VERACRUZ' UNSWORTH TOSSES NO-HITTER VS. DIABLOS

Dylan Unsworth during his no-hitter

    Veracruz pitcher Dylan Unsworth only arrived this year in the Mexican League and has already ensured that his name is registered in the record books by launching a no-hitter last Friday in an 8-0 Aguilas home victory over the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in Estadio Beto Avila.

    In just his second game in the LMB, the 4,229 fans in attendance saw a golden outing from the South African pitcher, who pitched the full route and took a perfect game into the seventh inning. After walking Juan Carlos Gamboa on five pitches with one out, "El Tiburon" did not allow another baserunner and handcuffed the Diablos to achieve the Liga's first no-no of the 2021 season and number 96 in the history of the summer circuit.

    The former Mariners farmhand, who was about to not come to Mexico due to the complicated logistics to travel from South Africa to Veracruz due to the pandemic, became the seventh pitcher of the Eagle to toss a no-hit, no run game, joining a list inaugurated by Hall of Famer Martín Dihigo in 1937.

    The Aguilas opened the scoring in the second inning off Mexico City starter Sasagi Sánchez when, with one out on the board, Héctor Gómez belted a homer right field to put Veracruz in front, 1-0. The Eagles again damaged the Diablos pitching in the fifth inning when Alexi Amarista stoked his fifth double of the season to send Kevin Flores and Alonso Gaitan home. Yasiel Puig then singled to left and brought in Amarista for Veracruz 'fourth run.

    In the fifth inning , the Aguilas put together a three-run frame as Alexei Amarista slashed a two-run double and later scored on a Puig single. One frame later, Alex Ortiz hit his first double of the season and drove in Héctor Mora. Then, with Puig at bat, Diablos reliever Armando Araiza uncorked a wild pitch to allow Amarista run from third to home plate, scoring the seventh run.

Unsworth being mobbed after final out

    In the top of the seventh, Unsworth lost his perfect game bid when Juan Carlos Gamboa reached base on a five-pitch walk. However the Aguilas defense supported their pitcher and avoided any damage the rest of the way. The Veracruz nine scored once more in the eighth inning, courtesy of Ortíz 'single to right, which plated Kevin Flores with the final tally of the night. Ortiz finished with three hits and three RBIs in the contest.

    It was a masterful performance by Unsworth, a 28-year-old righty who pitched in the Dodgers chain as well as in Venezuela and Australia following his release by Seattle in 2017. He only required 75 pitches over nine innings (58 of them strikes) for a complete game last ended 20 minutes shy of three hours even with Veracruz 'eight-run outburst in which 15 Aguila batsmen reached base via hit or walk. Sasagi took the loss for the Diablos after allowing four runs on five hits over 4.2 innings of work.

VERACRUZ AGUILAS NO-HITTER HISTORY
Martín Dihigo (1937) vs Nogales
Leroy Gaines (1940) vs Chihuahua
Anastacio Velázquez (1974) vs Chihuahua
Héctor Madrigal (1983) vs Ciudad Juárez
Leobardo Meza (1993) vs Laredo
Julio Hernández (1995) vs Diablos Rojos
Dylan Unsworth (2021) vs Red Devils

FINAL OLYMPIC BASEBALL QUALIFIER MOVED TO PUEBLA

Hermanos Serdan Stadium, Puebla

    The World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC) revealed last Thursday that the Final Baseball Qualifier for the Olympic Games, to be played in Tokyo, will take place from June 22 to 26 at Estadio Hermanos Serdan, home of the Mexican League's Puebla Pericos.

    The qualifying tournament was originally going to take place in Taiwan at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, but safety concerns were raised over an increased outbreak of the Wuhan virus across the island nation that led to the cancellation of a week's worth of games in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. The WBSC determined that the final qualifier would instead take place in Mexico (particularly in Puebla) due to its strategic location.

    "The Olympic baseball qualifiers will have a safe and successful conclusion in Puebla, at the home of the Pericos of the Mexican Baseball League," WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari said in a press release. He added “The 'Road to Tokyo 2020' of baseball is already established, and for this I would like to extend the deepest gratitude of the entire WBSC family, to the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador; director of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (CONADE) Ana Guevara; to the authorities of the State of Puebla and the owner of the Puebla Pericos club. "

    For his part, Pericos owner and team president José Miguel Bejos said, “We are very proud to host this important tournament and to welcome these teams. The work carried out in recent years allows us to showcase Puebla and the Pericos, and to stand out as one of the best organizations in the world. "

    The five teams that will compete in the last Olympic baseball qualifier include Australia, The Netherlands and Taiwan, while the other two teams will come out of the Baseball Qualifier of the Americas, a playoff that begins May 31 in Florida. The winner of that qualifier will punch their ticket to Tokyo while the second and third place teams will join the final playoff in Puebla.

    So far, four teams have qualified for the Olympics: Japan, Israel, Korea and Mexico.

    The tournament organizers will later announce the details about the allowed capacity in conjunction with what the corresponding authorities determine.

CANTU FIRST MEXICAN WITH 100 HRS IN BOTH MLB AND LMB

Cantu hitting first HR for Diablos in 2019

    Mexico City Diablos Rojos veteran slugger Jorge “El Bronco” Cantu opened a special section for players who have also played in the Mexican League by becoming the first Mexican to hit 100 home runs during the regular seasons of both MLB and the LMB.

