YAQUIS' LOPEZ TOSSES NO-HITTER AGAINST NAVOJOA

Arturo Lopez after final out of no-hitter

    Obregon Yaquis left-hander Arturo Lopez tossed the first no-hitter of the Mexican Pacific League season (and 44th in the loop's history) last Saturday night, blanking the visiting Navojoa Mayos, 6-0, in front of 5,421 spectators at Estadio Yaquis. The 39-year-old Lopez struck out eleven Mayos batters, walking one and hitting another in allowing two baserunners en route to the third no-hitter in Obregon history and first ever at Estadio Yaquis.

    Lopez got all the offensive support he'd need in the bottom of the first inning when Victor Mendoza's double to left off Navojoa starter Rogelio Martinez brought Josuan Hernandez all the way around from first base. Just in case, the Yaquis plated three more runs off Martinez in the third, two on a Yadir Drake double. A Mendoza seventh-inning single scored the final two runs of the night for the winners.

    The 5'9” Lopez, who posted a 19.49 ERA in 2009 for the San Diego Padres over four relief appearances, was hitting the corners all night and threw 70 strikes in 97 pitches as neither Mayo to reach base got into scoring position. A Culiacan native who has represented the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in five Mexican League All-Star Games, Lopez is in his 16^th Mex Pac season and has a 60-38 career LMP record and surpassed 600 strikeouts during his no-no.

    Despite winning two of three games in the weekend set against the Mayos, the Yaquis remain in a tie for last place with defending champion Jalisco and Monterrey at 9-14, one game behind 10-13 Culiacan. Hermosillo remains in the first half lead at 15-8 but the race has tightened at the top, with 14-9 Mazatlan one game back in second and 13-10 Los Mochis two games out in third. Guasave, Mexicali and Navojoa are knotted up in a tie for fourth at 12-11 each.

    There HAS been a change at the top in the Mex Pac batting race, as last week's leader (Ramiro Pena of Culiacan) has dropped to third with a .359 average. Los Mochis' Yosmany Tomas went 2-for-3 against Culiacan Sunday to raise his league-leading mark to .378, 14 points ahead of Monterrey's Alberto Carreon (.364). Anthony Giansanti of Mexicali leads the winter circuit with seven homers, two more than Obregon's Sebastian Valle and Giansanti's Aguilas teammate Niko Vasquez. Christian Villanueva of Jalisco had a good week, going 9-for-24 (.378) and moving into first on the RBI table with 20, two more than the 18 ribbies each from Vasquez and Monterrey's Fernando Perez. Jose Cardona held the stolen base lead with 10 swipes for Hermosillo, ahead of the eight steals of Mazatlan's Randy Romero.

    The number of pitchers with three wins has grown to six, with Raul Carrillo (Navojoa), Matt Pobereyko and Jeff Kinley (both Guasave) joining Juan Pablo Oramas (Hermosillo), David Reyes (Mexicali) and Tyler Alexander (Jalisco) for the LMP leadership in that category. Luis Miranda of Los Mochis still leads the ERA race with an 0.00 mark after four starts and 22 innings pitched, ahead of Oramas (1.25) and Gusave's Nico Tellache (1.44). Jalisco veteran Javier Solano, now in his 15th MexPac season, tops the strikeouts list with 30 in 33.2 innings, one more than Lopez of Obregon's 29 and three up on Pobereyko's 27. Brandon Koch of Guasave has edged one save ahead of Mazatlan's Elkin Alcala, 10 to 9 while Mexicali's Jake Sanchez (who set the LMP record with 26 salvados last winter) is third with eight.

    With two weeks left in the first half schedule, teams are starting to jockey more for playoff points placement. The biggest upcoming midweek series is probably going to be in Mazatlan, where the Venados host Hermosillo in a battle of the current top two clubs. Next weekend, the most intriguing three-game set may be between perennial power Culiacan and 2021-22 pennant winner Jalisco at Estadio Tomateros with both teams struggling to find their way out of the second division.


THREE LIGA TEAM SEEK, PICK SKIPPERS FOR 2023

New Saltillo manager Mark Weidemaier

    With the Mexican League's 2023 season five months away from opening, three LMB teams have been working on filling managerial openings. One of them has been the Monterrey Sultanes, who are seeking to replace former Major League outfielder Roberto Kelly. The former Yankees outfielder led the Grey Ghosts to an LMB North playoff title and a berth in the 2022 Serie del Rey before falling to the Yucatan Leones after finishing fourth with in the regular season with a 51-39 record.

