Orestes Kindelán Olivares (born November 1, 1964) 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 ...

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 ...

and

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. He spent most of his career 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), playing all 21 seasons with Avispas de Oriente / Avispas de Santiago de Cuba. Nicknamed as "El Tambor Mayor" ("The Drum Major") as well as "El Cañon de Dos Rios", he was regarded as the most prolific

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

hitter in the history of post-

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

Cuban baseball. Kindelán starred on the ''Aplanadora Santiaguera'' ("Santiago Steamroller") team that won three consecutive SNB titles from 1999 to 2001. He was also an offensive powerhouse for the Cuban national baseball team, which won four

Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup (BWC) was an international baseball tournament for national teams around the world, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). First held in 1938 as the Amateur World Series (AWS), it was, for most of its ...

s, two Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s, and various other international tournaments during his tenure.

Domestic career

Kindelán debuted in the Cuban National Series on December 20, 1981. He played the bulk of his 21 seasons for his home province's Avispas de Santiago de Cuba. At the conclusion of the 1988–89 Cuban National Series, he became the first Cuban ballplayer to achieve the triple crown (for the eastern division of the SNB), batting .402 average with 24 home runs and 58

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. Kindelán played for Japanese corporate team Shidax between 2002 and 2004 in the

Intercity baseball tournament The intercity baseball tournament (都市対抗野球大会 ''Toshi Taikō yakyū taikai'') of Japan, commonly known as "Summer All-star or Mid-Summer Classic " (真夏の球宴 ''manatsu no kyūen''), is an annual nationwide industrial baseba ...

. He retired as the holder of

records for home runs (487, with aluminium bat 17 series), runs batted in (1,511), and total bases (3,893).

International career

Kindelán was a longtime member of the

Cuba national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team () represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is generally made up of players from the domestic Cuban national baseball system, though it has at times included professional players who defect ...

. He earned two more triple crowns in international competition: at the 1990 Baseball World Cup in Canada (leading with a .588 batting average, six home runs, and 19 RBIs) and at 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 ...

, held in Mexico City (posting a .560 batting average, tied with Antonio Pacheco; six home runs; and 15 RBIs). In international competition, Kindelán registered an exceptional at bats per home run rate of 7.5 (98 home runs in 735 official at-bats). At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, he hit the longest home run ever recorded at

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, often referred to as Fulton County Stadium and originally named Atlanta Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The stadium was home of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseb ...

, a third-deck homer.

Personal life

Kindelán briefly managed Santiago de Cuba for a single season in 2017–18. He currently manages the Templiers de Senart of the

French Division 1 Baseball Championship The Division Élite is the highest level of Baseball in France. Its clubs compete for the Championnat de France de baseball. Organization The French D1 begins play on March 23, 2025. An eight-team league plays a 28-game schedule on weekends, wit ...

. When he took over management of Senart in 2025, he became only the second Cuban, after

Rolando Meriño Rolando Meriño Betancourt is a professional baseball player for Cuba. He was born on February 17, 1971, in Santiago de Cuba and was part of the Cuban teams which won silver medals at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 S ...

, to coach in France. His son, Lionard Kindelán, was also a baseball player with Santiago before leaving Cuba; he has played with

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in the Italian Serie A and with Samanes de Aragua in the

Venezuelan Major League The Venezuelan Major League, officially the Major League of Professional Baseball ( or LMBP) is a professional baseball league in Venezuela. Unlike the top-level Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, which plays a winter league schedule, the ...

. Kindelán is a cousin of amateur boxer Mario Kindelán.

References

External links

1964 births Living people 20th-century Cuban sportsmen 21st-century Cuban sportsmen Avispas de Santiago de Cuba players Baseball first basemen Baseball outfielders Baseball players at the 1991 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball players from Santiago de Cuba Province Baseball players at the 1990 Goodwill Games Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Cuban expatriate baseball players in Japan Goodwill Games medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for Cuba Olympic gold medalists for Cuba Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic silver medalists for Cuba Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games gold medalists in baseball People from Palma Soriano 1994 Baseball World Cup players 1998 Baseball World Cup players 2001 Baseball World Cup players {{cuba-baseball-outfielder-stub