    The historic blast came in the ninth inning of last Wednesday's game in Oaxaca against the Guerreros. With two teammates on board, Cantu smashed the ball over Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos' right field wall for the final score to the game that his Mexico City Diablos Rojos won, 5-1.

    After playing eight seasons in the Major Leagues with five different teams with which he hit 104 home runs, Cantú returned to Mexico and fulfilled a promise he'd given to Cuauhtémoc “Chito” Rodríguez, former president of the Mexico City Tigres, that he'd play with the Bengals when his MLB days were over. Following two-and-a-half seasons with Quintana Roo between 2013 and 2016 (plus a one-year a stint in South Korea), Cantú was sent to Toros de Tijuana after having hit 63 home runs with the Tigres.

    With the Toros, he hit 24 more longballs between 2017 and 2018 before he reached an agreement with the Diablos, a club with which in 2019 he socked 12 more home runs to end the season with his LMB home run total at 99. The season in which he hit the most home runs was 2013 when he hit 31, only six less than that season's home run champion, Carmen's Rubén Mateo (who belted 37).

    The 39-year-old Cantu was born in the border city of Brownsville, Texas but grew up across the border in Reynosa. He was spotted by a Tampa Bay scout as a 16-year-old high schooler while playing in Mexico City during a Junior Olympics tournament in 1998 and offered a contract with the Rays. After signing, he made his pro debut with Class A Hudson Valley one year later and eventually reached the Majors with Tampa Bay in 2004, primarily as a second baseman.

    Cantu went on to some good seasons with the Rays (socking 28 homers and driving in 117 runs in 2005) and the Marlins (45 roundtrippers and 195 RBIs between 2008-09) before wrapping up his MLB career with San Diego in 2011. His 2014 season with the KBO's Doosan Bears saw him hit .309 with 18 homers in 111 games, but he came back to Mexico for good in 2015.

    Last Wednesday's roundtripper against the Guerreros will be recorded as the first of the season for Jorge Cantu but with another two months left in the Liga's abbreviated 66-game schedule for 2021, it likely won't be his last.

“JUGAR A LA PELOTA!” LIGA OPENS 2021 SEASON

Monclova Acereros P Bartolo Colon

    The Mexican League played its first regular games since September 2019 over the weekend, starting last Thursday night when defending champion Monclova bopped visiting Monterrey, 9-3, behind the arm of Bartolo Colon and the bats of Erick Aybar and Chris Carter. Colon, the American League's 2005 Cy Young Award winner, tossed five innings for the Acereros, throwing 91 pitches (57 for strikes) while giving up one earned run on five hits before being replaced by Zach Phillips in the sixth frame.

    Despite allowing a solo homer by Sultanes centerfielder Jose Cardona to lead off the top of the third, Colon (who turns 48 on Monday) pitched well enough to earn the win in the first game of the 2021 LMB season. After the contest the 21-year MLB veteran said, “The hills are old but they still turn green.” Aybar aided the Monclova cause with three hits and an RBI while Carter (who led the Liga with 49 homers in 2019) socked a solo blast.

Tabasco OF Jovan Rosa

    The rest of the LMB swung into action Friday with a full slate of games. One of them, the Dos Laredos Tecolotes opening series against Tijuana had to be shifted from Nuevo Laredo's La Junta Park across the border to Texas' Laredo Ballpark after a rainstorm with winds topping 90 MPH swept through the Mexican border city last Monday, causing flooding and electrical problems. The Toros ended up winning Friday night's opener, 8-3, behind homers by Peter O'Brien and Leandro Castro while Balbino Fuenmayor launched a roundtripper for the Tecos.

    Among Friday's other LMB lid-lifters, Adrian Gonzalez drove in five runs as the expansion Guadalajara Mariachis topped the Durango Generales, 12-3; Roberto Osuna tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the Mexico City Diablos' 8-4 triumph over visiting Veracruz at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu; Henry Urrutia went 4-for-5, driving in two runs and scoring twice as Saltillo overwhelmed Aguascalientes, 10-2; Michael Choice collected four hits and two runs as every Laguna batsman had at least one hit in the Algodoneros' 15-7 triumph over Leon in Torreon; Puebla clobbered Oaxaca, 16-9, as David Olmedo-Barrera and Danny Ortiz combined for six RBIs as the Pericos posted 19 hits on the night; and Tabasco slipped past Quintana Roo, 2-1, in 12 innings at Villahermosa on Jovan Rosa's walkoff RBI single. The entire Campeche-Yucatan series in Campeche was rained out.

    Following Sunday's games, four LMB North teams ended the weekend without a loss. Monclova, Guadalajara and Laguna are all 3-0 as of Monday morning while Tijuana is 2-0. Conversely, Monterrey, Durango and Leon show 0-3 records and Dos Laredos is 0-2.

LMB LAUNCHES JONRON TV, EXPECTS UP TO 10K SUBSCRIBERS

    The Mexican League unveiled another facet of their expanded digital presence for the 2021 season last week when they unveiled their new Jonron TV, from which subscriptions to view LMB games this year are now available. Proceso's Beatriz Pereyra filed this translated report:

    The Mexican League announced the implementation of its channel for subscribers from the season which will allow it to generate revenues of between 50 million and 100 million pesos during the next three years.

