Pedro Luis Lazo Iglesias

===BODY===
Blessed with enviable consistency, the right-handed pitcher, born in Río Feo made his debut in the 1990-91 championship with the Forestales team.

If we look at the statistics we can verify that he is the pitcher with the most games won in national series by accumulating 257, a mark that seems unreachable for Cuban pitchers for an unpredictable amount of time; he is also the most outstanding pitcher in Cuban playoffs with 29 victories, seven saves, six shutouts and 311 strikeouts delivered, and a scourge of batters from opposing teams to whom he served nothing less than two thousand 426 strikeouts throughout his entire career in the national series, only surpassed in Cuban baseball by another great from Pinar del Río: Rogelio García.

Indisputably he is on the list of the 10 best pitchers of all time in the country. On the international level, Lazo recorded an astronomical amount of 28 victories, and only compiled two losses, evidencing an impressive superiority over his adversaries, whether amateurs or professionals.

He burst onto the international scene in 1991 by joining the Cuban team that won the title in the Youth World Championship, and from 1995 he was part of all national teams on the island. He is the only baseball player in the world with four Olympic medals (2 gold and 2 silver), participated in the 2 World Baseball Classics held so far (being decisive in Cuba's 2nd place finish in 2006) and is a multiple winner of world championships, Intercontinental Cups and Pan American Games.

Owner of enviable control and serenity shown in the most difficult moments, he was always the secret weapon that Cuba's national team kept for a transcendent relief appearance that, according to his own words, was what he liked most. American teams, traditional rivals of Cuba on the field, were often able to bear witness to this by failing to decipher Lazo's pitches.

But also Lazo's extraordinary quality as a pitcher often awakened the appetite of scouts who prowled around Cuban teams when they went abroad, trying to get them to exchange their patriotism for hard cash that flowed in torrents to affect baseball on the Island.

Lazo was also besieged many times by these merchants of sport, almost always in service of the owners of Major League teams whose offers always linked sport with aggressive policy against Cuba.

Before them, Lazo was as giant as on the mound when it came to pitching and spurned offers no matter how tempting they were because he never traded his Pinar del Río, his Cuban homeland and his patriotic convictions for the dollars offered for him to defect from these, his loves.

His demonic fastballs and dizzying sliders, his charisma, and his enormous Cuban cigar, will live in the memory of his fans, yet that innate genius for pitching should be studied by future generations of coaches and pitchers as a basic subject.

This fearless thrower, undaunted before any dangerous situation, will leave his mark deeply embedded in the heart of all Cubans and will always be remembered as one of the immortals of national baseball, the Lazo of the people.

Lazo retired in the 2010 season after 20 years of battling for Cuban sports but does so surrounded by the affection of his people and leaving as a legacy an impressive performance that places him among the greatest of all time.

Considered by many as one of the five best pitchers in Cuban baseball after 1959.

He holds the record for most victories in Cuban championships with 240.
His long sports career has been filled with successes both domestically and in the international arena.

He was part of the exceptional group of pitchers that led Pinar del Río to obtain two consecutive national crowns in the years 1997 and 1998.

Lazo is the Cuban pitcher with the most participations in Olympic Games, four, in which he obtained two championships and two runner-up finishes with the national team.

He joined Cuba's squad at the First World Baseball Classic in 2006, the strongest tournament in the history of this sport, on that occasion his impeccable performance on the mound allowed Cuba to reach the final.

He has participated in the following international events: 1991 Youth World Championship, Pan American Games in Mar del Plata 1995, World University Games in Fukuoka 1995, Intercontinental Cup in Havana 1995, Atlanta Olympic Games 1996, Intercontinental Cup in Barcelona 1997, World Championship in Italy 1998, Central American and Caribbean Games in Maracaibo 1998, Pan American Games in Winnipeg 1999, Sydney Olympic Games 2000, World Championship in Taipei China 2001, Canada Challengers Tournament in 2002, Intercontinental Cup in Cuba 2002, World Championship in Cuba 2003, Panama Pre-Olympic Tournament 2003, Athens Olympic Games 2004, Colombia Pre-World 2004, World Championship in the Netherlands 2005.

In 2012 the giant from Pinar del Río Pedro Luis Lazo has pitched 12 games as a reliever in the Mexican Professional League with the Campeche Pirates, in which he has delivered 12 strikeouts and given 4 walks, allowed one home run and 8 hits.

In this foray into Mexican baseball, where he arrived in the capacity of coach and was quickly requested as an active player by the Pirates, Lazo has worked in 13.1 innings in the capacity of the team's primary closer. In his performances he has neither won nor lost, they bat him for only .182 and his earned run average is 2.03.

Province: Pinar del Río

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Usual Team: Pinar del Río

Weight: 113 kg

Height: 191 cm

Education Level: 12th Grade