Julio Moreno González

Cuban baseball player, one of the most remembered by Cuban fans, who immortalized him with the nickname "Jiquí", considering that his hits toward home plate were as "hard" as the wood that bears his name.

He was born in Güines, La Habana, located in the western region of Cuba. He began playing baseball in Güines for the Estrellas de Pancho team, and in 1939 he played for Círculo de Artesanos in the National Amateur Baseball League.

In the 1944-1945 season he debuted in the Cuban Professional League with Marianao, later playing for Cienfuegos and Habana. In 1945 he signed as a professional player with Veracruz in the Mexican League, where he stayed for three years, returning in 1955 and remaining in that league until 1966.

His history with Círculo de Artesanos led the Ariguanabense team to become one of the most popular in Cuban baseball in the 1940s and to win the Amateur national championship in 1944 when Moreno won 26 games, lost 3 and struck out 319 batters.

Sufficiently curious is the fact that the local team had to wait 61 years to win the crown again, as provincial champions, in 2007.

From 1939 to 1944 he pitched for Círculo de Artesanos of San Antonio de los Baños, in the tournaments of the National Amateur Leagues of Cuba. Moreno accomplished all kinds of feats in Cuban amateur baseball during the first part of the 1940s. He provided a pennant to the Ariguanabo representation in 1944 when he finished with a record of 26 wins and 3 losses.

He won 20 games again in 1943, considered the best year of amateur baseball in Cuba; he pitched a no-hitter against Atlético de Santiago de Las Vegas on March 19, 1944 and almost three weeks later he set a record (later surpassed by Evelio Hernández), striking out 21 batters from Vedado Tennis Club on April 9. The historic game ended 5-0 and Moreno contributed by hitting a home run.

He set records in several categories:
More than 20 games won in three consecutive years (1942, 1943 and 1944).
Pitched a no-hitter against Santiago de las Vegas on March 19, 1942.
Struck out 21 batters from Vedado Tennis in a single game.

As a Professional
Despite receiving tempting offers from the New York Giants through Adolfo Luque, "Jiquí" preferred to debut as a professional in Mexico, wearing the Veracruz uniform, with a record of 14-10 in 1945, convinced by the salaries that Jorge Pasquel and his brothers paid. Eleven years later he returned to Mexico and stayed there until 1966. During his 12 years in the Aztec land, he divided his work with Veracruz, Yucatán, Nuevo Laredo and Puebla, where he remained for the last seven seasons. During his time in the Mexican League he finished with a record of 124-99, 3.85 ERA and 883 strikeouts.

In 1944-1945 he debuted in the Cuban league with Marianao until 1948 when he played briefly with Cienfuegos in 1948-1949. In 1950-1951 he joined Club Habana until 1955-1956, later moving to Cienfuegos in 1956-1957 with a record of 1-3 and 2.95 ERA, after three years of absence, he pitched with Habana in the last championship held in Cuba 1960-1961 and led in ERA allowed with 2.03, despite losing 5 games and winning 3.

In his 12 years in Cuba he achieved a record of 43-55 and struck out 405 batters. It should be noted that during the final years of his career, he no longer had the speed of old and became a pitcher who relied on his experience and slow pitches to strike out batters.

In his debut in 1945 he lost in a tremendous pitching duel against Sal "El Barbero" Maglie, due in part to errors by his teammates. However, his only victory against 10 losses came when the umpire ruled that the right fielder of the Grey Monks had caught a "shoestring" hit, when in fact he had made it at the end of a short bounce.

His best year came with Habana in 1951-1952, where he helped the Reds win the championship with a record of 7-4 and 42 strikeouts in 20 games. In 1946-1947 Julio took the mound with the Havana Reds in the National Federation Championship at La Tropical. He participated from 1946 to 1950 with the Havana Cubans of the International League of Florida, where he accumulated records of 19-4 (1947), 3-2 (1948), 12-6 (1949) and 16-4 (1950), before being promoted to the Washington Senators in 1950.

Moreno finished his 4-year career with the capital team with 18 wins against 22 losses in 73 games. After finishing his career in the Major Leagues, he served as practice pitcher for the Detroit Tigers when they won the pennant and the World Series in 1968.