontinental Cup was contested between the winners of ...

, Casanova's Cuban team failed to win Gold for the first and only time of his career. He was 19 for 37 at the plate and led in average (.514), home runs (6), runs (12), hits (15) and RBI (19). Casanova won MVP honors though the USA took home the Gold Medal. In the 1982 Selective Series, he led the league in runs scored with 49. He also tied for the league lead in triples, with four. It was the only year from 1978-1986 that Casanova did not play on the international stage, as Cuba sat out the

1982 Amateur World Series The 1982 Amateur World Series was the 27th Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 19 ...

. During the 1982-1983 Serie Nacional, Casanova tied Alejo O'Reilly for the most walks, with 34. Casanova batted .389 in a backup role in the

1983 Intercontinental Cup The 1983 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 11 December 1983 between Hamburger SV, winners of the 1982–83 European Cup, and Grêmio, winners of the 1983 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the National Stadiu ...

, as Cuba won Gold. In the 1983-1984 Serie Nacional, the 27-year-old veteran tied

Lázaro Junco Lázaro is a Spanish or Portuguese-based given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Lázaro (footballer, born 1990), full name Lázaro Vinícius Alves Martins, Brazilian footballer *Lázaro (footballer, born 2002), ful ...

for the league lead in home runs, with 20. He tied for the most doubles (19) and led with 67 RBI. That won him the MVP award, the only time he took home that honor for a Serie Nacional. In the 1984 Selective Series, he hit .391, leading the league. In the

1984 Amateur World Series The 1984 Amateur World Series was the 28th Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 1 ...

, Casanova hit .364 with 6 home runs, 12 runs and 15 RBI in 13 games. He tied Pedro José Rodríguez and Roberto Bianchi for the home run lead, tied Bianchi for third in hits (20) and tied Muñoz for third in RBI. Casanova helped Cuba to Gold; among those he outslugged was American

Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...

. He was to appear in the 1984 Olympics, but did not because Cuba boycotted them. Casanova batted .429 in the

1985 Intercontinental Cup The 1985 Intercontinental Cup was an Association football match played on 8 December 1985, between Juventus, winners of the 1984–85 European Cup, and Argentinos Juniors, winners of the 1985 Copa Libertadores. Recognised as the best edition in t ...

, which he led in home runs (6) and RBI (19). During the

1986 Amateur World Series The 1986 Amateur World Series was the 29th Amateur World Series (AWS), an international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). The tournament took place, for the first ti ...

, Casanova hit .409 with a tournament-leading 19 RBI and six home runs to help Cuba win Gold. He tied Italy's

Giuseppe Carelli Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

for most RBI. In the

1986 Central American and Caribbean Games The 15th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Anti ...

, the outfield superstar hit .500 and led the tournament with 16 runs scored. Cuba claimed another Gold. Casanova made the All-Star outfield in the

1987 Intercontinental Cup The 1987 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 13 December 1987 between Porto of Portugal, winners of the 1986–87 European Cup, and Peñarol of Uruguay, winners of the 1987 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at t ...

as Cuba won it all. In the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

, Casanova hit .433 with four home runs and 12 runs scored to help Cuba take Gold. In the

1988 Baseball World Cup The 1988 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 30th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

, he led the tournament in home runs with seven while hitting .392 with 15 runs and 21 RBI in 13 games. He tied Tino Martinez for second in the tournament in RBI, behind Robin Ventura's 32. He was 4th with 20 hits. Casanova had two assists and no errors in right field. He made the tournament All-Star team, joining

Lourdes Gourriel Lourdes Gurriel Delgado (born 25 March 1957) is a Cuban baseball player and Olympic gold medalist. Playing career Gourriel played in the Cuban National Series. He won the Cuban National Series Rookie of the Year Award during the 1976-77 ...

and

Daisuke Tsutsui is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大輔, "big, assist" *大介, "big, mediate" *大祐, "big, bless" *大助, "big, help" *大典, "big, law/rule ...

in the outfield. Though Cuba won Gold, the US's Martinez beat out Casanova for MVP honors.

1990s

In the

1990 Baseball World Cup The 1990 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 31st international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

, Casanova hit .462 with eight RBI and three home runs in five games, splitting right field action with

Ermidelio Urrutia Ermidelio Urrutia Quiroga (born August 25, 1963) is a Cuban baseball player and Olympic gold medalist. Urrutia is a one time Gold medalist for baseball, winning at the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos ...

. He hit all of his home runs in a single game, becoming only the second person to hit three home runs in a Baseball World Cup game (the other was Antonio Muñoz, who did it in 1980). In the

1991 Intercontinental Cup The 1991 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 8 December 1991 between Red Star Belgrade of SFR Yugoslavia, winners of the 1990–91 European Cup, and Colo-Colo of Chile, winners of the 1991 Copa Libertadores. The match ...

, Casanova tied

Prospero Baca Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea ...

and Wei-Cheng Chen for second in the tournament in RBI, with 12, as Cuba won yet another Gold. Furthermore, he hit .364 with nine walks, ten runs and four home runs in 11 games. He was second in home runs, one behind

Jose Ramon Padilla Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya * Jose the Galil ...

. Casanova was a coach for Nicaragua in the

1998 Baseball World Cup The 1998 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 33rd international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

Cuban Series career statistics

Overall, Casanova hit .322 in 17 seasons in Cuba. He belted 312 homers in 5,288 AB, scored 1,144 runs, drove in 1,069 runs and drew 1,049 walks.Statistics
/ref>

21st century

In the 2008-2009 Cuban National League, Casanova managed

Pinar del Rio Pinar may refer to: * Pınar, Turkish feminine given name * Píñar, municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain * Pinar del Río, a city of Cuba * Pinar del Río Province, a province of Cuba * Pinar, Albania, village in Tirana County ...

to a second-place finish, three games behind La Habana. They finished with a 54-36 record. It was Luis's managerial debut, having previously been a coach in Cuba following his playing career.

External links

Olvidado, “El Señor Pelotero”, Luis Giraldo Casanova, Jorge Luis Artiles Montiel
(Spanish)

(Spanish)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casanova, Luis Living people 1956 births Cuban baseball players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games Baseball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games People from Bahía Honda, Cuba