    At a press conference, the president of the LMB, Horacio de la Vega, presented Jonrón TV, a platform to which fans will be able to subscribe for 449 pesos (with a discount) and a 549 pesos regular price per season.

    According to their estimates for the 2021 campaign, they expect between 5,000 and 10,000 people to subscribe, a figure that by 2024 should increase substantially.

    “Other platforms have between 50 thousand and 100 thousand subscribers. Our goal is that in three years we'll have between 50 and 100 million pesos of profits. There is a free pre-registration on Jonrón TV for people to experience,” de la Vega explained.

    Likewise, de la Vega said that the names of two other television channels where LMB games will be broadcast will be announced shortly, and that they will join ESPN, Channel 11, Multimedios and Azteca Digital: “On all these platforms we will reach more than 32 million homes on open television and another 20 million on pay television models where the 594 games of the regular season plus the playoffs can be seen.

   “We are going to have four or five times more income from the sale of television rights than in 2019 and since the agreements we signed are for more than three years for the most part, almost all of them have an increasing scale so that they are more productive until reaching 40% more than what we generate right now,” he explained.

    According to LMB figures, in 2019, five million people attended LMB games at a baseball stadium and the league has 4.9 million followers on social media.

    “We will reach more than 30 million people on the different platforms. If you don't see baseball, we are not going to grow in fans. We have to position our stars and carry out a very powerful marketing project,” emphasized de la Vega.

    For his part, the director of Marketing and Communications of the LMB, Alberto Guadarrama, asserted that the league's project is aimed at “offering baseball both to traditional audiences and to new generations who have different forms of consumption such as more short videos (highlights) and thus hook these new baseball fans.”

LIDDI DEALT TO MEXICALI IN SIX-PLAYER LMP SWAP

Former Mazatlan IF Alex Liddi

   Former MLB infielder Alex Liddi has been sent by the Mazatlan Venados to Mexicali as part of a six-player Mexican Pacific League trade last week. Relief pitcher Felipe Arredondo and first baseman Fernando Diaz were packaged with Liddi to the Aguilas while infielders Hector Hernandez and Alex Valdez went to Mazatlan along with pitcher Juan Pablo Tellez. The 6'4” Liddi (who turns 33 in August) played parts of three seasons for Seattle between 2011 and 2013, batting .208 with six homers and 16 RBIs over 61 MLB games after debuting in the Mariners organization as a 17-year-old in 2006.

    Liddi was traded to Baltimore during the 2013 season, starting an eight-year odyssey that saw the native of San Remo, Italy play in four big league minor league systems, Taiwan, Mexico and winterball stints in both the LMP and Puerto Rico. Liddi spent two seasons with Mazatlan, struggling to a .187 average over 39 games with the Venados in 2019-20 after batting .278 with four homers in 63 games the previous season. Last winter, he hit .242 with one homer over 17 games with Manati in Puerto Rico. The only native Italian to play in both MLB and the CPBL, Liddi will play this summer with the Mexican League's Yucatan Leones in Merida, where he now lives year-round.

    Arredondo, a 34-year-old righty, is a former Angels minor leaguer who has pitched in the Mexican League since 2011 (currently with Quintana Roo). He pitched briefly for his hometown Culiacan Tomateros in 2010-11 and has pitched for three LMP teams the past two winters. After going 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA for Jalisco last winter, he was traded to Mazatlan during the season and was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two appearances. Diaz is a 19-year-old Ensenada product who hit .270 with six homers in 54 games for the Cardinals Dominican Summer League rookie team in 2019 before becoming one of the hundreds of victims of MLB's minor league purge last year.

Aguilas trade vet IF Hector Hernandez

     Hernandez is a longtime veteran infielder in both Mexican leagues. The 38-year-old Cosamaloapan product is capable of playing both left side positions as well as second base. He debuted in the LMB with Veracruz and played for Los Mochis that winter. He's gone on to play for nine LMB teams in 15 years, his last two for Yucatan in 2018 and 2019, and has a career .278 batting average over 1,234 games. In the Mex Pac, Hernandez appeared for three clubs in ten winters (the past five for Mexicali). As a utilityman for the Aguilas in 2020-21, he batted .268 in 83 plate appearances during 24 games.

    Valdez spent nine years in the Athletics organization and has also played with minor league teams in the Nationals and Red Sox systems. The Dominican corner infielder (who can also play second base) came to the Mexican League in 2011 and has hit .302 with 14 homers in eight seasons, splitting the 2019 campaign between Yucatan, Oaxaca and Mexico City. Valdez is a 13-year veteran of winterball, mostly in the Liga Dominicana. He hit .455 in seven games for the Aguilas 2019-20.

    Tellez is a 21-year-old right-hander who was a reliever in the 2019 Latin American Series for the old Xalapa Chileros and is now on the roster of the Mexican League's expansion Veracruz Aguilas.

MEXICAN LEAGUE, ESPN 3-YEAR DEAL FORMALIZED

ESPN to stream LMB games for 3 years

    With days to go before the 2021 season opens, the Mexican League has reached an historic agreement with ESPN which includes the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. ESPN's carriage of LMB games will reach millions of fans in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a joint press release. Terms were not announced and there was no mention regarding availability of of Mexican League games to viewers in North America. ESPN gave exposure to Korea Baseball Organization games last year while Major League Baseball's season was placed on hold until late July due to the Wuhan virus.

