LEYVA FIRED, ESTRADA BACK AS TOMATEROS SKIPPER

Former Philadelphia Phillies manager Nick Leyva has been sacked as skipper of the Culiacan Tomateros after the team won just six of their first 19 games this season. Leyva, who spent the 2009 season as a coach in Toronto under Cito Gaston, was booed by Culiacan fans during Tuesday’s 6-3 home loss to Hermosillo. Tomateros team president Juan Manuel Ley also incurred the wrath of attendees of the game at Estadio General Angel Flores.
According to the Puro Beisbol website, Leyva will be replaced by Francisco “Paquin” Estrada (pictured), a member of Mexico’s Salon de la Fama who spent 26 years as a catcher in his pro baseball career before becoming one of the country’s top managers. Estrada has led three teams to Mexican League pennants as well as earning three more Mex Pac flags (including two for Culiacan). He was expected to take the helm for the Tomateros last Thursday night.
The 60-year-old Estrada, who holds Minor League Baseball’s career record with 2,847 games caught, was enshrined in Monterrey in 2000.