International baseball veteran Ariel Sanchez became the 27th player in the history of Cuban baseball to reach the 2,000-base-hit milestone.
He delivered his 2,000th hit during Game Six of the second Cuban Elite League final series, helping the Matanza Cocodrilos take a 3-2 league over Artemisa Cazadores in the best-of-seven series. Game six is scheduled for Tuesday, 23 January.
Sanchez (39) made his debut in Cuba's National League (Serie Nacional) in the 2005-2006 season. He collected 1,899 of his hits in the Serie Nacional and 101 in the Elite League.
He represented Cuba in the 2019 Pan American Games.
Sanchez is the son of former star shortstop Arturo Sanchez and the nephew of legendary Wilfredo Sanchez, who helped Cuba to eight Baseball World Cups as the leadoff hitter, and slugger Fernando Sánchez, who hit 280 career home runs. Fernando (2,215) and Wilfredo (2,174) surpassed the 2,000-hit mark. Considering Arturo connected for 718 career hits, the Sanchez family have combined for 7,107 hits and counting.