    LMB president Horacio de la Vega said, “We are very proud to have reached this agreement so that the Mexican League can be seen on ESPN's multi-platform screens, which will bring us closer to the most fervent fans and will also allow us to conquer new followers and (why not?) inspire the next generation of baseball players in Mexico.”

    The head of the LMB highlighted the visibility that ESPN gives to the largest baseball league in Latin America, where hundreds of Mexican, American, Dominican, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican, Panamanian, Colombian and many other nationalities take the field.

    "At ESPN, we are very happy to be part of this new stage of baseball in Mexico," said Gerardo Casanova, Head of Sports for the Walt Disney Company in Mexico. "We are proud to expand our relationship with the LMB, home to many of the best players in Mexico and Latin America, and as a brand, ESPN is leading the way in bringing baseball content from the region to fans across the continent."

ESPN executive Gerardo Casanova

    ESPN's coverage will include both regular season and playoff matchups. In all, 150 regular season games will be broadcast on ESPN's signal, including 14 games per week: Two on “online channels” every Thursday and Saturday, and 12 carried digitally via the ESPN app during the regular season. In the final phase of the campaign, there will be full series of Playoffs, including the opening rounds, Division Championships and the Serie del Rey in September.

    “Our alliance with ESPN is a home run with the bases loaded because today, it is essential to reach beyond people television,” concluded de la Vega. “The way of consuming sports content has evolved and that's how we've understood it. We want to reach a large audience through the different platforms that ESPN offers us.”

    The Mexican League season opens Thursday night when the defending champion Monclova Acereros host rival Monterrey in a single game. The rest of the LMB will begin play on Friday.

ROBERTO OSUNA, OLIVER PEREZ TO PITCH IN LIGA

Roberto Osuna returns to Diablos

    A number of players with years of MLB experience will be playing in the Mexican League this summer, and two more veteran pitchers have come to terms with LMB teams while a former All-Star infielder may also appear south of the border in 2021.

    Right-handed closer Roberto Osuna will be back in Mexico City on the team he made his pro baseball debut with as a 16-year-old in 2011. Osuna appeared in 13 games for the Diablos Rojos that year, mostly as a reliever, and went 0-1 with a 5.49 ERA. He was signed by Toronto in September 2011 for $1.5 million, of which all but $375,000 went to the Diablos (the signing bonus rules have since been changed by MLB more in favor of the player).

    The nephew of former MLB reliever Antonio Osuna made the jump from Class A to the Jays' 2015 opening day roster as a 20-year-old and went on to be named to the American League All-Rookie team that season. The younger Osuna posted 30 or more saves three times between 2016 and 2019, appearing for the AL in the 2017 All-Star Game and leading the junior circuit in 2019 with 38 salvados.

    Osuna was not controversy-free during his six-year MLB career, however. He was unavailable for a game with Toronto in 2017 due to an anxiety disorder, for which he received counseling from a psychologist. One year later, he was arrested and charged in the assault of the mother of his 3-year-old child. MLB handed down a 75-game suspension retroactive to the day of the alleged incident, during which the Jays traded the closer to Houston. Osuna went on to pitch for the Astros in their 2019 World Series loss to Washington, but arm problems shortened his 2020 season and he could not find any takers on the free agent market during the last off-season despite holding a showcase event in the Dominican Republic.

    Another reliever born in Sinaloa, Oliver Perez, has signed with the Tijuana Toros after earlier turning down an assignment to Class AAA by the Cleveland Indians. Perez made five appearances from the bullpen for the Tribe this season and allowed no earned runs, although he lost his only decision on April 17 in Cincinnati when he entered a 2-2 game in the bottom of the tenth and gave up an RBI single to Tyler Stephenson that plated automatic runner Sean Doolittle from second base.

    The 39-year-old lefty's time with Cleveland marked his 19th season in MLB, a record for Mexican-born players. Like Osuna, Perez cut his teeth in the Mexican League, although his 11 games with Yucatan in 2000 (going 3-2 with a 4.36 ERA for the Leones) came a year after he'd signed a contract with San Diego as a 17-year-old and appeared in 15 games for the Padres' Arizona Rookie League club.

Oliver Perez in World Baseball Classic

    Perez eventually reached the majors with San Diego in 2002 and went on to a star-crossed career in which he's pitched for eight teams, reaching the double-digit mark in wins three times, going 2-0 over 11 games in four postseasons and earning over $67 million during his MLB career (including a three-year, $36 million contract with the Mets signed in 2009). However, he's also battled control problems and injuries and was unconditionally released by the Mets before the 2011 season despite having another year and $12 million left on his contract. At that point, Perez' career was at a crossroads and he signed a minor-league deal with Washington and essentially started over with Class AA Harrisburg that year.

    At the suggestion of Nats' pitching coordinator Spin Williams, Perez reinvented himself as a relief pitcher after having been a starter in 196 of his 205 MLB games. He worked his way back to MLB with Seattle in 2012 and has exclusively been a middleman ever since. Perez is expected to come out of the bullpen for Tijuana manager Omar Vizquel and is being mentioned as a potential candidate for Mexico's Olympic team at the Tokyo Summer Games this year.

