Artemisa, January 22 (PL) - Ariel Sanchez, a member of the Matanzas Crocodiles, hit the 2,000th hit of his career in the fifth game of the final playoff of the II Elite League of Cuban Baseball.

With a single to the outfield in the sixth inning against a delivery from catcher Luis Ignacio Bermudez, the 39-year-old left-hander made history by becoming the 27th player to do so in the domestic championships.

The curious thing about his feat is that only three other baseball players born in Matanzas have reached that number and all of them are members of his family and natives of Jovellanos, a municipality located 128 kilometers east of the country's capital.

His uncles Wilfredo (2,174) and Fernando Sánchez (2,215) and his cousin José Estrada (2,5), all members of the national team during their sports careers, are the other privileged members of this dynasty who have accumulated that number of hits during their time in Cuban baseball.

His father Arturo and his other uncles Felipe and Armando, also played in the National Series defending the colors of the province of Matanzas, something unprecedented in a country where baseball is the pastime par excellence.

René Sánchez, his grandfather, was a player in the Pedro Betancourt League and awakened that passion in his descendants by building them a rustic field in front of his house so that they could practice and get to know this sport.