Monday, October 25, 2021

OBREGON, NAVOJOA TIED AT TOP OF LMP STANDINGS


    At the halfway point of the Mexican Pacific League's first half schedule, two teams share the lead in the LMP standings with identical 11-6 records. The Obregon Yaquis and Navojoa Mayos find themselves in the driver's seat with three weeks remaining in the opening stanza of the 2021-22 season.

    Obregon did their part in breaking a three-way deadlock at the top Sunday by clobbering Mexicali, 8-2, in the border city. Jonathan Aranda broke a 1-1 tie with a solo homer off Aguilas starter Javier Solano in the top of the second inning, but it was a Reynaldo Rodriguez grand slam off Solano in the third that for all intent and purposes put the game away for the Yaquis. Obregon starter Hector Velazquez got the win with six solid innings, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts. Solano was tagged with the loss after giving up eight runs on five hits and four walks over four innings.

    Navojoa did Sunday's heavy lifting by topping Jalisco, 4-2, at home in Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria after both teams entered the game with 10-6 records. The contest was knotted up at two runs apiece until Mayos third baseman Samar Leyva launched a solo homer over the left-center field wall off Charros starter Alex Delgado in the bottom of the fourth. Navojoa added an insurance run when Omar Renteria led off the seventh with a doubled up the middle off reliever Fernando Cruz, moved to third on an Omar Meza sacrifice bunt down the third base line and scored on Jorge Flores' single to right. Navojoa starter Raul Carrillo allowed two runs in 5.2 innings and five relievers surrendered one hit the rest of the way as the Mayos completed a three-game weekend sweep.

    At the other end of the spectrum, the Los Mochis Caneros have won just four of their first 16 games to bring up the rear after a disastrous 2020-21 campaign in which they went an aggregate 19-39 over two halves, worst in the LMP under manager Victor Bojorquez. Robinson Cancel is the Los Mochis helmsman this winter but thus far nothing much has changed, although the Caneros did salvage a series in Monterrey Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Sultanes behind a solo homer by Josuan Hernandez and 6.2 innings of one-run pitching by starter Carlos Viera.

    Heading into Sunday's games, Jalisco's Christian Villanueva was batting an even .400 to lead all LMP batters. Tirso Ornelas of Navojoa is second at .390 while Hermosillo's Nick Torres' .386 is good enough for third. Torres also tops the tables with five homers, one more than the four roundtrippers of Danny Ortiz (Monterrey), Missael Rivera (Jalisco) and Maikel Serrano (Navojoa). Serrano is first in RBIs with 17, ahead of Ortiz' 14 and the 13 of Torrez. Culiacan has three of the top five base stealers in the Mex Pac: Dairon Blanco leads the list with six swipes, one more than the five of teammate Sebastian Elizalde and Mazatlan's Ramon Rios and two more than Tomateros infielder Ramiro Pena and Venados outfielder Randy Romero.

    Among pitchers, Navojoa's Carlos De Leon has been a major reason for the Mayos' strong burst out the gate by winning his first three starts, making him the only LMP pitcher with a trio of wins at this stage of the season. Thirteen other pitchers have two wins, with two starters (Jalisco's Orlando Lara and Elian Leyva of Hermosillo) tied for the lead with 0.00 ERAs to augment their respective 2-0 records. Obregon's Luis Escobar has 24 strikeouts in 22.1 innings to lead the loop while Hermosillo veteran Juan Pablo Oramas is second with 20 whiffs over 23 frames. Jake Sanchez of Mexicali has four saves (plus a win) in seven outings for the most in that category, with Jalisco's Roberto Osuna and Carlos Bustamante of Navojoa tied for second with three salvados apiece. Sanchez has 14 strikeouts in seven innings with a 1.29 ERA.