    One more former big leaguer who may play in the Mexican League is three-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Phillips, who recently uploaded an image of the Oaxaca Guerreros presenting him as a new team member on his Instagram account. Phillips spent part of the 2019 LMB campaign with the Guerreros' “big brother, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, for whom he hit .267 with three homers and 15 RBIs over 36 games.

    A Georgia native, Phillips debuted in MLB with Cleveland in late 2002 after spending several seasons in the Montreal system. He played sporadically with the Indians and spent much time in the minors before being traded to Cincinnati at the beginning of the 2006 campaign. He became a mainstay in the Reds lineup for the next eleven seasons, averaging 17 homers and 17 steals and batting .279 en route to All-Star Game selections in 2010, 2011 and 2013 as well as four Gold Gloves at second base.

    The Reds traded Phillips to Atlanta prior to the 2017 season, picking up $13 million of the $14.5 million he was owed on the last year of his contract. Phillips was dealt that September to the Angels and signed as a free agent with Boston in February 2018. However, he only played nine games with the Red Sox, spending most of the year in the minors, and was let go following the season. After playing with the Diablos in 2019, he played eight games last year with the Baseball Brilliance team in something called the Yinzer Baseball Confederacy (a four-team collection of players from independent leagues playing all games in Washington, Pennsylvania) as well as a trio of exhibition games with the Frontier League Lexington Legends.

PIONEER LEAGUE TEAM TO CARRY ACEREROS PROSPECTS

Monclova to send prospects to Colorado

    A Pioneer League team in Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountain Vibes, has entered an agreement with the Mexican League's Monclova Acereros to host some Acereros' minor leaguers this season. The Pioneer League was initially formed in 1939 and operated continuously operated from 1946 until last year, when the pandemic caused the suspension of the schedule. During the offseason, Major League Baseball decided they'd be better off without 42 minor league teams as affiliates, after which the Pioneer League (which had been a Rookie circuit since 1963) being forced into Independent status, although they have the dubious honor of being an MLB “partner.”

    The Vibes were created by an earlier shakeup of minor league teams owned by the Elmore Sports Group in 2019, who shifted the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox to San Antonio after 30 years in the Pacific Coast League and then moving the Helena Brewers to Colorado Springs to fill the void in the city of 478,221. A Name the Team contest was held, but “Rocky Mountain Vibes” was chosen despite not being one of the five finalists (among which were Rocky Mountain Oysters, Colorado Springs Happy Campers and Colorado Springs Punchy Pikas). The Vibes went 32-43 their first season in 2019, drawing 137,296 to finish second to Ogden in the PioL attendance derby.

    Acereros owner Gerardo Benavides called the player-sharing arrangement with the Vibes a necessary step. “From the moment I made the decision to buy a Mexican League team, I knew what was needed to maintain it,” he said. “It was very clear to me that to win championships, it was necessary to develop talent. That is why we bet and trust in this challenge of exporting our prospects to a high-level league such as the Pioneer League.”

Colorado Springs baseball stadium

    Monclova sports manager Jose Melendez echoed Benavides' sentiments. “We as a club always have the vision of growth and of supporting prospects in their development,” said Melendez. “With the break of last season and the current one in our development leagues, we were fortunate to find the opportunity to play them in this renowned league partnered with Major League Baseball.”

    For his part, Vibes team president Chris Jones said in a press release, “We are beyond excited to begin a historic and what we all hope to be a very long affiliation and relationship with the Acereros of Monclova. Big thanks to Jose Melendez with the Acereros, the Elmore Sports Group and the great Colorado Springs community.”

    The Pioneer League will serve as a laboratory for MLB in 2021 with experimental rules in place for the coming season, including a home run derby to decide winners of games that are tied after nine innings.

STATE GOVERNMENT BARS CHARROS FROM BALLPARK

Estadio Charros in 2019

    Much attention over the past few months has been given to whether or not the Mexican League expansion club Guadalajara Mariachis would be allowed to play their home games at Estadio Charros in neighboring Zapopan, a bizarre turn of events has led to the team that owns the facility bearing their name was recently denied entry to the ballpark by the Jalisco state government.

    After front office staff of the Mexican Pacific League's Jalisco Charros were turned away at the entry gates by State officials, the government released a statement that read, “It is not an eviction. Under the Code, administrators of the site and the State Government took possession of the property to supervise and review its infrastructure.”

    After an ownership group led by Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte bought the LMP's Guasave Algodoneros franchise in April 2014, they moved the team into the 8,500-seat Estadio Panamericano, which had been built to host baseball and track & field events during the 2011 Pan American Games. Remodeling was performed that summer to include the expansion of permanent seating to 11,500 spectators in time for the renamed Charros' inaugural 2014-15 season. Another stadium remodel in 2015 increased capacity once again to 13,000 seats while a third renovation in 2017 brought capacity up to its present 16,000 seats in order to accommodate both the 2018 Caribbean Series and the 2019 World Baseball Classic. In all, 705 million pesos (US$35 million) in State money has been invested in the stadium's construction and renovation costs.

