Alejo O'Reilly Morejón

Alejo O'Reilly is a native of Quemado de Güines, he is a Cuban baseball player, characterized by being a reliable batter: throughout his sports career he hit 240 home runs. Champion in several international events.[

Son of Cecilia Morejón Jibet and Alejo O'Reilly Rodríguez, he is the first of five siblings. He was drawn to sports from age 9, standing out among other children for his physique and because of this the following year he enters the Regional EIDE Nueve de abril, in Sagua la Grande, under the direction of trainers Juan Rodríguez and Armando. At age 11 he enters the provincial baseball academy in Las Villas under the direction of Pedro Moré, Miguel and Juan Rodríguez and participates in the first National School Games in 1975 where the Villa Clara team wins first place.

From a very young age Alejo was characterized by being a reliable batter although he also stood out from a defensive point of view. At 17 years old he joins the Cuba team and participates in the X edition of the Youth World Series in Caracas, Venezuela where he wins the gold medal with his team. That same year he plays for the first time in the XVII National Baseball Series and is named rookie of the year.

In the 1980-1981 series he led in RBIs with 69 in just 51 games and was runner-up in home runs. In 1983 he was second among national batters, led in RBIs and doubles. He faced a major obstacle in his career: the presence of Antonio Muñoz, Cuba's best batter, at the Villa Clara first base position. He played few games at first base in the Selective tournaments, sometimes he was taken as a substitute to the left and right outfields or lined up as designated hitter, where he should have been given more opportunities.

In the 1984 Selective tournament was when he was only able to play regularly with the Villa Clara team and he led in home runs and slugging. He left the orange team in 1985, who did not know how to preserve him, so as not to continue aging on the Selective benches and not reach the Cuba A team, since he had been part of National Pre-selections and Cuba B teams in 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984.

He moved to Ciego de Ávila, he led the national batters for the 1985-1986 season in the eastern zone and after his second season with the Avilenos, he made the Cuba team, where he opened a regular spot through his batting prowess in 1987.

He participated in 16 consecutive National Series, hitting 240 home runs, and ranks among the top 20 batters who have hit the most home runs in national championships. In 1987 he participates in the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, United States and the team wins as champion of the region, which allows them to attend the Intercontinental Cup in Havana, where he hit 11 consecutive hits. He also participates in the Youth World Championship and, once again, wins the tournament.

He was the best first baseman and home run hitter for Villa Clara and Ciego de Ávila, as well as one of the best at his position in National Series. Between 1986 and 1989 he was the best left-handed first baseman and slugger in the country; as well as among the most outstanding batters and home run hitters.

The following year, 1988, he plays first base in the Men's World Championship in La Palma, Italy and brings home the Gold medal. In 1989 he plays in the Intercontinental Cup in Puerto Rico.

The Cuba team's technical staff did not have confidence in him and spread the theory that he could not hit hard fastballs, nor did he perform well in international events. From 1990 on, due to an injury to one of his knees, his level of play declined until his retirement in 1996. Had it not been for these unforeseen circumstances, he would have surpassed 1000 RBIs and hit 100 more home runs.

In 1984 he is left out of the Villa Clara selectivo and the late Mayito Salas, and Omar Carrero, both outstanding baseball players from the central Cuban province, call him to play as a starter for the Ciego de Ávila team and Alejo O'Reilly becomes an Avileno sports glory and carries, among his merits, having trained the Avileno team on several occasions in the batting area. Alejo considers that his greatest rivals were Industriales, Pinar del Río and Santiago de Cuba.
As an individual leader

O'Reilly holds the following records:

In the XXII National Series of 1983, with the Villa Clara team, he receives a total of 34 walks.
In the XXII National Series, with the Villa Clara team, he hits a total of 15 doubles.
In the XXV edition of the Series in 1986, with the Ciego de Ávila team, he received a total of 37 walks.
In the XXIX edition of the Series in 1990, with Ciego de Ávila, he scores a total of 8 intentional walks.

Tournaments

With the Cuba team he was at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis where as a substitute he hit a single and double that drove in Cuba's final runs in the final game against the United States.

In the 1988 World Series in Italy where he decided with a home run that left the American team off the field in the last game of the qualifying stage.

Intercontinental Cups of 1987 in Havana and 1989 in Puerto Rico.

He was the Most Valuable in the 1987 Intercontinental Cup where, replacing Antonio Muñoz due to injury, he set a record of 11 consecutive hits, led batters, second in hits, home runs with 10, slugging, runs scored and extra-base hits.

He decided the event with a long home run at the end of the ninth inning of the final game against China Taipei. He played in 16 national seasons, broken down into 16 Nationals and 11 Selectivos in which he accumulated 1418 hits, 226 doubles, 240 home runs, 509 slugging and 303 average

Retirement

Due to a knee injury that plagued him, O'Reilly retired from active sports on January 18, 1997 after receiving the Medal for High Sports Merit granted by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba and the Martyrs of Barbados Medal awarded by the Presidency of INDER.
Present Day

Until his death this Glory of Cuban sports was a baseball professor and worked at the provincial academy. He fulfilled an internationalist mission in the brother country of Venezuela in 2003. He is married, for more than three decades, to Elena Acosta Sánchez and has two children: Maikel Alejo and Michael O'Reilly Acosta; who have been the main driving forces of his sports career.