    Off the LMP playing field, the expected sale of the Jalisco Charros has been finalized. The team, which has been marred by internecine front office squabbling for at least the past year, was sold by prime combatants Salvador Quirarte and Armando Navarro (who brought the team to Guadalajara from Guasave in 2014) to a group led by Jose Luis Gonzalez, his son Inigo and brother Juan Carlos, who also own the Mexican League Guadalajara Mariachis. Navarro was present at the press conference announcing the sale and said, “I wish the new owners every success and I thank all the fans.” The State of Jalisco is allowing the Charros to make fifty percent of Estadio Panamericano's 16,500 seats available for home games.


MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Obregon, Sonora

    We’ll continue our virtual journey to all ten Mexican Pacific League franchise sites by driving south from Hermosillo on Highway 15 for three-and-a-half hours (155 miles) through former LMP city Guaymas to Ciudad Obregon, Sonora’s second largest city behind Hermosillo with a metropolitan population of 375,000 and home of the seven-time league champion Yaquis.

    While the city itself is less than 100 years old, the area it sits in had long been settled by the Yaqui Indian nation, after whom the baseball team was named. Originally known as Cajeme when it was given municipal status in 1927, the city was renamed in 1937 after Revolution hero General Alvaro Obregon, a Navojoa native who later became president of Mexico and initiated modern agricultural techniques to the Yaqui Valley that made the region one of the most prosperous in the country. In fact, the area is called “Mexico’s Grain Provider” thanks to wheat growing standards partly established by American Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Norman Bourlaug.

    Present-day Obregon is the agribusiness center of a region whose countryside is liberally dotted with grain elevators, storage silos and cotton mills. While it is a working city and not tourism-oriented, there are some points of interest for visitors to take in. Laguna Nainari just west of town is a popular lagoon with restaurants, picnic areas and boats for water-skiing, while the nearby San Jose Beach features a spa. South of Laguna Nainari is the Parque Ostimuri, a tree-lined park geared towards young people (and the young at heart) with an amusement park, several refreshment stands and a zoo with animals ranging from deer and boars to turtles and gila monsters.

    The Museo del Yaquis celebrates the history of the valley and is doing its part to keep the culture of the Yaqui people alive. Moreover, the Mexican government designated the Yaquis as the first recognized tribe in the country, allowing them to continue their traditions overseen by a tribal government. There are four institutes of higher education in Obregon while the local airport receives flight from 13 Mexican and four U.S. cities.

    Professional baseball in Obregon debuted in 1947 as a member of the old Pacific Coast League. The Yaquis have won seven MexPac pennants (including three in a row under manager Eddie Diaz between 2010-11 and 2012-13) since 1965-66, winning Caribbean Series championships in 2011 and 2013. Past Obregon players whose numbers have been retired include Vinny Castilla, Roberto Vizcarra, Carlos Valencia and brothers Vicente and Enrique Romo.

.    The Yaquis play their home games in the state of the art Estadio Yaquis, a 16,500-seat facility on the outskirts of town that opened in time for the 2016-17 season. Estadio Yaquis co-hosted games for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup last month. Considered one of Mexico's finest ballparks, it's had a cool reception among local fans due to high ticket prices and a less-centralized location than Estadio Tomas Oroz Gaytan, which served the team for 36 years and (like Hermosillo's Estadio Hector Espino) has been purchased by the federal government to serve as a baseball academy.


MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Nelson Barrera, 3B/1B/DH

    One of the most beloved and admired figures in Mexican baseball history, Nelson Barrera Romellon was a mainstay at third base in the LMB for 26 seasons. Nicknamed El Almirante (“The Admiral”) by fans, Barrera was born October 17, 1957 in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche and grew up to be a six foot,180-pounder. Surprisingly, given his career power totals, Barrera was not considered a home run hitter for the first few years of his Liga career. In fact, he hit just 48 roundtrippers over his first seven campaigns between 1977 and 1983.

    Barrera posted his first big season as a 26-year-old in 1984 with Mexico City, cracking 23 homers while hitting .354 and driving in 101 runs. That led to an invitation to spring training by the Chicago White Sox in 1985. After batting just .176 with two homers for Class AAA Buffalo, Barrera was sent back to the Diablos Rojos and never played outside Mexico again.

