# Urbano González, Cuban Baseball Icon, Passes Away

**Date:** 12/07/2021

The Cuban sports movement mourned the death of prominent former athlete Urbano González, who has now passed away, ensuring his name will live on among the most illustrious baseball players in his country.

He died the day before at 82 years of age, suffering from various health conditions. González stood out as a second and third baseman for the mythical Industriales team, which won four consecutive titles at the beginning of Cuba's National Baseball Series.

Upon learning of his death, the president of the Cuban Institute of Sports (Inder), Osvaldo Vento, expressed on the social network Twitter the immense sadness that the baseball family and the sports world in general are experiencing.

Sad news for Cuban sports. Urbano González has passed away, an emblematic figure of our baseball. Condolences from Inder to the family, friends, and followers of this great man, Vento wrote.

Known as the Guajiro from Catalina de Güines, the town where he was born on May 25, 1939, González made his baseball debut at age 17 with the Catalina team in the Amateur National League, affiliated with the Cuban Amateur Athletic Union.

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

It was in this last league where he excelled the most and left his name engraved in gold letters, first with the Occidentales team and later with Industriales, becoming champion with both teams, PL reports.

During his baseball career, the Guajiro from Catalina de Güines led in several batting statistics, but the achievement that garnered the most admiration was that which established him at the time as the baseball player with the best batting eye in Cuban baseball.

According to statistics from the Cuban Federation, Urbano struck out only 67 times in 2,864 at-bats, for an average of one strikeout per 47.3 plate appearances and 0.08 per game played.

His impressive batting eye and excellent batting skill allowed him to hold the record for the most consecutive at-bats without striking out (190) or the most plate appearances without a strikeout, 217.

The quality of his play led him to wear the Cuba team jersey, with which he was crowned champion in four World Championships (1961, 1970, 1971, and 1972), two Pan American Games (1963 and 1971), and three Central American and Caribbean Sports Games in 1966, 1970, and 1974. With his death on December 4, 2021, Cuban baseball bids farewell to one of the figures who gave life to the National Series.