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 The Cuban National Series Rookie of the Year Award goes to the top newcomer in the Cuban National Series. List References {{Cuban National Series Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rooki ...

during the 1976-77 Cuban National Series for Azucareros. In 1978–1979, he hit 12 doubles to tie Armando Capiró and

Jorge Beltrán Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...

for the Serie Nacional lead. He debuted with the Cuba national baseball team that year, hitting .294 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 ...

. Gourriel led the 1979–1980 Serie Nacional with 77 hits. In 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 ...

, he hit .452 to help Cuba to the gold medal and got the game-winning hit in one 5-4 game versus Team USA. He hit .297 in the 1981 Intercontinental Cup. In the

1982 Central American and Caribbean Games The 14th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 7 to August 18, 1982, and included 2,420 athletes from nineteen nations competing in 25 different sports. Some events were held in Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, an ...

, he batted .217 but tied

Pedro Jose Rodriguez Sr. Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

for the lead with six RBI. He batted .429 with a leading 4 doubles 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 ...

and joined Eric Fox 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 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

, he hit .414. He then batted .524 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 ...

. In the 1986 Amateur World Series, 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 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 to again ruin America's hopes. He made the tourney All-Star team, joining Luis Casanova 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. In the

1989 Intercontinental Cup The 1989 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 17 December 1989 between Milan of Italy, winners of the 1988–89 European Cup, and Atlético Nacional of Colombia, winners of the 1989 Copa Libertadores. The match was pla ...

, 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 The 16th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Mexico City the capital of Mexico from November 20 to December 3, 1990, and included a total of 4,206 competitors from 29 nations, the largest the games had ever seen. The 1990 Central A ...

. 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 ...

, 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 and Omar Linares. 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 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organization, PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was ...

, 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 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

, 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 The 1993 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 12 December 1993 between Milan, runners-up of the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, and São Paulo, winners of the 1993 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the Natio ...

, 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 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The White House (Moscow), Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Cze ...

, 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. 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 The 1995 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 28 November 1995 between Ajax, winners of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, and Grêmio, winners of the 1995 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the National Sta ...

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 The 2005 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 36th 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 ...

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

Ruperto Zamora Ruperto is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *José Ruperto Monagas (1831–1880), elected President of Venezuela 1869–1870 *Ruperto Alaura, Cebuano writer *Ruperto Biete (1906–1929), Spanish boxer *Ruperto Chapí ( ...

Personal life

He is the father of Yuli Gurriel and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Both his sons became professional players in Major League Baseball 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