Antonio Nicolás Muñoz Hernández (born January 17, 1949) is a Cuban former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who spent his 24-year career as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the

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

(SNB). Known as "El Gigante del Escambray" (''The Giant of Escambray''), he played with Azucareros, Las Villas,

Sancti Spíritus Sancti Spíritus () is a municipality and capital city of the province of Sancti Spíritus in central Cuba and one of the oldest Cuban European settlements. Sancti Spíritus is the genitive case of Latin ''Sanctus Spiritus'' ("Holy Spirit"). ...

, and

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...

. Muñoz won eight home run titles, and was the first player in the history of the National Series to reach 300 home runs. At the time of his retirement, he was the league's all-time leader in nine offensive statistics, including runs scored, doubles, home runs, total bases, walks and intentional walks. His career home run record stood until it was surpassed by Lazaro Junco in the 1980s. Muñoz was selected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, and was awarded the Hero of the Republic of Cuba by

Miguel Díaz-Canel Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (; born 20 April 1960) is a Cuban politician and engineer. He has served as the 8th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021 and as the 17th president o ...

in 2024. Historian Peter C. Bjarkman described Muñoz, along with national team star

Agustín Marquetti Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include: Given name * Agustín Adorni (born 1990), Argentine footballer * Agustín Allione (born 1994), Argentine footballer * Ag ...

, as Cuba's version of the M&M Boys (

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (born Maras; September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new List of Major League Baseball p ...

and

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

writer Ron Fimrite described him as a "left-handed

Tony Pérez Atanasio "Tony" Pérez Rigal (born May 14, 1942) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman and third baseman from through , most notably as a member ...

." After

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

manager Preston Gómez visited Cuba in 1977, he reportedly said that the only thing he wanted to take back with him was "that big hillbilly in my suitcase," referring to Muñoz.

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1949 births Living people 20th-century Cuban sportsmen Baseball first basemen Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Cuban baseball players Elefantes de Cienfuegos players People from Trinidad, Cuba Sportspeople from Sancti Spíritus Province {{cuba-baseball-first-baseman-stub