    Kelly, who'd returned to the Sultanes this year after taking the 2021 season off, has been named to the Texas Rangers coaching staff under new manager Bruce Bochy. Kelly was a manager in the Giants system before joining Bochy's staff as first base coach when the latter managed San Francisco to three World Series titles between 2010 and 2014. The Panamanian first came to Monterrey in 2018 and led the Sultanes to their tenth pennant in the shortened Fall 2018 season, beating Yucatan in the Serie del Rey and being named Manager of the Year.

    Another ex-MLBer, Geronimo Gil, will manage the Oaxaca Guerreros next year. Gil made his Mexican League debut in 1993 as a 17-year-old catcher and went on to spend all or part of six seasons with Baltimore and Colorado between 2001 and 2007, hitting 12 homers and driving in 45 runs as the Orioles' starting receiver in 2002. After wrapping up his 23-year professional career in 2016, he coached for Oaxaca for one year, managed Ensenada to the Liga Norte pennant in 2018 and then spent 2019 managing Yucatan in 2019. The 47-year-old Oaxacan took the Leones to a 66-52 season record and a playoff run that ended with a seven-game loss to Monclova in that year's Serie del Rey.

    Gil has also spent time as an instructor at the Alfredo Harp Helu Academy in Oaxaca and managed in the LMB Prospect League. He's currently at the helm of the combined Mexico City-Oaxaca team in the Mexican Winter League. Both the Diablos Rojos and Guerreros francises are owned by Harp, one of Mexico's richest men. Gil will replace another former catcher, Erick Rodriguez, at the helm of the Guerreros, who finished 34-53 in seventh place in the LMB South, six games out of the division's last playoff berth.

    Finally, the Saltillo Saraperos have let Adan Munoz go as pilot and hired Mark Weidemeier as their new manager following a 38-52 campaign this year. Munoz stepped in at the helm in Saltillo after Roberto Vizcarra resigned as manager to take over in Yucatan, leading the Leones to the LMB pennant. Weidemeier also managed in the Mexican League in 2022, albeit in abbreviated fashion. A first-time skipper for Dos Laredos, he led the Tecolotes to seven wins in their first ten games before leaving the border team for what the club termed “personal reasons.”

    Although he never played professionally, Weidemeier is a baseball lifer who got his first paying job out of college in 1982 when the Kansas City Royals hired him as a minor league coach. Since then, he's worked for numerous MLB organizations including the Angels, Yankees, Indians, White Sox, Dodgers and Diamondbacks. He coached under Matt Williams with both the MLB Nationals and Korea's KIA Tigers. Weidemeier has spent much time in Mexico as well, including managerial stints in Laguna and Veracruz, where he first worked for Tecos owner Jose Antonio Mansur, who has owned (and moved) several LMB teams over the years. One of Weidemeier's Tecos players, first baseman Kennys Vargas, told the Laredo Morning Times during training camp that “Players love him a lot because he is a fun manager. He tries to transfer all the experience he has onto us.”


MEX PAC SERIES IN TUCSON CANCELED

Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, Tucson

    Just weeks after it was first announced to the public, a three-game series between the Mexicali Aguilas and Obregon Yaquis slated to be played next week in Tucson has been called off. It would have marked the first time that Mexican Pacific League regular season games would be played north of the border. Instead, the Tucson series was canceled due to what the LMP office called “contractual reasons” and moved back to Obregon, the original venue of the three-game series on the league schedule.

    The contests were scheduled for Friday, November 11 through Sunday, November 13 at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, former spring training home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox as well as a pair of since-moved Pacific Coast League franchises. The 11,500-seat facility is now the flagship ballpark for the annual Mexican Baseball Fiesta involving MexPac teams in October and also the home facility for the Tucson Saguaros, winners of three pennants over seven seasons in the independent Pecos League, which boasts 16 teams in six states stretching from California to Kansas.

    The following is a translated press release from the Mexican Pacific League and first posted on their website Sunday, four days before the first game in Tucson was to have been played:

    Guadalajara, Jalisco; November 7, 2022 (LMP Media) - We regret to have to inform that, for contractual reasons, the decision has been made to definitively suspend the series between Águilas de Mexicali and Yaquis de Obregón, which would have taken place in the city of Tucson, Arizona on November 11, 12 and 13 of this year.

    This commitment will be made on the same dates, but at the Yaquis Stadium as originally scheduled, leaving for next season the possibility of playing in North American territory.

    We apologize on behalf of the teams for any inconvenience this may represent for our fans.

    We are convinced that the internationalization of the LMP is of paramount importance for our future growth. However, this first attempt could not be realized in a favorable way for the parties involved.

    We will continue working so that from next season this and other activities can be carried out.

    We appreciate your understanding.

