Elpidio Mancebo Pérez

Considered one of the most important first basemen in Cuban baseball, most baseball fans remember him for his memorable performance at the 1971 World Championship. On that occasion it was his bat and the pitches of left-hander Santiago "Changa" Mederos that led the Caribbean team to first place after defeating the Nicaragua team two runs to zero.

He comes from a humble family in the Los Hoyos neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba, had nine siblings, and received strict upbringing from his father, who never accepted his sons engaging in sports.

He began practicing sports playing volleyball and freestyle wrestling, but ultimately chose baseball which was what he liked most, and from age 13 he began playing in the neighborhoods of Moncada, as well as in the Cristo Rey teams and the School of Arts and Trades.

Edildo Hernández and Francisco Salfrán were his first coaches, later Roberto Ledo, Pepín Carrillo and Juan Delís, among others.

For him it was always an honor to represent the eastern region of the country, fill stadiums and receive the applause of fans.

In 1963 he was selected to join the Orientales team in the II National Baseball Series. From this moment on, he participated in 17 national series, selective series and 9 international events, almost always as first base although he also played in the outfield and at third base.

The 1971 Havana World Championship is unforgettable because the game against Nicaragua was decisive because both teams were undefeated, and that victory eventually led them to be crowned world champions, furthermore, individually he was able to be part of the "All-Stars".

He later represented Cuba in nine other international tournaments, including events in Indonesia, Aruba, Curaçao, Mexico and Panama. 

He was the first eastern player to be "champion batter" in 1972, with a .327 average and in great competition with Antonio Muñoz, the Giant of Escambray.

In addition to being a baseball player he is a graduate in architectural draftsmanship, typewriting and shorthand. 

After his retirement at age 34 he had the opportunity to work many years in the Ministry of Construction, and was even present at many baseball fields in Santiago de Cuba, such as the one at Cayo Granma, the pioneer camp and the one near Siboney beach.

Later he also worked as a sports commentator on radio stations CMKC Radio Mambí and CMKW Radio Revolución, especially for baseball, the sport that he is so passionate about.

Recently he has dedicated himself to writing baseball books, where he tries to bring new talents the knowledge he acquired. Among them are "The Difficult Art of Batting", "Batting Classes", "Batting Conferences", and others he has in mind for the near future. 

Sports Results

- International Events

Indonesia 1963

Aruba and Curaçao 1965

Mexico 1966

Canada 1967 (Winnipeg Pan American Games). As an outfielder he was part of the Cuba team that attended the V Pan American Games in Winnipeg, from that event the statistics remember the two home runs in the same game that gave Cuba a crucial victory against Mexico

Italy 1969

Panama 1970

Italy 1970 (World Universiade)

Cuba 1971 (World Championship)

Aruba 1973

Honduras in 1993 (VII Central Caribbean University Games), as a member of the Cuba team management.

His best performance in international events was at the 1971 World Series in Havana. In this tournament he finished second among batters behind the stellar Rodolfo Puente, was first in runs batted in and runs scored and was part of the All-Stars.

At the end of his fruitful performance in his 17 national series, he accumulated the following records:
Games participated in (1215), runs scored (664), doubles hit (221), sacrifices (41), bases on balls (887), extra bases in one game (5), consecutive extra bases (7), home runs in one game (3, tied with other players) and second place in at-bats (4221), hits (1202), dead ball (74), intentional bases (118) and total bases reached (1660).

His first double in National Series he hit on March 8, 1963 against Cienfuegos's Andrés Leyva of the Sugarcane team back then. On December 11, 1968 in the context of the VI National Baseball Series, he hit it on three occasions.

With 16 national series he reached the enviable mark of one thousand hits against the Villa Clara native Roberto Ramos, a figure previously achieved by only two players from our national classics Wilfredo Sánchez and Eulogio Osorio.

On December 11, 1969 at Guillermón Moncada Stadium against Matanzas, he hit 5 extra bases of which 3 home runs and two doubles and 8 runs batted in, the next day he hit home runs in his first two at-bats to accumulate 7 consecutive extra bases and a total of 20 bases reached in seven trips to home plate. Digging into the statistics it was learned that the spectacular player got on base on ten consecutive occasions.

First eastern player to achieve the title of batting leader (327) in a national series as a starter for the Miners team. The popular player from the Los Hoyos neighborhood, had to struggle hard with Antonio Muñoz (325).

He was the first to reach the mark of 859 games played, 150 doubles hit, 634 bases received and 7317.2 innings played.

In his long career he has never been expelled from a playing field for unsportsmanlike conduct; like any athlete he has his opinions and reacts to any decision by the umpires against him or his team, but he knows how to appeal such decisions correctly, decisions that don't always carry the same weight given the situation and importance of the game.