    He went on a three-year tear between 1986 and 1988 for Mexico City, belting 110 homers and driving in 383 runs while posting batting averages of .350, .349 and .372. Although he never approached those kinds of numbers the rest of his career, The Admiral remained one of the most respected and feared batters in Mexico through the rest of the 20th century.

    Barrera retired with 455 career homers, two more than all-time great Hector Espino’s 453. His 1,928 career RBIs is also the Liga’s all-time best, as are his 972 extra-base hits and six 100-plus RBI seasons. He finished with 2,938 career hits (second behind Jesus Sommers) and a lifetime batting average of .298. Along with Sommers, he had 19 seasons of 100 or more hits. Barrera hit three homers in a seven-inning game, and once had a streak of seven bombs over a five-game stretch.

    He was a fairly marginal batter in the winter Pacific League, hitting .254 over 15 seasons with Culiacan and Mexicali although he was the LMP’s MVP for the Tomateros in 1984-85 with 15 homers and 68 RBIs. Barrera made his hits count in the winter, however, and stands sixth in career homers with 131 and 9th in RBIs with 479. His eight career grand slam homers are a MexPac record. He played in five Caribbean Series between 1983 and 1988, winning a title with Mexicali in 1986 in Venezuela.

    Barrera was respected as a manager, too, leading the Oaxaca Guerreros to the LMB crown in 1998 while turning in 15/110/.321 numbers as a player. He was managing the Campeche Piratas in his home state when he died tragically in 2002 after he was electrocuted by a live hanging wire while doing repairs on the roof of his home following a severe windstorm. The ballpark in Campeche was renamed in his honor.

Sunday, October 10, 2021

MEX PAC SEASON BEGINS; 80K ATTEND TEN OPENERS

    The Mexican Pacific League lifted the lid off the 2021-22 season last week to improved overall attendance at its traditional two-game, home-and-away opening series. Last winter's turnouts were severely curtailed fan turnout across the loop due to severe protocol restrictions due to the Wuhan virus outbreak, which had earlier caused the cancellation of the Mexican League's 2020 campaign.

    Things are less tight than a year ago and it showed at the turnstiles, as a combined 80,177 aficionados attended the ten LMP openers over three days between Tuesday and Thursday. The largest crowd was in Mexicali, where 12,867 were in the stands at Estadio Aguilas to watch a 5-1 win over Hermosillo on Thursday. One night earlier, there were 11,289 onlookers at Estadio Monterrey to witness an 8-5 Sultanes loss to visiting Jalisco. The smallest home opener gathering was in Guasave, where just 3,325 fans got their money's worth last Wednesday when the Algodoneros topped Los Mochis, 4-2, in eleven innings at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon.

    Let's take a look at all ten Mex Pac home openers:

TUESDAY, October 5

    Agustin Murillo went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs to lead the hometown Jalisco Charros past Monterrey, 4-2, as 6,712 were on hand at Estadio Charros in Guadalajara. After teasing the locals over the past two winters about perhaps joining the Charros, former MLB All-Star Roberto Osuna made his debut by tossing a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save.

    Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas had a great first start of the winterball season, tossing six innings of scoreless ball with seven strikeouts in the Naranjeros' 8-0 shutout over Mexicali. Nicolas Torres slammed a pair of homers and drove in three runs and Jose Cardona went 4-for-5 with a solo blast while 8,731 watched at Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora.

    Culiacan took a 7-6 thriller in ten innings over Mazatlan in front of 9,529 at Estadio Tomateros. Emmanuel Avila got on board in the bottom of the tenth after being hit by a pitch, moved to second on Alfredo Hurtado's bunt and then beat Leo German's throw from right on a Mateo Gil sacrifice fly for the game-winner. Jesus Fabela homered twice for Culiacan.

