Baseball Player Alejo O'Reilly Dies, Known for His Timely Home Runs

September 2, 2022

Alejo O´Reilly, the man of timely home runs; the one who left the field with Taipei of China with an enormous home run in extra innings, in the 1987 Intercontinental Cup, a tournament in which he was the batting champion with a fantastic .553 average, in addition to achieving the feat of connecting 11 consecutive hits, among other achievements of his sports career, died this Thursday in Santa Clara at the age of 61.

The idol of Quemado de Güines, who shone in our national leagues with the Villa Clara and Ciego de Ávila teams, in addition to the national teams he joined, left impressive numbers in batting average, .303; home runs, 240; and runs batted in, 910, which earned him the respect of the fans.

He made his debut in the 1977-1978 season in grand fashion, taking home Rookie of the Year honors.

The first player from Villa Clara and the first from the Ciego de Ávila team to hit 200 home runs, he died in the Military Hospital of the Villa Clara capital, victim of a tumor in the urinary area.

It was early morning on October 25, 1987. After the rain, the delayed game and no few changes of seating, still at 1:47 in the morning precisely at that hour Alejo O´Reilly unleashed a deep hit, one of those that flies steeply over the right field fence, facing Taipei's right fielder Huan Ping-Yang, enough to decide the VIII Intercontinental Baseball Cup.

O´Reilly rounded the bases that early morning with his hands held high and everyone in the Coloso del Cerro jumped with emotion and Cuban pride. Today, almost 35 years later, everyone raised their voice in pain, as we bid farewell to a simple ballplayer, talented, virtuoso at hitting home runs (240 in his lifetime), but who was also marked by some sporting injustices based on his physical build and the stubbornness of some coaches and officials who decided the rosters of the Cuban teams back then.