Estadio Panamericano in 2011

    While the stadium is named after the Charros, who are in charge of the facility (including maintenance and upkeep), it is owned by the State of Jalisco. The statement from the government also read that “It is important to remember that at this time, it is the off-season of the Mexican Pacific League (LMP), a competition in which the Jalisco Charros participate. Therefore, there is no right to use the stadium at this time.” If the statement is taken at face value, the State is keeping the Charros out while they inspect the ballpark structurally while also announcing that an official record will be drawn up regarding the events that are being carried out there.

    However, one prominent Mexican baseball writer appears skeptical that those are the only factors in the Charros' being barred from the ballpark. Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros called the move an “eviction” and that it was related to the ongoing legal dispute between the aforementioned Navarro and Quirarte. The latter was dismissed from the organization last November amid allegations of financial irregularities in his role as team president, and lawyers for both men have since hurled brickbats at each other in dueling press conferences. The dispute appears headed for a courtroom and has hurt the image of both the Charros and the league.

WOMAN DEBUTS IN TOP SINALOA MEN'S SEMIPRO LEAGUE

RHP Rosi del Castillo

    A star pitcher on Mexico's Women's National Baseball Team made her debut Sunday in the Clemente Grijalva League, a fast-paced semipro circuit one month into its 64th season in Sinaloa. Rosi del Castillo started for the VP El Fuerte squad against Ejido Mexico Abarroteros in Los Mochis, going 2.1 innings and allowing two runs on one hit and three walks with one strikeout before exiting the contest with a blister on the middle finger of her pitching hand.

    Del Castillo became part of Mexican baseball history when she tossed five innings of hitless ball in Mexico's 16-0 no-hit win over Nicaragua at the Pan Am Women's Baseball Championship on August 18, 2019 at Aguascalientes' Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez in what was the international debut for both teams. She won awards for Best Starter, Most Wins and Lowest ERA as Mexico went on to qualify for the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup, which will hopefully be played later this year in Tijuana.

    Although she's gained some notoriety pitching in the women's game, del Castillo is no stranger to men's baseball. The 23-year-old right-hander from Puebla, who's been clocked at 78 MPH on the radar gun, pitched for the four-time champion Dolores Hidalgo Rookies in a Puebla men's league as a teen and also has spent 2015 and 2016 in the Yucatan-based Meridan League semipro circuit with the Tamanche Azulejos under manager Oswaldo Morejon, a former Mexican League infielder. Although del Castillo has almost only been the only female in any men's league she's played in, she's never been intimidated.

Del Castillo with 2019 awards

    Del Castillo told Linea Directa writer Armando Baldenebro prior to her first LCG start last weekend that she hopes to get support while encouraging other women ballplayers. “Well, I hope they support me a lot,” she said with a laugh, “and for my part I'm going to leave everything on the field. I want to play a good role to all those people who like baseball and, more than anything else, to continue inspiring the girls to practice this sport because we too can play it.”

    She described her pitching style as “passionate, dedicated and very disciplined. I feel that on the mound, I'm very calm. I like to always keep the rhythm of the game in each pitch more than anything and, well, always enjoy being there on top of the mound.”

    As one of Mexico's top semipro loops, the Clemente Grijalva League has eleven teams playing five games every Sunday (with one bye) and features many ex-pros as well as current professional players making unpaid appearances in the league in order to stay sharp for the upcoming Mexican League season. Two Guadalajara Mariachis veterans, Saul Soto and Jesse Castillo, have played this spring, as has longtime LMB third baseman Abel Martinez. Former major league pitcher Luis Ayala won his club's opening game on April 11 by a 5-2 score, with Ayala tossing five innings of four-hit ball and belting a homer en route to driving in all five of his team's runs.

LMP PRESIDENT CANIZALES REVIEWS DIFFICULT 2020-21 SEASON

Mex Pac president Omar Canizales

    Although the Mexican Pacific League and its predecessors have experienced hard times over 76 years as the country's leading winterball circuit, it's hard to imagine any of them being more difficult to navigate than a 2020-21 season that saw empty stands, game postponements and a work stoppage all caused by the Wuhan virus.

    LMP president Omar Canizalez, who just concluded his 12th season at the helm of the 10-team league, was interviewed by Septima Entrada's Carlos Meza Banuelos after the conclusion of the Caribbean Series in Mazatlan. The following is an edited Google translation:

    How did the Mex Pac do in the face of challenges brought on by the pandemic as well as changes in broadcasts of LMP games via SKY Sports of England?

    "I catalog it as extraordinarily positive. When so many leagues in the world could not carry out their tournaments while the scenarios were so uncertain, the fact that the 10 organizations of the league were able to conclude the season is a great achievement as was still receiving an international event like the Caribbean Series. I consider it extraordinarily positive.”

    On November 6, play was suspended in the league schedule for 11 days. Was it the breaking point of the LMP?

    "The uncertain scenarios and lack of knowledge about the virus taught us that, despite the protocol of more than 108 pages, that doing a weekly PCR was not enough. We had to find a test that gave the best results sooner. When we understood that this was happening, we stopped the league and we cut the chain of contagion. The decision to have stopped was the best. It was not on our stage, but it was key to concluding the season successfully.”

    What is the infection report?

    "We are collecting those reports. We have a general one, but there are many missing. In the last report, we had around 2,700 tests at the end of the season but the playoff results are missing."