    The Tucson Saguaros have released their 2023 Pecos League schedule, starting with a May 31 game in Austin and a June 8 home opener against Roswell at Kino Stadium.

JALISCO TAKES 2-0 LEAD IN TITLE SET OVER CULIACAN

  If the Mexican Pacific League’s two-time defending champion Culiacan Tomateros hope to make a run at a 3-peat (trademark held by Pat Riley), they’ve got a two-game hole to dig out of first after dropping the first pair of LMP finals contests to Jalisco. Manager Roberto Vizcarra’s Charros are seeking a return to the Caribbean Series after a two-year absence and they’re two wins away from doing just that.

The Charros won the first two games of the series at home in Guadalajara, starting with Friday’s 2-1 thriller over Culiacan in 12 innings. Jalisco struck first in the bottom of the first when Jose Juan Aguilar hit a leadoff double and later scored on Japhet Amador’s two-out single. Charros starter held the Tomateros scoreless on three hits over 5.1 innings, but Culiacan broke through for the tying run in the seventh when Jose Guadalupe Chavez’ single off David Richardson brought in Stevie Wilkerson. The score remained at 1-1 into the bottom of the 12th, when Amador lofted a sacrifice fly that allowed Esteban Quiroz to scamper home and end the game.

No extra innings were required Saturday night but the Horsemen were able to pull off another one-run victory, 3-2, over the visitors at Estadio Charros. Culiacan took an early lead in the top of the first when Emmanuel Avila singled home reinforcement Victor Mendoza, who made it a 2-0 tilt with a solo homer off Jalisco starter Javier Solano in the fourth. Tomateros starter Nick Struck carried a shutout into the bottom of the sixth, when Christian Villanueva singled two outs before Dariel Alvarez launched a two-run homer to knot the score at 2-2. The Charros took the lead for good one frame later when Jared Serna’s sac fly scored Amadeo Zazueta from third on a disputed play.

The series now shifts to Culiacan for Game Three on Monday night.

Jalisco reached the finals by outlasting Monterrey, 4 games to 3, in one semifinal series. The Sultanes crushed the Charros, 15-5, last Tuesday in Guadalajara. Jalisco held a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth before Solano allowed three Monterrey runs to give the visitors a 4-2 advantage, but it was a nine-run Sultanes outburst in the fifth that decided the game for all intent and purposes. Fernando Perez and Anthony Giansanti combined for four hits, two homers and four RBIs for the winners.

The Charros won Wednesday’s Game Seven, 3-0, as Jalisco starter Brennan Bernardino blanked Monterrey on two hits until he was replaced with two out in the sixth inning. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when Zazueta punched a single off Sultanes starter Mike Devine to bring home Missael Rivera. Amador made it a 2-0 contest when the Mulege Giant lined a homer off Luis Gamez in the seventh and Rivera scored a second time on Fernando Flores’ double to right in the same frame. Rivera, Amador and Flores combined for six hits, two runs and two ribbies as Monterrey went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners stranded.

Culiacan had an extra day’s rest after topping Guasave, 4-0, last Tuesday on the road at Estadio Francisco Carranzo Limon to win that semi set, 4 games to 2. Manny Barreda tossed six shutout innings to earn the victory for the defending champs, allowing two hits and striking out six Algodoneros although he did issue five walks. Jesus Fabela gave the Tomateros all the scoring they’d need by doubling off Guasave starter Jordan Kipper and later scoring on Sebastian Elizalde’s sac fly. Mendoza drove in runs in the fourth and sixth innings while Wilkerson’s RBI double completed the scoring in the eighth.

TWO-TIME LMP MANAGER OF YEAR GASTELUM FIRED

Nowhere does the time-worn phrase “What have you done for me lately?” apply more than in managing a Mexican baseball team. It’s something commented upon endlessly on this blog but one of the biggest object lessons in that fact of life south of the border recently came to pass in Obregon, where “the decision was made to end the employment relationship with manager Sergio Omar Gastelum,” according to a Yaquis press release issued last Monday.

The decision to cut the 43-year-old loose might have been curious if only the current season was examined. The Obregon-born Gastelum was a star infielder for 22 seasons in the Mexican League with the well-traveled Tigres franchise, Laguna and Mexico City as well as Culiacan and Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific League before retiring after the 2017 LMB season (during which he hit .273 over 59 games for the Diablos Rojos). Gastelum hit .310 over his Liga career with 82 homers and 1,054 runs scored while playing on five pennant winners.

