Originally, I'd planned to wait until October to resume posting on Baseball Mexico, writing about the Canadian Football League and/or Pecos League (the Wild West of indyball) to stay fresh as a writer. Instead, when the CFL and Pecos seasons started in May, I decided that I'd rather keep recharging my batteries while maintaining my focus on Mexican baseball, which is where my niche seems to be anyway. What was it Clint Eastwood used to say about knowing your limitations?
Anyway, I've decided that I'll fire BBM back up in about a month so I can cover the Mexican League playoffs, which begin the second week of August. Six months off is long enough and, with 12 teams qualifying for the LMB postseason this year, all nine teams in the North are still in contention for a playoff berth and even though it would take a miracle for Leon to come back from 11.5 games out of sixth in the South, both Campeche and Oaxaca have a Hail Mary's chance with 24 games left in the regular season...why not come back a little early?
Quick takes: Saltillo's Rainel Rosario is battling for the Triple Crown, leading the LMB with a .378 average and 86 RBIs while tied with Tijuana's Nick Williams at the top with 29 homers...A 5'7" pitcher for Tabasco, Yoennis Yera, is having a great first season in Mexico (hard to call a 32-year-old with 14 years' experience in the Cuban National Series a "rookie"). Yera is the only qualifying pitcher in the LMB with a sub-3.00 ERA (2.94) his six wins are tied for third in the loop...the Olmecas are 2.5 games behind first-place Puebla in the LMB South under Pedro Mere, who I'll go ahead and call the best manager in Mexico (if you can win in Villahermosa, you can win anywhere), but only 5.5 games separate the top six teams...Tijuana and Dos Laredos are in a dogfight for first in the LMB North, where the real battle will be for among four teams for the sixth and final playoff slot.
Ahhh, the juices are starting to flow already. See you again on August 8.
Bruce
