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Name: Daniel Lazo Monterrey.

Nickname: El Volcán de Río Feo.

Date of birth:  March 8, 1973.

Place of birth: Pinar del Río. Cuba.

Nationality: Cuban.

Sport: Baseball.

Beginning: 80's.

Titles: University World Champion, Intercontinental Cup Champion, Double Pan American Champion.

Daniel Lazo Monterrey. Known in the youth as Lazo de Cuero for his great mastery in the art of batting, where he was later called  «EL VOLCAN DE RÍO FEO» ,  for his great skill in hitting home runs with men on base. University World Champion, Intercontinental Cup Champion and double Pan American Champion.

Biographical Synthesis

Born on March 8, 1973 inPinar del Río city, son of Lourdes Monterrey and Jesús Lazo, brother of Yosvany Lazo, another pinareño who also joined the ranks of the Cuban youth teams, who also wore the flannels of  Pinar del Río team and finished his career with Cienfuegos team.

Studies

At the age of 10 he entered the PRE- EIDE located at that time at Km 13 of  La Coloma road in the baseball specialty. When he was 13 years old he entered the sport initiation school (EIDE) "Ormani Arenado", where he continues his studies in the ESPA, which had the same name, it was there where he started with the Forestales team during two seasons. He was showing his qualities as a baseball player since he was inclined to this sport that led him to join the team in Pinar del Rio provvince.

Sports Trajectory

He began as a baseball player in the 80's being from 1990 that he is known nationally to constitute his first national championship with Forestales team. He participates in the World Youth Championship held in Edmonton, Canada in 1991, then joined the team that participated in the World University in Fukuoka, Japan in 1995 where he won the gold medal. He debuted as an initialist in the 1991-1992 season with the Forestales team where he kept playing the position until the 92-93 series that was selected to integrate Pinar del Río team who does this time as a gardener after the retirement of one of the greats of national and international baseball "Luis Giraldo Casanova", known as the ballplayer. With Forestales he maintained a discrete performance, but the specialists considered taking him to Pinar del Río team where little by little  increased his results that took him that same year to the National Team. He was the first Cuban baseball player to reach 200 home runs with fewer national series.

He set a record for impulsadas with 89 in 2002, which lasted only a short time. In the following season, Javier Méndez surpassed him with 92, which was later equalized by Yuliesky Gourriel, and in 2008, the Santiaguero Alexey Bell surpassed him with 111, a record that is still held today. It was also the impulse record for a player from Pinar del Río, until it was surpassed by the initialist William Saavedra with 91 in the National Series 50 where Pinar del Río was crowned champion, directed by Alfonso Urquiola. He remained for 15 seasons, after an injury to his right knee, where he underwent surgery, which led to his early retirement at the age of 31. Not a few were the international competitions where this outstanding athlete participated, although he played little due to the great figures that represented our national teams, although his merit is in being part of the great triumphs that our national pastime reached at that time.

Other important moments were played by him in games such as Pan American Games, Intercontinental Cups as well as in 1999 he participated in the historic top Cuba-Orioles of Baltimore and in the famous friendly game with a team of veterans represented by the maximum leader of the Bolivarian Revolution Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, where the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro used the joke as a strategy to disguise the active members of Cuban team, a game that remained in the memory forever of who was the best friend Cuba has ever had in all times. During 15 series in the Cuban championship he was champion during the 1996-1997, 1997-1998 season, the 1994 Super Selective, the 2001 Super League, as well as two second places in Revolution Cups.

National Series Leaders

- Leader in home runs in 1998 with (18).

- Leader in pushed runs in 1994 with (63) and in 2002 with (89).

Collective victories

- National Series: 1996-1997 and 1997-1998.

- Super League: 2001.

- Super Selective: 1994.

- Intercontinental Cup: Italy 1993.

- Pan American Games: Mar del Plata 1995 and Winnipeg 1999.

Retirement from active sports

In the 2002-2003 season he suffered an injury to his right knee that years later made him make the decision to move away from active sport when he was only 31 years old, when the athletes of outstanding participation like this valuable player do it over 20 seasons and at an age near or more than 40 years old. After completing the 2004-2005 National Series at   the age of 31 of his own free will and due to the influence of the injury that did not allow him to maintain his outstanding roles within the team, he retires from active sports precisely during a play off with the Havana team, a tournament where for the first time the "Holguín" team was crowned National Champion. Today he keeps working as a coach, transmitting his knowledge to the new pines in addition to all his experiences reached in his career.

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