Omar Linares - International Career

International Career

As a 14 year old, Linares was the starting second baseman for the Cuban National youth team at the world championship, where they got the gold. His debut in Cuban national baseball series at the age of 14 was marked by his father's decision of not allowing him to play with Forestales (second team of Pinar del Río) on road games, therefore Linares only played home games that year. It is attributed to former lenegendary manager Jose Miguel Pineda the inclusion of Linares in the Cuban national team at the age of 17 as an optional replacement of powerful slugger Jose "Cheito" Rodriguez short after a controversial suspension of "Cheito" by the Cuban National baseball commission. Ever since being called up, Linares was a mainstay on the Cuban national baseball team under the guidance of baseball star Luis Giraldo Casanova during much of the 1980s and 1990s, as the starting third baseman on world championship winning teams in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2001. He was part of Cuba's Olympic gold medal teams in 1992 and 1996, and the silver medal team in 2000.