Lourdes Gurriel Delgado (born 25 March 1957) is a Cuban

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 ...

player and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medalist.

Playing career

Gourriel played 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. ...

. He won the Cuban National Series Rookie of the Year Award during the 1976-77 Cuban National Series for Azucareros. In 1978–1979, he hit 12 doubles to tie

Armando Capiró Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

and Jorge Beltrán for the Serie Nacional lead. He debuted with the

Cuba national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Cuba'') represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is made up from the most professional players from the Cuban national baseball system. Cuba has been des ...

that year, hitting .294 in the 1979 Intercontinental Cup. Gourriel led the 1979–1980 Serie Nacional with 77 hits. In the 1980 Amateur World Series, he hit .452 to help Cuba to the gold medal and got the game-winning hit in one 5-4 game versus

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. He hit .297 in 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 ...

. In the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games, he batted .217 but tied Pedro Jose Rodriguez Sr. for the lead with six RBI. He batted .429 with a leading 4 doubles in the 1983 Intercontinental Cup and joined

Eric Fox Eric Hollis Fox (born August 15, 1963) is an American professional baseball coach. The , former Major League Baseball outfielder attended Fresno State University. Career A switch hitter who threw left-handed, Fox was taken in the 22nd round (566 ...

and

Victor Mesa The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

on the All-Star outfield for the tourney. He hit .526 in the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

. During the 1984 Amateur World Series, Gourriel hit .309/.356/.636, scored 12 runs and drove in 16 to tie

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 ...

for the lead. He also led with 7 doubles. Overall, he outproduced Bonds, his counterpart in left field. In the 1985 Intercontinental Cup, he hit .414. He then batted .524 in the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games. In 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 ...

, the left fielder hit .357, slugged .500 and scored 12 runs. The next year, he hit .321 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 ...

and .327 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 ...

. In the 1988 Selective Series, he hit .430 to win the batting title. Gourriel dazzled 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 hit .500/.579/1.000 to lead in slugging. He also hit two major home runs. In the last round-robin game, he came up with two on, one out and a 9-6 deficit in the 9th inning, then smashed a 3-run homer off of

Joe Slusarski Joseph Andrew Slusarski (born December 19, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1991 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves. He ...

to tie it; Cuba would go on to beat Team USA. In the gold medal game, he hit a game-tying homer in the 9th against

Jim Abbott James Anthony Abbott (born September 19, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers, from 1989 to 1999. He w ...

to again ruin America's hopes. He made the tourney All-Star team, joining Luis Casanova and Daisuke Tsutsui in the outfield. In the 1989 Intercontinental Cup, Lourdes again was in the All-Star outfield, having hit .435 and slugged .913. In the finale against Japan, he drove in four of Cuba's 8 runs. He was 5th in the tournament in average. He won the MVP award for the tourney. In the 1989–1990 National Series, he drew 8 intentional walks to tie Alejo O'Reilly for the lead in his region. He batted .429 in the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games. In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, Gourriel hit .463/.522/.902 for the Gold medalists with 12 runs and 19 RBI in 10 games. He tied Antonio Pacheco for third in homers (4), trailing

Orestes Kindelan In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...

and

Omar Linares Omar Linares Izquierdo (born October 23, 1968)B ...

. He led with 25 hits and trailed only Kindelan in RBI. He made the All-Star team as the best first baseman in the competition. He played for Cuba in the

1990 Goodwill Games The 1990 Goodwill Games was the second edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held between July 20 and August 5, 1990. Following an inaugural edition in Moscow, the second games took place in Seattle, United ...

when they won Gold. During the 1991 Pan American Games, the 34-year-old veteran hit .419 and tied Kindelan and Chris Roberts for the lead with four homers. He made the All-Star team as the top first baseman. In the 1992 Olympics, Gourriel batted .400/.439/.692 with 9 runs and 10 RBI in nine games as the #5 hitter and first baseman for the Gold Medal Cubans, including a 3 for 5 effort against Taiwan in the finals. In the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, Gourriel hit .390/.391/.683 as the DH for the champions. He tied Linares for 4th with 16 RBI and tied for fourth with three homers. He was the tournament's All-Star DH, giving him five All-Star nods in the past five major international tourneys he had played in (excluding the Olympics, which did not name an All-Star; he would have been a likely choice at first). In the 1993 Central American Games, he batted .444 and led with 12 hits. The old-timer kept on hitting in 1993–1994, winning a National Series batting crown (.395) and also leading in doubles (19). He won the

Cuban National Series Most Valuable Player Award The following is a list of most valuable players ( es, jugadores mas valiosos or ) in the Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of ...

. In the

1994 Baseball World Cup The 1994 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 32nd 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 ...

, the 37-year-old remained at the top of his game, winning the MVP honors after hitting .429/.488/.881 with 4 homers, 15 runs and 18 RBI in 10 games. He led the Cup in RBI, tied for the lead in triples (2), tied for third in hits and tied for fifth in home runs. He was chosen as the All-Star DH for his sixth All-Star selection in his last six major world tournaments that picked an All-Star team. In the 1994–1995 Serie Nacional, Gourriel led with 18 intentional walks. He spent his final summer with the national team, hitting .464 to lead the

1995 Pan American Games File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

and went 0 fornatio 1 in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup.

Managing career

After retiring as a player, Gourriel became a manager. He guided

Centrales The Coscinodiscophyceae are a class of diatoms. They are similar to the Centrales, a traditional, paraphyletic subdivision of the heterokont algae known as diatoms. The order is named for the shape of the cell walls (or valves or frustules ...

to a 2003 Super League title. He also managed Sancti Spiritus, for which his sons played. He coached for Cuba in the 2005 Baseball World Cup and

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

. Gourriel led Sancti Spíritus for 7 seasons (2000–2001 to 2006–2007) then spent two years managing in Nicaragua. He returned to his old Cuban squad in 09-10 and managed them to a 63-27 record, the league's best, before they fell in the playoffs 4 games to 1 to the

Industriales Industriales is a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Located in Cerro, La Habana, it is known as the only team representing the country’s capital, Havana. Industriales is historically the most successful team in the National Series, a ...

, major underdogs. After a 49-41 record in 2010–2011, he was replaced by Ruperto Zamora.

Personal life

He is the father of

Yuli Gurriel Yulieski Gourriel Castillo (born June 9, 1984), commonly known as Yuli Gurriel and nicknamed "La Piña", is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He previously played for Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National Serie ...

and

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Lourdes Yunielki Gurriel Castillo Jr. (born October 10, 1993) is a Cuban professional baseball left fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays where he debuted ...

Both his sons became professional players 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), ...

after defecting from Cuba in February 2016.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gourriel, Lourdes 1967 births Living people Olympic baseball players of Cuba Olympic gold medalists for Cuba Olympic medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Baseball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1991 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in baseball Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games Goodwill Games medalists in baseball Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in baseball Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century Cuban people 21st-century Cuban people