Gastelum made his managerial debut in the LMB’s Fall 2018 season when he replaced Joe Alvarez at the helm in Oaxaca. The Guerreros lost their first six games under Gastelum to fall to 14-22 before going 12-8 the rest of the short season, squeaking into the playoffs with a wild-card game win over Leon to kick off an amazing postseason run that saw Oaxaca reach the Serie del Rey before losing to Monterrey.  

He piloted the Guerreros to a 68-51 record and a second-place finish in the LMB South in 2019 before falling to eventual champion Yucatan in the first round of the postseason and was rewarded that December with a “promotion” to manager of the Diablos Rojos by Alfredo Harp Helu, who owns both teams. Gastelum led the Red Devils in training camp during 2020 before the season was canceled before being surprisingly fired in January 2021 without managing the team in a regular season game. He was replaced three days later by Miguel Ojeda, who managed Mexico City and was working in the Diablos’ front office before a shakeup landed him back in the dugout.

Gastelum was hired as skipper for his hometown Yaquis in 2018, replacing Oscar Robles, and led Obregon to a 37-19 overall record that winter, reaching the LMP finals before losing to Jalisco. He was named Mex Pac Manager of the Year for his work. The 2019-20 season brought more of the same, as the Yaquis had an LMP-best 42-21 overall record and reached the semifinals before losing to Mazatlan in seven games, earning Gastelum his second straight Manager of the Year award. The Yaquis had the best overall record in the winterball loop again last season, going 47-22 before falling to Culiacan in the semifinals. 

This winter’s 36-32 mark and first-round loss to Guasave was enough for Obregon president Rene Rodriguez to jettison Gastelum despite a composite 162-94 record and .633 won-lost percentage, four consecutive winning season and playoff berths and the aforementioned pair of MOY trophies. Given his credentials, Gastelum shouldn’t be out of work for long but he’s already become familiar with the Mexican manager’s mantra: “Rent, don’t buy.”

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Miguel Suarez, OF (1971-87)

While Miguel Suarez does not immediately leap to mind as one of the great batsmen in Mexican League history, his record indicates that he was consistently productive over his 17-year career. While he had neither power nor great speed on the basepaths, Suarez was nonetheless a perennial .300 batter as one of the best leadoff hitters ever in Mexico.

Miguel Suarez Lopez was born September 29, 1952 in Guasave, Sinaloa. The tiny 5’4” 140-pounder began his pro career with Tampico in the Class A Mexican Center League as a 16-year-old in 1969. He played two years in Tampico, batting .314 in 1969 and followed up with a Liga-best .393 in 1970. He showed surprising power, knocking out 26 homers over those two seasons, but the longball was not his style as Suarez would go on to hit only 23 circuit clouts during his LMB career (and never more than three in one season).

Suarez debuted with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in 1971, and led the Liga with 188 base hits en route to a .372 average and a selection as the LMB Rookie of the Year.  That would set a pattern for his career, as Suarez only failed to hit .300 once in his first eleven seasons, when he batted .297 in a strike-split 1980 season for Reynosa and the Mexico City Tigres. He came back with a .303 mark for the Tigres in 1981 and later turned in .320 and .332 campaigns for Tabasco and Nuevo Laredo in the early 1980’s.  After consecutive .259 seasons for Veracruz in 1985 and Monterrey in 1986, he called it quits at the age of 33.

Suarez ended his Liga playing days with 2,444 career hits for a .323 average, including a .345 mark in eight seasons with the Diablos.  While he only had 63 stolen bases (and was actually caught stealing 96 times), he did swat 86 triples, reaching double figures in three-baggers four times between 1973 and 1979. Suarez is the only player ever to top the circuit in hits three times, including a record 227 safeties in 1977 when he hit .370 for the Red Devils, and led the Liga in triples with 13 in 1973.  He was not nearly so successful in the winter, with a career mark of .259 in 14 Mexican Pacific League seasons, mostly with his hometown team in Guasave.

Nicknamed “Mister Hit” during his playing career, Suarez was inducted into the Salon de la Fama in 1994. He died at age 65 in 2017.

BOTH MEX PAC SEMIS GO TO GAME 6 TUESDAY

The Mexican Pacific League playoff semifinals have been extended into a second week as a Guasave win over defending champion Culiacan on Sunday staved off an Algodoneros elimination while Jalisco defeated Monterrey the same night to bring their series back to Guadalajara with a one-game lead over the Sultanes.

Both semis began with splits of the first two games in Guasave and Guadalajara. The Algodoneros dropped their opener to Culiacan last Tuesday, 4-2, as Jesus Fabela’s RBI triple broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh. Fabela scored on a Ramiro Pena single for the final score of the night. Fabela, Pena and Emmanuel Avila combined for six hits, three runs and four RBIs for Culiacan while Manny Banuelos got the win after allowing two runs over six innings with six strikeouts. Esteban Quiroz homered for Guasave, who wasted a good start by Gino Encina (6IP, 2R, 6K).

