Alfonso Urquiola Crespo

Urquiola is a retired Cuban baseball player. Considered one of the greatest players of revolutionary baseball. After his retirement as a player, he became a manager and won the national championship with the Pinar del Río team. He has managed Cuba at different stages. Recipient, among other recognitions, of the Hugo Chávez Frías Cup and the Pinareno Shield, the highest distinction granted by the Provincial Assembly of People's Power in Pinar del Río.

He was born in Bahía Honda, Pinar del Río. He batted and threw right-handed. For many seasons he was the shortstop on the Pinar del Río teams in the National Series. His mastery in defense did not cause him to neglect offense, of which he was also an important factor in the Pinareno lineup.

He made his debut in the National Series at the beginning of the 1970s with the then weak Pinar del Río team, but was later transferred to the Vegueros team with which he developed the rest of his brilliant career.

He did not win any batting titles in the National Series; instead, he was the batting champion of the inaugural tournament of the Select Series in 1975.

Alfonso Urquiola was the predecessor of Antonio Pacheco at shortstop on the national team and teammate of the Santiago player when he played as shortstop.

He was part of the Team Cuba selection at the 1973 World Championship as a backup. He ended his career with the Cuban national team on a high note batting .449 in the 1984 Amateur World Series.

He won gold medals at the Baseball World Championship in 1973 in Havana, in 1974 in Colombia, in 1978 in Italy, in 1980 in Japan, and in 1984 in Cuba, as a manager in 1998 in Italy.

Gold medal at the Pan American Games in Mexico, 1975, at those held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1979, and in Venezuela, 1983.

Gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic, 1974 and in Medellín, Colombia, 1978.

He managed the team that split honors in the Bilateral Series against the Major League Baltimore Orioles team in 1999 and the team that won gold at the Pan American Games held in Winnipeg that same year.

He managed the Vegueros de Pinar del Río team that won the title in the Caribbean Baseball Series held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February 2015.

Once retired, he became a manager. In this new job he was as successful as when he was an active player. He was champion with Pinar del Río in the 1990s.
During the 1999 Pan American Games, he was Cuba's manager in the first event where Cubans faced professional players. Cuba won the tournament and qualified for the Olympic Games. As manager, he also directed Panama's national selection in 2007.

After ten years without Pinar del Río winning the Cuban tournament and a year after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs, Urquiola was called to take charge of the team's direction. Against all odds, he won the so-called Gold Series of Cuban Baseball, for which he was received as a hero in his province and in the former Pinareno municipalities of Artemisa.

After his success in the national tournament, Urquiola was appointed for the second time in his career as manager of Team Cuba. When he was about to travel to Canada to participate in the World Challengers Tournament, he suffered a serious illness and was hospitalized, and was temporarily replaced at the helm of Cuba by the Villa Clara native Eduardo Martín.

Again in 2013 he was appointed as mentor of the Pinar del Río team in the LIII National Baseball Series, leading it to victory under his sure guidance. It is the third time he has achieved the title as a manager; as an athlete he achieved it on 6 occasions.

He was appointed to manage the Bilateral Series against the team of American college players that took place from July 24 to 28, 2014 in the Victoria de Girón Stadium in Matanzas and Capitán San Luis Stadium in Pinar del Río.

He was manager of the team from the western Panamanian province of Chiriquí, a team in which he achieved two titles (2002 and 2004). Technical director in 2013 in the central province of Los Santos. Contracted again by the Chiriquí Provincial Baseball League to manage its team during the LXXXIII National Championship of the Major in 2016, in addition to taking charge of the preparation of the youth team. In 2017, he worked for around five months in Mexico at an academy.

In 2018 he again manages the Chiriquí team. Once his work contract was completed, he returned to Cuba to manage the Pinar del Río team in the LIX National Baseball Series, a task that had been previously assigned to him and with which he agreed.

Recognitions
He was selected by the people among the one hundred greatest Cuban athletes of the twentieth century.

On April 19, 2014, he received in the city of Pinar del Río the Pinareno Shield, the highest distinction granted by the Provincial Assembly of People's Power of this province to the most relevant figures in different spheres for their social contribution[8].

On April 27, 2014, at Expocuba, Havana, the manager of the winning team of the LIII National Baseball Series received on its behalf, from the hands of Edgar González, charge of affairs at the diplomatic headquarters of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Cuba, the Hugo Chávez Frías Cup, a recognition delivered for the first time.

A large crowd attended this tribute and it was presided over by Cuban government officials and authorities and the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation.

At the awards ceremony of the 53rd National Baseball Series held on May 15, 2014 at the Lázaro Peña theater, he received along with the rest of the Pinareno team recognition and individual and team trophies for the individual leaders, the most valuable player, the best manager, and the rookie of the year.

Writer Juan Antonio Martínez de Osaba y Goenaga conducted research on the data of this athlete that is compiled in the book Alfonso Urquiola, Knight of the Diamond, covering his career in revolutionary baseball, modestly honoring his athletic work.

In 2021 Urquiola is mentor of the Federales de Chiriquí who obtain the championship of Panamanian baseball.