Alexander Malleta Says Goodbye at Estadio Latinoamericano del Cerro

July 13, 2023

Before the largest crowd of the year at the Latinoamericano, the stadium where he was revered for 22 seasons, Alexander Malleta, the stellar Industriales player, said goodbye today from active baseball in Cuba.

The cleanup batter and first baseman, Malleta won three titles in national series with the Leones (1996, 2006 and 2010) and was also champion with Occidentales in the fourth Cuban Superliga (2005).

When looking back on his career, he revealed in a conversation with Prensa Latina that the 2006 championship against Santiago de Cuba was the competitive moment that marked him most in baseball.

Hopefully this year the same final will happen again, he commented, although he noted that all the titles have a history, they were the result of sacrifices, dedication and mean a lot to him.

Regarding the ceremony held at the iconic capital stadium, he thanked everyone who contributed to such an emotional moment.

It was an afternoon among family, friends, coaches and athletes from various generations, team leaders and so many Industriales followers who came to say goodbye to me from active baseball, but they know I will continue in this sport.

He confirmed that he will continue in the team's coaching staff and is preparing for the responsibility assigned to him, alluding to the possibility of replacing Guillermo Carmona when he steps down as manager of the Azules.

In his record, Malleta averaged .297, with a slugging percentage of .488, hit 257 home runs and 332 doubles, among his 1778 hits, according to statistics from Benigno Daquinta.

On defense he showed an average of .989 in 21914.2 innings played.

In international tournaments, Malleta has two golds in Central American and Caribbean Games (2006 and 2014) and one in the Pan American Games (2007), plus he was an Olympic silver medalist (2008) and world silver medalist (2007). He also was part of the national team that participated in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

I am a baseball man and I will always remain linked to this sport and to my Leones that gave me so much pride playing, Malleta concluded, visibly emotional.