The Cottoneers came back one night later to win an 8-7 thriller in walkoff fashion when an infield single by Marco Jaime off Tomateros reliever Sasagi Sanchez in the bottom of the ninth scored pinch-runner Bryan Araiza with the winning run. Guasave trailed 5-0 before scoring five fifth-inning runs to tie the score. Jhoan Urena had four hits for the winners while Culiacan’s Ramiro Pena was 3-for-4 with a homer in a game lasting well over 5 hours thanks to a combined 39 hits and walks and 11 pitching changes. Despite allowing two runs and blowing a save, Matt Pobereyko was awarded the win after pitching the final 2.2 innings for Guasave.

The series then shifted to Culiacan, where the locals held off Guasave, 4-3, last Friday. Tomateros shortstop Jose Guadalupe Chavez set an LMP single-game record with 13 assists and went 2-for-4 at the plate, including an RBI single. That plated the eventual winning run in the sixth. Tomateros first baseman Joey Meneses opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer off Algodoneros starter David Holmberg for the 17th postseason roundtripper of his LMP career while Urena hit his own two-run circuit clout in the fifth for Guasave off winning pitcher Anthony Vasquez.

The Tomateros took a commanding 3-games-to-1 lead Saturday with a convincing 8-3 home win over Guasave. The Algodoneros gained an early 3-1 lead in the top of the second via run-scoring singles from Jaime, Quiroz and Yadir Drake, but Culiacan eventually regained advantage in the fifth when Meneses doubled in Sebastian Elizalde and Victor Mendoza blasted a two-run homer. Fabela’s three-run longball in the eighth was icing on the cake for the Tomateros with reliever Aldo Montez earning the win with 4.1 shutout innings after starter Jose Bravo was chased in the second.

The Cottoneers fought back for a 7-2 win on Sunday to send the series back to Guasave for Game Six on Tuesday night. The Algodoneros scored five times in the top of the first innings as Angel Erro capped the outburst with a two-run double off Culiacan starter Manny Banuelos, who may have been distracted after earlier signing a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. The Tomateros plated two runs off Guasave starter Gino Encino in the bottom of the first but Encino settled down to pitch scoreless ball between the second and seventh frames to earn the win. 

Jalisco and Monterrey each took a win in the first two games of their semi set at Estadio Charros. The Guadalajara side roared back from a 4-0 deficit to tie last Tuesday’s opener in the bottom of the fifth on Amadeo Zazueta’s two-run double and Christian Villanueva’s two-run homer before pushing ahead one frame later on Missael Rivera’s run-scoring double. Villanueva finished the game with three hits, two runs and three ribbies while Carlos Figueroa and Ricardo Serrano each collected two fits and two RBIs for Monterrey as Serrano doubled twice.

The Sultanes came back to even the series last Wednesday with a 5-3 triumph. Jalisco pushed a run across in the bottom of the first when Jose Juan Aguilar scored on a Villanueva groundout to second. The Charros held their narrow 1-0 lead into the top of the eighth, when Monterrey exploded for five runs as Serrano contributed a three-run double to put the visitors in command. Nick Struck got the win for the Sultanes after pitching seven innings and allowing one run on four hits with one strikeout. Javier Solano (7.1IP/1R/5H) had a solid start for Jalisco but three relievers combined to allow four runs on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning in the fateful eighth.

Friday’s Game Three in Monterrey lasted eleven innings before Jalisco pulled out a 6-5 win over the Sultanes. Monterrey plated three runs in the sixth, keyed by Gilberto Galaviz’ two-run single, to take a 5-3 advantage but Jalisco scored twice in the eighth to tie the contest.  Fernando Flores’ solo homer off Sultanes reliever Nathanael Santiago in the top of the eleventh put the visitors ahead and Charros closer Roberto Osuna held on to strike out Fernando Perez with two runners on to close out the game. Osuna struck out six batsmen over 2.2 scoreless innings to earn the win for Jalisco.

Game Four on Saturday saw the Sultanes knot the series at two games apiece with an 8-6 win over the visitors. Monterrey took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first  thanks in part to back-to-back RBI singles from Nick Torres and Fernando Perez. Dariel Alvarez’ two-run safety in the top of the third brought Jalisco to within one and a bases-loaded single by Aguilar in the fourth tied it up at 3-3. A Serrano two-run single keyed a three-run fifth for the Sultanes and Torres added insurance with a two-run singleton in the eighth. Torres and Serrano combined for four hits and four RBIs for Monterrey while Alvarez added a two-run homer in the seventh for the Charros.

