VEGA NAMED MEXPAC CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Los Mochis Caneros team president Joaquin Vega was voted in as the Mexican Pacific League’s Chairman of the Board last Thursday at a league meeting in Hermosillo. Vega will succeed Enrique Mazon, who served nine years as LMP chairman. Mazon, who is president of the MexPac champion Hermosillo Naranjeros, was named LMP Executive of the Year earlier this month.

Vega will work with LMP president Omar Canizalez on building the league’s marketing effort while helping maintain a sense of balance among the eight league franchises. One of the first issues Vega will face is the question of whether to allow television instant replay in helping umpires determine home run calls. ”Everything will depend on the technology that exists in the stadiums so the umpires can make this work efficiently,” he said.

Another item on the MexPac agenda will be a possible reconfiguration of the playoff system to coincide with a likely earlier start to the 2011 Caribbean Series, which will be played at 10,500-seat Estadio Isadoro Garcia in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Historically, the CS has been held the first week of February, but may be moved to the last week of January to allow for more time between the end of the winter baseball season and the beginning of Major League spring training.