WEDNESDAY, October 6

    Jalisco made it two wins in as many nights, this time sending 11,289 at Estadio Monterrey home disappointed with an 8-5 triumph over the Sultanes. Japhet Amador and former Monterrey outfielder Felix Perez each belted two-run homers for the winners while slugger Danny Ortiz (42 longballs for Puebla in 2019) went deep for the Sultanes.

    It took eleven innings, but Guasave finally bested visiting Los Mochis, 4-2, as 3,325 watched at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. Jhoan Urena walked before Jesse Castillo slammed a walkoff homer off Caneros reliever Daysbel Hernandez to end it. Urena socked a roundtripper for the Algodoneros while Josuan Hernandez hit a two-run bomb for Los Mochis.

    Ricardo Valenzuela's two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh broke a 2-2 tie as Mazatlan went on to trip Culiacan, 4-2, with 5,447 at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal. Mitch Lively pitched six frames of two-run ball and eight Venados batters had a hit in a game where a brawl among fans from both teams occurred at the concession stands under the grandstand.

    Luis Escobar scattered four hits over five innings and contributed eight strikeouts to combine with three relievers on a 2-0 shutout for visiting Obregon at Navojoa's Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria as 6,496 fans watched. Reynaldo Rodriguez belted a solo homer in the top of the first and Alonzo Harris had an RBI single in the second for the Yaquis.

Friday, October 8

    Jesse Castillo struck again for Guasave, this time with a three-run homer in the top of the first off Los Mochis starter Carlos Viera as the Algodoneros went on to a 7-2 road win with 6,860 witnesses at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada. Castillo and Alejandro Ortiz each had three hits for the Cottoneers; Isaac Rodriguez and Jorge Rivera had RBI singles for the Caneros.

    Mexicali and Hermosillo were tied at 2-2 until Daniel Castro rocked a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh as the Aguilas went on to a 5-2 victory. A crowd of 12,867 at Estadio Aguilas saw Enrique Burgos and Jake Sanchez toss scoreless innings to seal with win for the Eagles. Addison Russell doubled and scored on Nic Torres' single for Hermosillo.

    At home in front of 8,921 observers at Estadio Yaquis, Obregon made it two shutouts in a row with a 5-0 blanking of Navojoa. Hector Velazquez combined with three relievers to extend the Mayos' season-opening scoreless streak to 18 entradas. Carlos Sepulveda homered and Kristian Delgado singled, doubled and had two RBIs for the winners.

    The Mayos' streak of futility extended another four innings to 22 before scoring their first run of the season in the fifth frame of a game in Mazatlan they ended up winning, 6-2, by scoring four times in the top of the ninth (including Tirso Ornelas' two-run double) and then getting a 1-2-3 entrada from Carlos Bustamante to save their first triumph.


LMB REBOOTS MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE

    After an absence of four seasons, the Mexican Winter League is making a return in 2021, albeit with a different look than in the past. This time, the LIM (Liga Invernal Mexicana) will feature two four-team divisions playing six weeks each between mid-October and late November with no crossover contests, followed by division championship series between the top two regular season finishers.

    As before, the LIM will serve as a Class AA affiliate circuit for the Mexican League, who announced the reformation of the loop early this month. LMB president Horacio de la Vega was on hand, as was Mexican League sports director Gabriel Medina. The LIM will feature young players on LMB contracts who are not playing in the Mexican Pacific League or any other winterball league.

    The Mexican Winter League's North Division will include the Monclova Acereros, Monterrey Sultanes, Saltillo Saraperos and Union Laguna Algodoneros of Torreon while the South Division will be comprised of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Oaxaca Guerreros, Puebla Pericos and a combined team of Veracruz Aguilas and Yucatan Leones prospects.

    All games will be played in the same ballparks used during the LMB season between April and September, although the Veracruz venue for the Aguilas-Leones squad hadn't been finalized when the press conference was held. The Aguilas Mexican League team plays home games at Estadio Beto Avila.

    The LIM North regular season (with games played on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) will run 28 games per team from Tuesday, October 12 through November 28, followed by a best-3-of-5 championship series between the top two teams from November 30 through December 4, if needed.