Agustin Rios’ three-run homer in the top of the eighth keyed a four run-frame for Jalisco to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 win, sending their semifinal series against Monterrey back to Guadalajara with the Charros leading, 3 games to 2. Jalisco starter Orlando Lara didn’t get the win (reliever Jared Wilson did), but the 36-year-old lefty from Veracruz did his part by allowing one Sultanes run on two hits over six innings. Game Six of the series will be played Tuesday night in Estadio Charros.

GIL LEAVES MARIACHIS POST TO COACH FOR ANGELS

Benji Gil has resigned as manager of the Mexican League’s Guadalajara Mariachis to take a position coaching in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels, the team he played for when they won their lone American League pennant and World Series title in 2002. Gil was hired along with fellow ex-MLBers Phil Nevin and Bill Hasselman in the wake of a shakeup of Angels manager Joe Maddon’s coaching staff following a disappointing 77-85 season despite the presence of American League MVP Shohei Ohtani in the Halos’ lineup. It’s not known which position Gil will occupy under Maddon, although speculation has him coaching at either first or third base.

Born in Tijuana in 1972, Gil attended Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, California, where he was better known as a pitcher who tossed a no-hitter as a senior after leading San Diego County prep hurlers with a 0.52 ERA as a junior. The Texas Rangers saw him more as a hitter, however, and took Gil as a shortstop with the 19th pick of the 1991 June draft. He debuted with the Rangers in their 1993 season opener but was back in the minors for more seasoning and would not return to MLB until 1995.

After signing with the Angels as a free agent in 2000, Gil spent that season as their starting shortstop before taking on a utility role after the emergence of David Eckstein in 2001. He was a key reserve during Anaheim’s 2002 postseason run and went 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored in their World Series triumph that fall against San Francisco. Gil eventually returned to playing in the minors, winning the 2007 Mexican League championship with Monterrey during a six-year run in the LMB before retiring as a player in 2012.

Gil made his managerial debut in 2014-15 with Culiacan, where he won six Mexican Pacific League titles as a player over 13 winters. He led the Tomateros to the LMP title his first season but was fired after going 28-40 in 2015-16. He was brought back one year later and won the 2017-18 Mex Pac pennant before resigning to spend more time with his family, particularly son Mateo, who was drafted by St. Louis in the third round in 2018. 

Gil returned to manage the Tomateros a third time in 2019, piloting Culiacan to the last two LMP titles while reaching in the current playoff semifinals. Gil has received criticism in some circles for not winning a Caribbean Series championship in four tries, which neglects the fact that Culiacan had to survive the LMP postseason gauntlet and win the pennant four times to get that far.

Gil made his Mexican League managerial debut last summer and led Guadalajara to a first-place finish in the LMB North with a Liga-best 46-17, reaching the division finals before losing to eventual champion Tijuana. He was named Manager of the Year for his effort. Gil also stepped in late to replace Juan Castro as manager of the Mexican Olympic Team last summer, but the squad went 0-4 in Tokyo with Gil getting plenty of second guesses back in Mexico.

The 49-year-old Gil becomes one of the few Mexican-born former players to coach in Major League Baseball, joining Castro, Tony Perezchica and Ben “Cananea” Reyes. Among others. Reyes remains the only Mexican to have managed an MLB team, going 0-1-1 as interim skipper in Seattle during the 1982 season while Mariners manager Maury Wills served a two-game suspension for altering the batter’s box at the Kingdome that year. Reyes’ temporary work at the M’s helm is not in the record book.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Arturo Gonzalez, P (1972-2003)

 

Arturo Gonzalez was known as “El Rey” (“The King”) during a long career as one of the steadiest pitchers in Mexican baseball. Born in the Monterrey suburb of Tampiquito on October 29, 1955, he played his entire Mexican League career with the hometown Sultanes. He debuted in 1972 as a 16-year-old outfielder with Monterrey’s Class A Mexican Center League team and was signed by Houston after that season. 

 

Gonzalez batted just .161 with one double in 59 games for the Astros’ Cedar Rapids affiliate in the Class A Mexican League in 1973 and after hitting .195 in 41 games for Cedar Rapids, he was sent home to Monterrey and hit .289 for the Sultanes in his 14-game LMB debut in 1974. A .236 campaign for Monterrey in 1975 and a .183 average in 1976 convinced the Sultanes that Gonzalez’ strong throwing arm could be better used for pitching. After pitching sparingly in 1977, Gonzalez had a breakthrough year at age 22 in 1978, going 18-12 with a 2.57 ERA in 33 starts for Monterrey, including a 2-0 no-hitter against Union Laguna. The rest is history.

