# Antonio Pacheco Masó **Date of birth:** June 4, 1964 **Categories:** Sports, baseball Cuban baseball player, second base starter, whose performances are rated as outstanding in Cuban Baseball. Set a record in hits by connecting two thousand 356. Sports Glory and the only Cuban baseball player who wore the uniforms of the national team in all categories. Born in Palma Soriano, province of Santiago de Cuba. He made his debut at the continental tournament in Caracas 1983 as a substitute for infielders, but an injury to Alfonso Urquiola allowed him to play several games. The former international had debuted just days before wearing the national uniform during the Intercontinental Cup held in Antwerp, Belgium, in which he also won the gold medal. In the Venezuelan competition, Pacheco, who was then 19 years old, had as teammates, among others, Víctor Mesa, Lourdes Gourriel, Pedro Jova, Braudilio Vinent, Rogelio García, Antonio Muñoz and Luis Giraldo Casanova. The Cubans dominated the competition, despite the presence of a powerful American squad, in which Mark McGwire played, among others, who would later write unforgettable pages in the Major Leagues as a home run hitter before getting involved in a doping scandal. With the intention of maintaining the dominance in the sport of balls and strikes that it had treasured since Cali, Colombia, in 1971, the Island formed another powerful team for Indianapolis 1987 and Pacheco was a key player again, this time accompanied by Orestes Kindelán, Lázaro Vargas Álvarez, Alejo O'Rreilly, Omar Linares and the already known Víctor Mesa, Lourdes Gourriel and Jorge Luis Valdés, among some other talented players. By then, Pacheco had earned the starting position at second base thanks to sound play and powerful offense, relegating the rest of the contenders to the bench. In Havana 1991, already converted into team captain, he was key again, once more alongside Kindelán, Mesa and Linares, thanks to which the Cuban team extended their streak of titles and took the gold medal home. Pacheco arrived at Mar del Plata 1995 as an established player, with an Olympic title and the endorsement of having become one of the most consistent batters in local tournaments and a strong candidate to break several absolute records. In the Argentine resort Cuban baseball smiled again and the phlegmatic player obtained his fourth crown at the age of 31 years. For Winnipeg 1999 health played a bad trick on him; although he was included in the official roster, he had to relinquish the starting position at second base to Juan Padilla. In the Canadian city Cuba played for qualification to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, which it won in the semifinal game against the powerful local team. In the end, the Cuban team returned with the title and the still captain of the Cuban ninth added the fifth consecutive crown, an achievement that no other baseball player has managed to equal in Pan American history. He played for the last time with the national team in the Intercontinental Cup in Taipei China 2001, after leaving an impressive record of service in domestic and foreign competitions, both marked by many titles, including two Olympic ones. He later ventured into amateur baseball in Japan, from where he returned to manage the Santiago de Cuba team, since 2005, which he led to three consecutive finals with two titles, 2005 and 2007. A career of 22 national seasons left him among the top 10 in times at bat, runs scored, doubles, runs batted in, batting average and leading in hits, connecting two thousand 356, a record that, it seems, will endure for many more years. He was the only Cuban baseball player and perhaps in the world who wore the uniforms of the national team in all categories, from childhood age. That first opportunity was in 1974, before turning 10 years old. The last took place in 2001, in Taipei China, site of the XXXIV edition of the World Championship. Pacheco's stability in the various representative teams of Santiago de Cuba led him to become an important spark plug. Since 1982 he was captain of Santiago de Cuba and held similar responsibility in the national team starting in 1986. His performances merit the outstanding rating throughout 22 seasons of permanent work. In Cuba he is the absolute owner of hits records (2,356), including 713 extra bases (366 doubles, 63 triples and 284 home runs), figures that are very difficult even to match for second base defenders. Sports Career Defensive Role JJ INN O A E TL AVE DP TP 1853 14197.2 4054 4630 205 8889 .977 1139 2 Offensive Role SN CB VB C H AVE 2B 3B HR TB SLU BR CR CI SH SF DB BB BI SO BD 22 7955 7045 1258 2356 .334 366 63 284 3700 .525 60 44 1304 8 88 73 741 77 834 187 World Series (7) VB C H 2B 3B HR TB SLU CI BB K AVE 262 79 110 12 3 21 191 725 77 18 37 419 Intercontinental Cups (8) VB C H 2B 3B HR TB SLU CI BB K AVE 227 62 83 15 6 21 191 725 77 18 37 419 Olympic Games (3) VB C H 2B 3B HR TB SLU CI BB K AVE 105 26 38 6 0 8 68 647 32 9 14 361 Pan American Games (5) VB C H 2B 3B HR TB SLU CI BB K AVE 107 41 52 7 2 9 90 841 40 15 4 486 Central American and Caribbean Games (5) VB C H 2B 3B HR TB SLU CI BB K AVE 103 35 45 6 0 9 78 757 32 14 11 437 Awards 1982: Gold, Youth World Series, Venezuela and leading in runs batted in 1984: Gold, Pan American Games, Venezuela 1992: Gold, Olympic Games, Barcelona, Spain 1998: Gold, Central American and Caribbean Games Maracaibo, Venezuela. 1998: Gold, World Championship Barcelona, Spain. 1997: Silver, Intercontinental Cup, Italy. 1996: Gold, Olympic Games Atlanta, United States. In July 2014 he arrives in Tampa, Florida coming from Canada with his wife and requests to stay in this country.