Juan Padilla Alfonso (born September 16, 1965 in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

) was a member of the Gold Medal-winning Cuban team at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

Cuban leagues

He drove in 63 runs for 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 ...

in the 1987–1988 Serie Nacional to lead the league. In 1995–1996, he homered in the last game of the finals to give the Industriales the pennant. Overall, Padilla hit .307/.363/.447 in 17 seasons in Cuba and fielded .978. Through 2009, he ranked 10th all-time in assists (4,621) and 7th in double plays (1,224). He was 12th in sacrifice flies (70) and 7th with 68 triples, right between brothers

Wilfredo Sanchez Wilfredo is a given name which may refer to: * Wilfredo Alicdan (born 1965), Filipino figurative artist * Wilfredo Alvarado (born 1970), Venezuelan football defender * Willy Caballero (born 1981), Argentine football goalkeeper * Wilfredo Caraballo ...

and Fernando Sanchez. For the 1990s, he hit .322, tied for 10th with Luis Ulacia in that span. An eye injury (unrelated to baseball) ended Padilla's career after the 2000 season. He later managed the Metropolitanos for several years.

International career

Juan played for the Cuban national team in over a dozen events. He played in the 1986 Amateur World Series (2 for 3) and

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 ...

(1 for 2). 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 ...

, the 22-year-old was 1 for 6 and made one error in six chances as a backup to Antonio Pacheco at 2B and Luis Ulacia at SS. With the gold medal game tied at three in the bottom of the 9th, he pinch-ran for Orestes Kindelan and came home on a single by Lazaro Vargas off

Andy Benes Andrew Charles Benes (born August 20, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1989 to 2002, most prominently as a member of the San Diego Padres where he was n ...

to give Cuba a 4-3 come-from-behind win over

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 ...

. Padilla played 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 play ...

, going 0 for 2 for the champs. 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 ...

, Padilla was two for four with a double as the backup to Pacheco at second, Cuba taking Gold. In the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, Juan was Cuba's starters and hit .275/.333/.450 with 9 RBI in 11 games, tying Lazaro Junco for second on Cuba behind Luis Casanova. He tied for 4th in the event with two homers. He was named the tournament All-Star second baseman, beating out Japan's

Koichi Oshima is a retired Japanese professional baseball player from Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan. He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes, Orix Buffaloes, and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles during his professional career, and currently works as a minor league hitting ...

, who had better stats. He was 0 for 3 in the gold medal game and made an error but Cuba squeaked past Taiwan, 2-1. 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 ...

, Padilla got into just one game as Pacheco's backup, going 3 for 5 with 3 RBI against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The Havana native was 0 for 1 in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup as a defensive sub for Pacheco; in four games, he handled two chances without an error. He did not play in the gold medal game win versus the USA. He went 0 for 1 in the

1993 Central American and Caribbean Games The 17th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. The Games were held 19–30 November 1993, and included 3,570 athletes from 31 nations. History of the 1993 Games Organization and planning The ...

. Padilla was 0 for 1 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 ...

, backing up

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

at third base. 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 St ...

, he went 2 for 12 while backing up Pacheco. He was 1 for 4 in 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 ...

. He played six innings in five games as a defensive sub for Pacheco in the

1996 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, ...

and singled in his lone at-bat, scoring a run. He was with Cuba for game two of the

1999 Baltimore Orioles – Cuban national baseball team exhibition series File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoo ...

. Padilla managed Cuba in the

2004 Haarlem Baseball Week The 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week was an international baseball competition held at the Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, the Netherlands from July 23 to August 1, 2004. It was the 22nd edition of the tournament and featured teams from Chinese Taipei, ...

and the Ecuador national baseball team in the 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifiers.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Juan 1965 births Living people Baseball players from Havana Olympic baseball players of Cuba Olympic gold medalists for Cuba Olympic medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Baseball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games