    The LIM South schedule has each team playing 30 games between Tuesday, October 19 through November 21, followed by a best-4-of-7 championship series beginning November 23. A Mexican Winter League title series between the two division champions is slated for early December.

    All teams will be made up of 28 players, with an age limit of 26 for 25 players and no limitations on three players per club. Tie games will extend for a tenth inning before they're considered completed.

    An earlier version of the LIM operated from 2015 through 2017, with teams in places like Celaya, Salamanca, Guanajuato and Moroleon as well as LMB cities such as Puebla, Aguascalientes, Oaxaca and Mexico City. The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won all three pennants under two managers (Jose Luis Sandoval in 2015-16, Victor Bojorquez in 2016-17 and 2017) before the league closed due to financial difficulties.


MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Hermosillo, Sonora

    From our second road trip stop in Mexicali, we'll take Highway 2 eastbound until heading south on Highway 150 for a total drive of 439 miles (or eight hours) to Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora and a city of 812,239 residents, Mexico's 16th-largest. Hermosillo is in a rather unique setting, a landlocked desert city surrounded by various rock formations and crowned in its center by a tall outcrop lit at night by several radio towers.

    Besides serving as a political center, Hermosillo is very much an agriculture-oriented city, especially cattle ranching. It is also an important place for industry, with car-making one of the leading local occupations. Many early figures of the revolutions in the early 20th century called Hermosillo home, including General Alvaro Obregon, Plutarco Elias Calles and Abelardo Rodriguez. However, the relatively recent boom over the past sixty years has all but obliterated anything that may have survived from the old days.

    While Hermosillo is very spread out and not the best place for visitors who like to walk around, there are some interesting things on hand for tourists to check out. The Plaza Zaragosa is very pleasant with many trees and a lacy white bandstand, while on its edge sits a 19th century cathedral featuring twin towers and a dome with crosses atop each. A mostly neo-classical structure, the cathedral took over a century to build.

    Also nearby is the similar Government Palace, most notable for its courtyard murals painted by three artists in the 1980’s. Another interesting spot is the Museo de Sonora, a beautifully-restored former prison (which maintains vestiges of its past life) now serving a museum. South of town is the Centro Ecological de Sonora, a zoo and botanical garden.

    Hermosillo is home to the Mexican Pacific League’s Naranjeros, or “Orange Growers.” The Naranjeros are considered one of the Mex Pac’s flagship franchises, capable of tracing their roots to 1944 and raking in a total of 20 pennants in three leagues, including 16 LMP championships.

    Their last flag was won in 2013-14 under manager Matias Carrillo, who took the team to their second Caribbean Series title (the first was in 1976 with Ben “Cananea” Reyes at the helm). Mexican baseball legend Hector Espino spent 24 winters playing in Hermosillo. The right-handed batting Espino won 13 batting titles and seven home run crowns in the Mex Pac and still holds most LMP career hitting records.

The Naranjeros play their home games at 16,000-seat Estadio Sonora, which was opened on February 1, 2013 and is still considered one of Mexico's top ballparks eight years later, having won two international awards for architecture. Estadio Sonora hosted the Caribbean Series upon its opening and has been the scene of MLB exhibition games between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in 2015 as well as the WBSC U-23 Baseball Gold Cup last month.

Monday, October 4, 2021

MEX PAC TO OPEN 77TH WINTERBALL SEASON TUESDAY

Culiacan players readying for season
    The Mexican Pacific League is scheduled to begin its 2021-22 season with a trio pf games on Tuesday night. Jalisco will host Monterrey, Mazatlan will visit Culiacan and Hermosillo will be at home against Mexicali. In all, ten games will be played between Tuesday and Thursday as teams play home-and-away sets against league rivals, including Obregon against Navojoa as well as Los Mochis against Guasave. A full slate of five games is set for Saturday night.