Sparse attendance in Culiacan

    Was it the hardest year ever at LMP?

    "As far as I can remember, it was the most difficult, definitely. I do not have very distant information about any other situation that has put playing at risk and we have been playing continuously for 76 years. In economic terms, in losses that we ended up having, we expected lower losses. As we were not aware of the virus, we hoped that in October it would have already dropped to give the possibility of filling a quarter of the stadium in all the ballparks, but finally it could not be done in six of the ten ballparks."

    What did the year leave to improve for 2021-2022?

    "It left us many things to learn, such as the opportunity to make costs more efficient; and not necessarily to do everything in person. We understand that in the face of complicated scenarios, if we stick together, we can move forward with whatever challenge we face, strengthening relationship between players and management.

    “With the great effort that was made, plus the possibility of improving the topics of the broadcasts, there are always many things to improve.”

LMB PRESEASON CAMPS, GAMES UNDERWAY

Bartolo Colon in San Antonio

    With the Mexican League's delayed season openers set for later this month, all 18 teams have opened their training camps in recent weeks and several preseason games have been played, including a pair of contests north of the border in San Antonio, Texas.

    The defending champion Monclova Acereros closed out a two-game series with a 10-0 shutout of the Dos Laredos Tecolotes at Nelson Wolff Stadium last Friday. Former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon got the start for the Acereros, tossing four innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts. A year after having to work his family's taco stand in California to make ends meet, Henry Omana was one of a number of relievers to come in from the Tecos' bullpen after starter Richelson Pena (a Rangers farmhand for nine summers) allowed three runs over two innings.

    Monclova won the first game in San Antonio last Thursday, 4-3, but had to work a lot harder to do it. Dos Laredos took a opening 2-0 lead in the top of the third on a two-run single by Balbino Fuenmayor, but the Steelers pulled to within a run in the bottom of the sixth via back-to-back doubles by Francisco Espinosa and Danny Espinosa. After the Tecos tacked on a run in the top of the seventh to take a 3-1 advantage, the champions knotted the score thanks to two-baggers from Nah Perio and Jacob Barfield. The final run of the night came in the bottom on the eighth when Monclova's Niko Pacheco scored from third on a Jorge Gonzalez wild pitch.

    In related news, a joint press conference between the Tecolotes and City of Laredo officials was held last month in which both parties expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming season with games being played at both Laredo Ballpark and Parque La Junta in neighboring Nuevo Laredo. There had been speculation that the Tecos would play some home games in other border cities after tense negotiations with the City of Laredo centered on control of concessions, which team owner Jose Antonio Mansur wanted year-round instead of only during baseball season, but an agreement has obviously been arrived upon.

    While Colon took the mound for Monclova last weekend, a number of other former big leaguers are rounding into shape for the 2021 schedule. In Guadalajara, Adrian Gonzalez has been working out with fellow members of the expansion Mariachis and belted a couple of homers during a batting practice session last week. Eyes are on Gonzalez' back, where pains greatly contributed to his exit from Major League Baseball after a stint with the Mets in 2018. El Titan appeared to be swinging pain-free during training camp and at this point, Mariachis manager Benji Gil still plans to alternate Gonzalez and Jesse Castillo between first base and designated hitter following the apparent retirement of a third veteran, Saul Soto.

Javier Robles is Tigres batting coach

    Meanwhile, to the east, ex-Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has been training with the LMB's other first-year club, the Veracruz Aguilas. According the the Septima Entrada website, Aguilas sports manager Jesus “Chino” Valdez says “the arrival of the Cuban outfielder has caused a positive impact within the Aguilas.” Writer Thomas Lopez says that during an interview on the Bateo Libre radio progam, Valdez said he held a meeting with Aguilas players before Puig's signing with Veracruz was announced and that the players “perfectly understood the level of character we were receiving. The harmony is very beautiful, a true 'teamwork' and we have not started to play yet.” Valdez rejected speculation that Puig was receiving perks like a personal chauffeur or security at his in-town residence.

    Finally, a longtime Tigres star is in camp with the Quintana Roo team in a new role with the Mexican League club. After briefly appearing in the Indians' system in 1991, Robles went on to spend 21 seasons as a power-hitting shortstop in the LMB (including a 14-year stint with the Tigres in Mexico City, Puebla and Cancun between 1994 and 2007) before retiring as a player in 2012. Now Robles is in his first season as the Tigres hitting coach under manager Adan Munoz, a teammate between 2004 and 2007. “What you learned during 20 seasons, you have to do it now with your players, with the boys,” Robles said. “Support them in whatever they can take care of and given them advice for game time.” The 50-year-old played on seven division champions and four pennant winners with the heritage franchise.

SARAPEROS SIGN 14-YEAR-OLD MERIDA INFIELDER

Jorge Cervantes in Saraperos camp

    Most professional teams in any sport will sign a young, unproven player with an eye to the future, but the Saltillo Saraperos may have outdone themselves with their latest contract. The Mexican League club recently announced an agreement with a 14-year-old native of Yucatan, middle infielder Jorge Cervantes.

    Saraperos sports director Roberto Magdaleno led a virtual press conference last week to announce the signing that was also attended by Cervantes, parents Jorge Cervantes Ramos and Fely Lara Garcia, sister Monserrat Cervantes and paternal grandfather Francisco Cervantes. “I want to thank Jorge's parents on behalf of the board of directors for the opportunity they give us to have their son with us, and even more to come from so far away.

