Rey Vicente Anglada Ferrer

Glory of Cuban sports. One of the two most explosive baseball players in the National Baseball Series, second baseman, representing the Capital Teams and Team Cuba. World, Pan-American and Central American Champion.

Anglada was born in Cerro, Havana. He began playing baseball in the street. Later, he was recruited through an organized process at the EIDE school and from there he moved to the ESPA. When he entered military service at the old Ministry of Fishing Industry, he joined this team during the time he was in the SMG.

A capital second baseman defender, 179 cm tall and weighing 80 kilograms, who shone in the 1970s.

He made his debut with Industriales in the XII National Series, precisely on January 6, the day he celebrates his birthday. He did not stand out offensively with a poor .221 average, but thanks to his defense and explosive play he ended up as a starter for the team that became the national champion in that series. Little by little he became a good hitter with a solid average and batting touch. He played in ten National Series between 1972 and 1982.

He hit 40 home runs in the few years he played, during an era of high-quality pitching and the use of poor-quality wooden bats until 1977.

Furthermore, he made his mark in the record books with 2 home runs hit in one inning, a feat he achieved against Matanzas on April 12, 1980 during the VI Selective Series. In that tournament he ended up as a regular in the final five seasons among the leading hitters and was only surpassed in doubles by Agustín Marquetti.

In the 1981 Selective Series, he battled fiercely with Antonio Muñoz Hernández for leadership in hits, ultimately finishing second behind this player.

He wore number 36; defending with complete dedication for Industriales, Agricultores (a team created to eliminate Industriales from the Nationals by moving them to the Selectivas between 1975 and 1977), Metropolitanos and Habana in Selectivas.

He was part of the National Pre-selection between 1974 and 1981. He participated in the World Championships of 1976 and 1978, in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Medellín in 1978 and in the Pan-American Games in Puerto Rico in 1979, in these last two he was the second baseman for the All-Stars team.

In 1980 he played in Mexico against that country's professional players where he had 22 hits in 45 at-bats for a .422 average. Months later in a match against the national team of Nicaragua in that Central American nation, he led in hits with 15 and average with .556.

Career as a Manager
Starting in 2001 he managed capital teams in Nationals, Super Leagues and in the Cuban Sports Olympiad, winning the national title leading Industriales in the 2003 and 2004 series, surpassing Víctor Mesa on both occasions.

He was also part of the Cuban delegation to the most important international events from 2003 onward as a checker of opposing teams and advising the Cuban management team.

In 2006 he wins his third national title against Santiago de Cuba and becomes the director of Team Cuba, until 2008.

After leaving the direction of Industriales, he went to work as a manager in Panama. In 2011 he was working with the lower categories of that country.

On May 28, 2018 it was announced that Anglada would take the helm of Industriales for the National Baseball Series according to an announcement by the Cuban Federation.

The return of the emblematic director was a breath of fresh air for the national sports pastime and the capital team, whose last title was in the 2009-2010 season.

Under Anglada's leadership, Cuba's most popular team won three titles. Two consecutively against Villa Clara (2003 and 2004) and one against Santiago de Cuba (2006), the fiercest rival of the also-called 'Blues of the Capital'.

On March 12, 2019 he was appointed by the National Baseball Management to direct Team Cuba that participated in the Pan-American Games in Lima and the Premier 12 Tournament.

On January 22, 2020 it was announced that Anglada, of his own volition, would retire from the position of director of Industriales, after being in charge for the last two seasons.

Anglada is remembered for certain characteristics: He wore his pants legs at knee height, used a small glove to get the ball out quickly and record an out or a double play, a play he would even execute by letting an apparently hittable line bounce, so instead of putting out one rival, he would get two.

He was the showman of Cuban baseball who between the years 1972 and 1982 delighted fans who went to the stadiums to see him, because quite simply, he would touch the ball with two strikes, then put it in play behind the runner, give you an extra-base hit, and steal one or several bases.

The legendary number 36 of Industriales, Agricultores, Metropolitanos, Habana and Team Cuba played for 10 seasons, in which he averaged .291, connected 806 hits, of which 109 were doubles, 35 triples and 40 home runs, with 303 runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .398.

With the national team he participated in the World Championships of 1976 and 1978, the year he attended the Central American and Caribbean Games in Medellín, Colombia, as well as the Pan-American Sports Games in Puerto Rico 1979, in these last events he formed part of the All-Stars team as second baseman.

In 1982, when he was 29 years old and at the height of his athletic career, he and several other athletes were permanently removed from baseball due to game fixing, although specifically in his case they were never able to prove anything against him, as he himself assured on multiple occasions.

So much so that 20 years later, on January 6, 2002, he returned to the baseball diamond as manager of Industriales, nothing more and nothing less than in the 'Classic of Cuban baseball', as the sub-series between the capital blues and the Santiago de Cuba team is recognized, perhaps as a way to redress an injustice.