    As in the past, the Mex Pac regular season will be split into two halves, with the 32-game first half closing on Thursday, November 11 and the 36-game second half commencing one day later and concluding Thursday, December 23, about a week earlier than in previous seasons. The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, which open on Christmas Day. After three stages of the postseason, the playoff champions will take a heavily-reinforced team to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the Caribbean Series between January 28 and February 3, 2022.

    The Culiacan Tomateros are shooting for a third consecutive pennant and trip to the Serie del Caribe under manager Benji Gil. Defending batting champion Yadiel Hernandez will be back in Hermosillo hoping to follow up on his .339 average while home run (15) and RBI (52) kingpin Japhet Amador will try to do the same with the Jalisco Charros, who were set to announce the sale of the team to the owners of the Mexican League's Guadalajara Mariachis after front office squabbles and legal threats decimated what has been one of the LMP's flagship franchises.

    Mexicali pitcher Miguel Pena has returned for another season in the border city after being awarded the LMP's ERA title last winter (2.08), as is veteran righty Javier Solano, who was second with a 2.60 figure. Strikeout champ Manny Barreda (64 K's) is expected back in Culiacan after making his MLB debut with Baltimore this summer while wins co-leaders Fernando Miranda and Juan Pablo Oramas (8 each) will both pitch another season of winterball in Guasave and Hermosillo, respectively.

    SKY Sports will stream all regular season and playoff games live for a second season in a row this winter. Full season packages through the LMP championship series are available for US$69.99 via the Extrabase.TV prompt in the top right corner of the league website.

    The following is a directory for the LMP and its ten member clubs in 2021-22, with most information taken from the Mex Pac website:

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Website: www.lmp.com
Facebook: @LigaARCO
Twitter: @Liga_Arco
Email: medios@lmp.mx
Phone: (33) 38 17 07 68
President: Omar Canizales
Sports Director: Christian Veliz

CULIACAN TOMATEROS
Website: www.tomateros.com.mx
Facebook: @clubtomateros
Twitter: @clubtomateros
Email: redessociales@tomateros.com.mx
Phone: (667) 758-3400
Sports Manager: Mario Valdez
Manager: Benji Gil
Home Stadium: Estadio Tomateros de Culiacan (21,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-410, RF-325
LMP Championships: Twelve

GUASAVE ALGODONEROS
Website: www.losalgodoneros.mx
Facebook: @AlgodonerosdeGuasavemx
Twitter: @AlgodonerosGsv
Email: contacto@losalgodoners.mx
Phone: (687) 138-4323
Sports Manager: Alejandro Ahumada
Manager: Oscar Robles
Home Stadium: Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon (10,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400 RF-325
LMP Championships: One

HERMOSILLO NARANJEROS
Website: www.naranjeros.com.mx
Facebook: @clubnaranjeros
Twitter: @clubnaranjeros
Email: contacto@naranjeros.com.mx
Phone: (662) 260-3932
Sports Director: Derek Bryant
Manager: Juan Navarrete
Home Stadium: Estadio Sonora (16,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400 RF-335
LMP Championships: Sixteen

JALISCO CHARROS
Website: www.charrosjalisco.com
Facebook: @CharrosBeisbolOficial
Twitter: @CharrosBeisbol
Email: comunicacion.charros@gmail.com
Phone: (331) 562-0485
Sports Manager: Raymundo Padilla
Manager: Roberto Vizcarra
Home Stadium: Estadio Panamericano (16,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-335, CF-415, RF-335
LMP Championships: One

LOS MOCHIS CANEROS
Website: www.caneros.net
Facebook: @verdesxsiempre
Twitter: @verdesxsiempre
Email: contacto@caneros.net
Phone: (668) 818-6323
Sports Manager: Carlos Soto
Manager: Robinson Cancel
Home Stadium: Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada (12,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP Championships: Three

MAZATLAN VENADOS
Website: www.venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Facebook: @VenadosBaseball
Twitter: @Venadosbase
Email: club@venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Phone: (669) 981-1710
Sports Manager: Jesus Valdez Rodriguez
Manager: Eddie Diaz
Home Stadium: Estadio Teodoro Mariscal (16,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-330
LMP Championships: Nine

