Avispas de Santiago de Cuba (English: Santiago de Cuba Wasps) is a baseball team 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 ...

based in

Estadio Guillermón Moncada Estadio Guillermón Moncada is a multi-use stadium in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. It is the second largest baseball stadium in Cuba and comfortably seats 25,000 spectators. The stadium was inaugurated on February 24, 1964. It is a project of the Arc ...

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

. The ''Avispas'' (Wasps) are historically one of the most successful teams in the National Series, the main domestic competition in post-revolutionary Cuban baseball. The team is similar to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in MLB in the sense that they have fans all over the country (especially in the east), and are the eternal rivals of

Industriales Industriales is a professional 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 Nat ...

, the New York Yankees of Cuban baseball. The traditional rivalry on the baseball diamond also represents the rivalry between the two cities (La Habana and Santiago de Cuba) dating back to the era when Cuba was a colony of Spain two centuries ago. The Super Classic of the Cuban National Series between EB Santiago de Cuba and Industriales takes place six times per season. The ''Avispas'' have won eight Cuban National Series championships, including three straight titles during the 1998-99, 1999-2000, and 2000-01 seasons. Santiago's latest Cuban National Series championship came in the 2007-2008 season, defeating Pinar del Rio in a 4 game sweep. Santiago de Cuba has sent one player to the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums in or around Tokyo, Japan, and the American cities o ...

, pitcher Ormari Romero; and four players to the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an International Baseball Federation, international baseball competition. It began on March 5 and finished March 23. Unlike in 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2006, when the Round-robin tournament, round- ...

: Luis Miguel Navas, Norge Luis Vera, Hector Olivera and Rolando Meriño. Two Avispas have gone to the Olympic Games, Rey Isaac in 1996, and Danny Betancourt in 2004. In each year, the Cuban team won gold.

Roster

Notable players

References