Urbano González Basanta

Cuban athlete, in the specialty of baseball. He accumulated the most consecutive times at bat without striking out and also holds the highest number of plate appearances without striking out. Due to his athletic career, he is considered a Cuban sports Glory.

When talking about the men with the greatest contact skill in Cuban baseball, the name Urbano González always comes up. And for good reason, the Countryman from Catalina de Güines as he was known struck out only 67 times in 2,684 times at bat in 13 National Series. It was so difficult to strike him out that opposing pitchers took him seriously.

Native of Catalina de Güines, current province of Mayabeque. His father taught him to bat as a child, according to what he himself said in an interview. He debuted as a ballplayer at age 17 with the Catalina team in the Amateur National League, ascribed to the Athletic Union of Amateur Athletes of Cuba.

Likewise, he participated in the renowned former leagues of Pedro Betancourt, in Matanzas; the League of Quivicán and its counterpart in La Salud, in the former Cuban province of Havana, until the beginning of the National Series, on January 14, 1962.

In the First National Series he was a mainstay in the victory of the Occidentales team as he led the categories of hits, runs scored and batted .328 in an era when the ball didn't bounce and averages were very low.

He was capable not only of exercising his muscles to the maximum, but he also had a prodigious eyesight that could be defeated only 67 times in 13 seasons and that was the legacy of a brilliant career through the amateur National Series.

Urbano threw right-handed and batted left-handed. He played the positions of second and third base.

Starting with the first National Series, Urbano González established a record not broken to this day by any Cuban ballplayer: he was crowned champion in five consecutive championships. In 1962 with Occidentales and from 1963 to 1966 with the Industriales team.

According to statistics from the Cuban Federation, Urbano struck out only 67 times in 2,864 times at bat, for an average of one strikeout per 47.3 visits to home plate and 0.08 per games played.

Urbano is the Cuban ballplayer who accumulates the most consecutive times at bat without striking out (190). He also holds the highest number of plate appearances (217) without swinging and missing and played 50 consecutive games without reaching a third strike.

Urbano González left a series of feats related to contact that no one has even managed to emulate: 190 consecutive times at bat without striking out; the highest number of plate appearances without striking out, 217; and 50 consecutive games without any opposing pitcher being able to retire him by way of strikeouts.

He accomplished all these feats at once. He began this epic on March 24, 1968, when he wore the blue jacket of Industriales and finished it with the brown uniform of Havana, on February 8, 1969.

He started the chain against pitcher Pedro Pérez, from Pinar del Río, and ended it against Manuel Hurtado, from Industriales.

Throughout his career, Urbano was a straightforward ballplayer, who performed like an earthquake on the diamond and like a gentleman off the field.

He participated in the I National Baseball Series of 1962 with Occidentales and later more frequently wore the uniform of Industriales, as well as that of Havana and Constructores.

The quality of his play led him to wear the jersey of Team Cuba, with which he was crowned in four World Championships (1961, 1970, 1971, and 1972), two Pan American Games (1963 and 1971) and three Central American and Caribbean Sports Games of 1966, 1970, and 1974.

An anecdote about Urbano González that reflects his brilliance as a contact player was what happened during the III National Series, when he wore the Industriales jacket. That season the Countryman from Catalina de Güines had spent almost the entire season injured. However, during the All-Star game, barely able to walk, he was placed as the leadoff batter for the Occidentales team and hit a resounding line drive that almost knocked the head off none other than the stellar eastern pitcher Manuel Alarcón.

The official retirement of the idol from Catalina de Güines took place on March 22, 1975 after having immortalized himself in Cuban championships as the king of contact.

He died in his native Catalina de Güines at age 82.