EDMONTON, Alberta -- While Cuba steamrolled to its fourth consecutive title at the 1990 World Baseball Championships, Nicaragua snuck into second place, surprising everyone but themselves.
Cuba did exactly as expected in winning its fourth consecutive world title and 20th overall. The Cubans dominated every phase in sweeping 10 games: they scored 139 runs, hit 37 home runs, batted .444 as a team and posted a staff earned run average of 1.50.
In contrast, Nicaragua scored 46 runs, gave up 56, and hit only five home runs, yet went home with the silver medal. Cuba beat Nicaragua three times in the tournament, but in two of those games Cuba had to rally in the eighth inning to win.
'We practiced very hard in Nicaragua to prepare for this tournament. We didn't expect to finish this high, but we're very happy to finish second,' said pitcher Roberto Reyes, who kept Cuba's big hitters off balance with an assortmemt of slow curve balls and sidearm deliveries.
Reyes entered Sunday's game in the second inning with Cuba ahead 5-0 and struck out Antonio Pacheco, Omar Linares and Orestes Kindelan. Reyes then held Cuba scoreless while Nicaragua came back to tie the score 5-5, but Cuba broke through in the eighth inning on home runs by Kindelan and Victor Mesa to win the game 11-5 and the best-of-three playoff 2-0.
Nicaragua now is looking ahead to hosting the 1994 World Championships. The International Baseball Association voted for Nicaragua over Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada, at its congress in Edmonton just before the tournament.
The amateur baseball world tournament had been held every other year in the even-numbered years, but now will be played every four years beginning in 1994. The IBA decided to make the change because of the advent of Olympic baseball in 1992.
The IBA also decided on the qualifying format for the eight-team competition at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain, in which baseball will be an official medal sport for the first time.
Spain, as the host country, will fill one of the slots, and another European entry will be decided at the European Senior Championships in Rome during the summer of 1991.
Two other Olympic qualifyers will come from the Asian Baseball Federation Championships in Beijing, China, in September of 1991.
The final four entries depend upon the outcome of the Pan American Games in Cuba next year. The top four finishers in Cuba will go to the Olympics, meaning intense competition among the United States, Cuba, Nicaragua, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
Cuba will fill one of the slots, and the United States and Puerto Rico are expected to finish in the top four, but on the basis of the 1990 World Championships, Nicaragua will be among the leaders.
The United States gave a poor showing in Edmonton, finishing seventh out of 12 teams. A similar performance in Cuba next year would eliminate the U.S. from Olympic baseball in Barcelona in 1992.