 

The 6’1” righty was equipped with a low-90’s fastball and various breaking pitches, including a nasty slider. He was one of the Mexican League’s most consistent hurlers ever, finishing his LMB career with a 232-169 record and a solid 3.26 ERA over 522 games and 3,228 innings.  He reached double figures 14 times, plus 10-win seasons in both 1985 and 1986 for the Phillies’ AAA Pacific Coast League farm team in Portland.  

 

“El Rey” led the Mexican League in 1983 with a 1.92 ERA while fashioning a 12-8 record in 23 starts for Monterrey. He started one game for the Sultanes in 2003 before retiring at age 47 after 32 summers, including Liga pennant-winning seasons in 1991, 1995 and 1996. He holds all pitching records in Sultanes history and his number 22 has been retired by the team.

 

Gonzalez was no less effective in Mexican Pacific League competition. His 125-85 career mark over 20 winters puts him fourth on the all-time wins list on the LMP, while his .595 won-lost percentage ranks sixth.  An ERA of 2.81 and 1,079 strikeouts in 1,831 innings also rank in the Mex Pac’s all-time Top 10. He topped the LMP in winning percentage twice, took a strikeout crown in 1987-88, and spun a 4-0 no-no for Navojoa against Mazatlan on December 18, 1983.

 

Arturo Gonzalez won a combined 357 games in Mexico during a career spanning four decades and was inducted into the Salon de la Fama in 2009, his first year eligible. He remained in the game long after retiring, serving as Homar Rojas’ pitching coach for the Sultanes in 2021 before Rojas and his staff were fired in June. Gonzalez spent the rest of the summer as a pitching instructor for Monterrey’s academy team.

LMP PLAYOFFS OPEN; FIRST REINFORCEMENT DRAFT HELD

  The 2021-22 Mexican Pacific League playoffs began on Christmas Day. All eight teams battled it out in four first-round series openers, with the visiting team coming away victorious in three of them.

In a series that may capture the most attention among observers, defending champion Culiacan (who were the eighth and lowest postseason seed this winter) won at top-seed Navojoa, 8-5, on Saturday. The Tomateros knocked out Mayos starter Octavio Acosta with four runs in the top of the second inning and never looked back.  Culiacan was holding a 5-3 lead when they scored three more times in the eighth, including a two-run single by Jose Guadalupe Chavez with the bases loaded. 

Asael Sanchez rapped a two-run homer for Navojoa in the bottom of the frame to make it a two-run game, but that would end the scoring for both teams. Manny Barreda got the win for Culiacan despite a less-than-sterling five innings of work (three runs on four hits and five walks) while Acosta was tagged for the loss as over 10,000 were in the stands at Navojoa’s Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria, the largest gathering among the four openers.

Elsewhere, Monterrey pulled out a road win at Hermosillo, 5-4, in eleven innings to open their set on Saturday night. With the score knotted at 4-4 after ten frames, Anthony Giansanti opened the top of the eleventh for the Sultanes by getting on base after an error by Naranjeros shortstop and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Andres Martin, setting the stage for a Miguel Torrero single to put the visitors ahead by a run. Nathanael Santiago, who tossed a scoreless tenth for Monterrey, came out and pitched an unblemished eleventh to seal the win.

The Obregon Yaquis traveled to Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon for their series opener at Guasave and came away with a 3-1 win on Christmas. The Yaquis drew first blood in the top of the third when Ian Miller scored on Alonzo Harris’ sacrifice fly and Victor Mendoza later singled in reinforcement Isaac Rodriguez with the second run of the entrada. The Algodoneros closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Yadir Drake singled in Jhoan Urena but Obregon scored the final run of the night for both teams two frames later when Michael Wing and Juan Carlos Gamboa hit back-to-back doubles off Gusave starter Jordan Kipper, who lasted one more batter before being pulled. Kipper took the loss while Obregon starter Jake Thompson earned the win with five innings of four-hit, one-run pitching.

Jalisco became the only home team to win their series opener after outlasting visiting Mexicali, 10-9, in 12 innings at Guadalajara. The Charros had built a 7-2 lead (aided by a trio of solo homers from Christian Villanueva, Japhet Amador and Agustin Murrillo in the bottom of the fourth) before the Aguilas plated one run in the top of the eighth and four more in the top of the ninth as Luis Jimenez stroked a two-run double and later scored on a Aneuty Tavarez double to even the score at 7-7. Both teams scored twice in the tenth but the night’s heroics belonged to Charros shortstop Missael Rivera, who led off the 12th with a double and advanced to third before coming in with the game-winner on Villanueva’s sacrifice fly to right to end a game that featured a combined 28 hits and 11 walks.  

