Evelio Hernández Soufront

Native of Nicaro in the province of Holguín, he later lived a few years in La Habana and finally has lived much of his life in the city of Matanzas.

He studied radio at the Osvaldo Herrera school in La Habana, where, as a young man, he was discovered by Professor Paco Martín. But it wasn't until he entered the military that he began to practice it with discipline.

One could say he came to organized baseball by chance, because there were inter-unit tournaments and he was among those going to practice volleyball, but suddenly a truck stopped with several guards dressed as ballplayers and they invited me. That's when everything changed.

He served as an escort for personalities during his days as a member of the Ministry of Interior before dedicating himself to baseball. 

He started because in those 1960s the Ministry of Interior had a team, like the Police did, and they played an internal tournament where he stood out, beginning the career that made him a catcher and he even represented Cuba in World Championships.

In the 68-69 season he started with the Habana team, but almost immediately moved to Henequeneros, champions of 69-70, where Félix Isasi, Rigoberto Rosique, Tomás Soto, Gaspar "El Curro" Pérez, Alfredo García, Jesús Torriente and others were playing, whom he always remembers. With them, directed by Miguel Ángel Domínguez, he became champion for the first time. That was a great team, several repeated years later with Citricultores of Juan Bregio in 1977, when the Victoria de Girón was inaugurated. In that team he performed as the fourth batter.

Among his fondest memories is the victory over the United States in the 1975 Pan American Games and the friendly match in 1976 with professionals in Canada, where he achieved the batting triple crown, although the World Championship in Cartagena, Colombia is also unforgettable.

In the La Habana 1973 championship he turned out to be the home run leader with three, tied with Isasi, in 1974 he won the Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic and was included in the All Stars as catcher, and that same year he was in the Intercontinental Cup in Holland and on a tour of Japan.

After his retirement from sports, he worked for 18 years in the Foreign Service. He has four children (Evelio Joel, Evelio Javier, Evelio and Armando Rafael), and although none became a ballplayer he feels they are good men. He also has three grandchildren who, along with them and his wife Norma, are his family.