    “We hope to God that with the passage of time, he can make a relevant career with us. A special thanks to Luis Borges for his support and follow-up. Luis is a person who spent a long time in Saltillo keeping a very special affection for the team and the city, a professional as an athlete and a great person who was able to coordinate with (scouting director) Leo Figueroa to complete this important signing.”

    A native of Merida like the young signee, Borges spent the final four seasons of his 17-year LMB career as an infielder in Saltilo after 11 summers with the Yucatan Leones. He's worked as a baseball instructor in recent years for Pittsburgh and in Merida, he had the opportunity to train and observe players and has known the Cervantes family for a long time. “I've known Luis from a very young age,” Borges said. “He's always had skill but above all, the attitude to play baseball. It was a process to know at which point could he get to do it professionally.”

    “Luis has excellent hitting to develop and great projections to be a good player, even for the United States. He is very young, having just turned 14 years old, and we must continue working with him, but he'll go as far as he wants.”

Jorge Cervantes

    The 14-year-old shortstop and second baseman, who's studied the past year at Blas Pascal High School (where his favorite subject is science), said at the press conference, “I'm very excited to be able to belong to this great organization. I was training with Luis Borges in Yucatan for about eight months and was confident that I could be signed. We trained very hard several days a week to achieve this dream.”

    Cervantes had a chance to work out with the Saraperos for three days in training camp and said he settled down in short time. “At first I didn't think about it much,” the teen remarked. “I was nervous batting. I felt a little tense when I saw great players like Kennys Vargas and Manny Rodríguez himself but on the second day, I was letting go and I was calmer.”

    His favorite Major League player at the moment is Fernando Tatis Jr., but also appreciates Randy Arozarena “a lot for his hitting. In my country I have had the opportunity to train with him (Arozarena is a Merida resident during the offseason). He's an icon for everything he achieved in the World Series.”

    Cervantes concluded by saying, “I want to raise the surname Cervantes high. I have to take advantage the confidence that the entire Saraperos board of directors have given me and the support I received from Luis Borges so that they would notice me. This is the beginning of a career and I want it to be worth it.”

BRAVERMAN: MEXICAN PLAYERS GET “INEQUALITY” IN LMB

Out 27 columnist David Braverman

   One of Mexico's most prominent baseball columnists is David Braverman. His “Out 27” column is one of the most widely-read across the country and his name was floated as a potential replacement for Javier Salinas as president of the Mexican League before the Assembly of Presidents selected Horacio de la Vega as the 26^th man to hold that title in November 2019.

    Braverman recently wrote a column decrying what he considers poor treatment of Mexican-born ballplayers within the Mexican League, particularly in roster spots a salaries. The following is an edited Google translation of that column:

    With the LMB mini-season just around the corner and the 18 teams preparing for it, a theme is once again becoming more acute that should not be put aside because it is a recurring one. I am referring to the growing inequality that appears on the rosters of some organizations around the hiring of Mexican players born in Mexico, Mexicans born in the United States and foreigners.

    Taking the preseason roster presented by the Acereros de Monclova as an example, we can see that of 44 players, only 8 of them are born in Mexico; that is, only 18% of the total of their squad. The remaining 82% is made up of Mexican baseball players born across the border (dual nationality) along with Dominican, Venezuelan and American foreigners.

    The issue is not only on the list of players and goes further. This team will be managed by foreigner Pat Listach and among 10 members of its coaching staff, only three were born in Mexico: Martín Arzate, Matías Carrillo and Francisco Villegas. Needless to say, Spanish is practically unspoken in their dugout, something very similar to what has happened in other dressing rooms such as Tijuana or Dos Laredos.

    You may be wondering how all of this affects the Mexican-born player. I tell you, the country's baseball player collects his salary in pesos as a native person with a business activity, is issued a receipt for salary and therefore pays taxes. In the case of foreigners, every player receives their salary in dollars, as agreed from the beginning of the season. The Mexican-American plays as a “Mexican,” bienvenidos, but is paid like an American (in dollars) and I leave there the doubt of how they work in terms of taxes. They are Mexicans like you and me, that is how the Constitution establishes it, but just as they have rights, they must comply with obligations and there is the doubt. Now that if it is about making a player “Mexican,” they tell me that in Castaños, Coahuila, there is the solution.

LMB prospects in Liga Academia game

    Given all this, it is clear that a good number of players born in Mexico are being displaced. Many of them have not played since August 2019 and have had to dedicate themselves to other trades for more than a year. Let's not forget that the LMB teams, in addition to their seasonal rosters, have reserve lists in which many players are simply "stand by" without receiving a salary.

    The Mexican baseball player born in Mexico has to get on his feet and once and for all react and pull in the same direction: stars and rookies, with high or low salaries. They should have formed a union a long time ago, an association that looks out for their interests not by fighting with owners but to give themselves their place both in contractual and salary issues, insisting not to create conflicts but to build profits. Today the players, in addition to salary issues, have no one to defend them or in matters such as fights with umpires, expulsions, fines, etc.

    Gentlemen, you are the raw material of baseball, no one else. Take action.