MEXICALI AGUILAS
Website: www.aguilasdemexicali.mx
Facebook: @aguilasdemxli
Twitter: @aguilasdemxli
Email: info@aguilasdemexicali.mx
Phone: (686) 800-4000
Sports Manager: David Cardenas
Manager: Bronswell Patrick
Home Stadium: Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (17,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-330, CF-400, RF-330
LMP Championships: Four

MONTERREY SULTANES
Website: www.sultanes.com.mx
Facebook: @SultanesOficial
Twitter: @SultanesOficial
Email: info@sultanes.com.mx
Phone: (812) 270-2000
Sports Manager: Jesus Valdez Diaz
Manager: Gerardo Alvarez
Home Stadium: Estadio be Beisbol Monterrey (21,906)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP Championships: None

NAVOJOA MAYOS
Website: www.mayosbeisbol.com
Facebook: @OficialMayosBeisbol
Twitter: @OficialMayos
Email: clubmayos@hotmail.com
Phone: (642) 422-1433
Sports Manager: Lauro Villalobos
Manager: Lorenzo Bundy
Home Stadium: Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria (11,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-318, CF-378, RF-318
LMP Championships: Two

OBREGON YAQUIS
Website: www.yaquis.com.mx
Facebook: @YaquisDeObregon
Twitter:@Yaquis_oficial
Email: oficina@yaquis.com.mx
Phone: (644) 413-7766
Sports Manager: Manuel Velez
Manager: Sergio Gastelum
Home Stadium: Estadio Yaquis (16,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-325
LMP Championships: Seven

VENEZUELA BOOTS MEXICO FOR U-23 BASEBALL WORLD CUP TITLE

Mexican team takes field in Obregon
    Venezuela downed host Mexico, 4-0, on Saturday night at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo to capture a U-23 World Championship in Hermosillo. Venezuelan starter Wikelman Ramirez tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits on the night. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out four and baffled Mexico’s hitters all night long.

    Two runs in bottom of the first inning gave Venezuela an early lead. With two out and Carlos Rodriguez (whose leadoff single to center barely eluded a diving Fabricio Macias) standing on second base, a high pop fly to the right side of the infield by Romer Cuadrado ate Mexico second baseman Reivaj Garcia alive, clanking off Garcia's mitt into shallow right and allowing Rodriguez to score as Cuadrado carried his gift safely to second. Juan Fernandez then sliced a ground ball that handcuffed third baseman Keven Lamas to put runners at the corners for Justin Lopez, whose 3-and-2 single to right on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Mexico's Saul Castellanos brought Cuadrado in with the second unearned run of the inning.

    Venezuela's next two runs came in more straightforward fashion in the bottom of the third. Jesus Lujano led off with a double down the left-field line, moved to third on a Robert Perez groundout to Mexican shortstop Javier Salazar and scored on Cuadrado's sacrifice fly to Macias in center to bring the score to 3-0. The next batter, Fernandez, drilled Castellanos' second pitch for a homer that barely stayed fair as it passed the foul pole in left. A Lopez double ended the night for Castellanos but for all intent and purposes, the game was pretty much over by then. Ramirez only needed 86 pitches (60 of them strikes) to complete the shutout, scattering a double to Eric Meza and singles by Tirso Ornelas and Roque Salinas.

    "The fact of playing in Mexico put too much pressure on these players," commented Mexico's manager Enrique “Che” Reyes after the loss. "It's a fact we didn't play well enough to beat Venezuela." Venezuela’s last international World Championship came in 2012 when its team finished first at the 15U Baseball World Championship. "It is really easy to work with these players," commented Venezuelan manager Carlos Garcia. "They came together, worked hard, stayed focused on our goal. And more than that, they enjoyed playing the game."

