Magnificent winner's medal awarded to Cuban baseball player Alberto Hernandez at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. Gilt silver, 70 mm, 185 gm, by Malcolm Grear Designers; manufactured by Reed and Barton. The front, inscribed "XXVI Olympiad Atlanta 1996" with Olympic rings, shows a ‘Seated Victory’ holding a laurel wreath and palm branch, with the Colosseum looming in the background; the reverse, inscribed "Centennial Olympic Games," features the Atlanta logo and a stylized 'Quilt of Leaves' olive branch pictogram of a baseball player. The medal is engraved on the bottom edge with the name of the sport: “Baseball.” The bottom edge features two small dents. Includes the original green-and-gold ribbon, the attractive wooden display case (which bears a few scuffs and dings), which is laser-cut on the lid with the centennial host logo and lined on the interior in black felt. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from a previous owner, who obtained the medal directly from Hernandez while living in Costa Rica.
The Cuban baseball team at the 1996 Atlanta Games were simply dominant. As the reigning gold medalists of the 1995 Pan American games, Cuba went 7-0 in preliminary play with an average of 13.8 runs a game before trouncing Nicaragua in the semi-finals by the score of 8-1. Cuba met a talented Japanese squad in the final game and used a 4-run sixth inning to break a 6-6 tie en route to a 13-9 win and their second straight Olympic gold medal. Hernandez, who was the backup catcher to Juan Manriquein, went 2 for 9 in the 1996 Olympics.