 

Lining up for Silver Medal presentation
   Mexico topped the first-round Group A standings with a 4-1 record after beating Germany, 3-1, last Monday to advance to the Super Round. Agustin Ruiz contributed a two-run double in the bottom of the first and starter Jorge Leo tossed four scoreless frames. After losing a 2-0 shutout to Panama and being thumped 7-1 by Venezuela, Mexico salvaged their Super Round stint with a 3-2 win over Colombia as Tirso Ornelas socked a homer in the bottom of the sixth and Robles Rabago tossed a scoreless seventh to seal the victory. Mexico advanced to the Gold Medal game by virtue of their aggregate 3-2 record against teams in the Super Round over the two stages of the tournament.

    In the first game of Saturday's medal-round doubleheader, Colombia topped Cuba, 5-3, for the Bronze as Angel Angulo belted two homers and drove in three runs. Saturday night’s game during the first U-23 World Cup with the new seven inning format was played in just one hour and forty minutes.

    One Mexican, shortstop Salazar, was named to the All-World team after batting .320 over eight games in the tournament. Colombia's leftfielder, Gustavo Camprero, was chosen as MVP for his .519 average and 11 runs scored during the event. Ornelas led Mexico by batting .370 (10-for-27) while hitting one of the host country's three World Cup homers (the other two were swatted by Macias and Lamas. Reliever Juan Robles won two of the five games Mexico won playing in Hermosillo and Obregon and was unscored upon in 6.1 innings over four appearances. Alejandro Chavez allowed no runs in two starts and 9.1 frames as the entire staff turned in a 1.92 ERA in nine games, but the batters (a collective .245) couldn't put anything together in the Gold Medal contest with Venezuela.


MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Mexicali, Baja California Norte

Mexicali's Chinatown is Mexico's largest
    Heading northwest from Monterrey, we’ll make the second stop on our Mexican Pacific League Road Trip in the the border city of Mexicali, home of the LMP Aguilas and 936,826 metropolitan residents on Mexico’s northwestern border with California.

    Historically, Mexicali is a fairly “recent” city, developed as a center for area farmers just over 100 years ago. After becoming the capital of Baja California Norte in 1915, it grew (like many Mexican border towns) as a place for North Americans to engage in illicit activity over the course of the 20th Century. The economy expanded in more legitimate directions as foreign companies established maquiladora factories in and around Mexicali. 

    Maquiladoras are common in Mexican cities along the USA border, built primarily by North American companies who seek to take advantage of Mexico’s lower labor costs while having close access to the USA market. Maquiladoras have accounted for much of Mexicali’s burgeoning population. Across the border lies the twin city of Calexico, California. Both share a 24-hour border crossing.

    While Mexicali is not the tourist draw Tijuana has become to the west, there are still some local points of interest. It has the Mexico’s largest Chinatown (La Chinesca) and there are a large number of shops and restaurants in a triangular area near the border. In the former state governor’s mansion (on Avenida Alvaro Obregon) lies the Galeria de la Ciudad, which displays works by many leading Mexican artists. Mexicali is also home to the University of Baja California, where a regional museum features exhibits of paleontology, archaeology, ethnography, landscape photography and missions of Baja California. The annual Fiesta del Sol in October is one of the year’s highlights.

Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali
    Still, Mexicali is not a textbook example of a traveler’s paradise. It is very hot during the summer, gets temperatures below freezing level during the night in winter and in general is not tourist-oriented despite being one of the most prominent border crossings between the USA and Mexico. Millions of people have passed through Calexico to Mexicali, but few of them stay overnight.

    Mexicali’s baseball team is called the Aguilas, or “Eagles.” The Aguilas were formed in 1976 and are in their 45th winter in the MexPac, having won four LMP pennants and a Caribbean Series championship in 1986 under legendary manager Ben “Cananea” Reyes. Their home stadium, known officially as Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (and informally as El Nido, or “The Nest”), seats 17,000 fans around a symmetrical field measuring 330 feet down the foul lines and 400 feet to straightaway center. Mexicali hosted the 2009 Caribbean Series, becoming the northernmost city in which the tournament has ever been held.