Fifteen minutes after the final regular season game concluded, the eight playoff teams held a so-called reinforcement draft of players from Mazatlan and Los Mochis, the two clubs that didn’t advance. With the first pick, Obregon chose Los Mochis second baseman Isaac Rodriguez. Guasave followed by plucking another second sacker, Mazatlan’s Ramon Rios, while Hermosillo took Venados infielder Isaac Paredes with the third pick. In all, 16 Los Mochis and Mazatlan players were selected over two rounds, nine of them pitchers.

A similar draft will be held prior to the semifinals and finals. The eventual champions will be able to load up on more reinforcements before heading the the Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo with a roster that bears little resemblance to their regular season lineup. A similar process is carried out in other winter leagues, making the Serie del Caribe more a tournament of all-star teams than league champions.

PADRES SIGN MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE MVP CARRILLO

After being named Most Valuable Player of the Mexican Winter League this season, Yucatan Lions outfield prospect Oliver Carrillo, has been signed by the San Diego Padres.   

A 5’11” 210-pounder, Carrillo caught the attention of the San Diego organization after leading the LIM in several offensive departments playing for a team of players from the Yucatan, Veracruz and Durango LMB organizations. He came very close to obtaining the Triple Crown by being champion with 8 home runs and 46 RBIs, plus a .586 on-base percentage and an .806 slugging percentage,  finishing second in batting percentage at .441.

Nicknamed “Chanito,” Carrillo was one of the young players to make their debut this year in the Mexican League with the Leones, playing one inning in right field and going 0-for-1 in his lone plate appearance as a pinch-hitter for Luis Juarez during a June 6 game against Quintana Roo. 

The veteran Juarez took the youngster under his wing and has said “It’s a pleasure and a pride that young people like him get to have these kinds of opportunities and it is a case of perseverance of someone who did not give up. Many times they told him no and he did not get tired. He gave himself to baseball as he should and received a very large reward.”.

Carrillo’s training began after he was signed by Yucatán at the Academia de Beisbol del Pacífico. "The process has always been strong. I lasted three years at the Pacific Baseball Academy, then they sent me to the Monterrey Academy to continue with my training and thank God the results were good," said the right-handed batter who’ll turn 20 on January 19.

During his stay as a Leones recruit, Carrillo has also shone in different national and international tournaments, being the champion and best hitter in the International Series of Prospects organized by PROBEIS and managed by Yucatan’s incoming sports manager, Santos Hernandez.

The native of Rosario, Sinaloa, signed in the presence of Padres scout Emmanuel Rangel and was accompanied by Leones co-owner Erick Arellano, who commented that he feels proud and excited by the signing of the Sinaloan player, since he had to look at the process within the academy. "Several organizations had been following him,” said Arrellano, “but what really motivated this team (the Padres) was the season he had in the Winter League. He is a healthy boy and while I am happy with all the signatures, this one has a special feeling." 

Through their Pacific Baseball Academy in Mazatlan, the Leones have managed to place a total of 38 players with Major League Baseball organizations in six years.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Miguel “Pilo” Gaspar, C

A defensive genius, Pilo Gaspar was recognized internationally as one of the best receivers in Mexican baseball and a consistent batter who could get a hit off any pitcher at the most opportune moment.

  

In 1949, he began playing professionally in the old Pacific Coast League with Guaymas and was the Rookie of the Year that winter.  The 6’1” 178-pound Gaspar went on to play minor league ball for eight seasons in the United States, including three years in the Orioles farm system and one with the Dodgers. The earliest part of his summer career was spent with Laredo, where he hit 44 homers between 1950 and 1951 (including four in one April 1951 game against Texas City.  Ironically, he only whacked 29 more roundtrippers over the final 26 years of his pro career.

 

Gaspar played 11 games in 1951 for Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican League but did not come home to play for good until 1958, when he played 81 games for both the Tecolotes and Yucatan and hit .282 with five homers.  He eventually settled in behind the plate for Veracruz in 1959, and played 11 seasons for the Aguilas, topping the .300 mark four times (including a career-best .330 in 1961).  Pilo was in his 40’s when he moved on to Union Laguna for two years beginning in 1970, hitting .292 and .269. 

After a .250 campaign with Tampico in 1972, Gaspar went on to play two more years with Chihuahua before hanging up his catcher’s mitt following the 1974 season at the (reported) age of 45.  He singled and doubled in two pinch-hit opportunities for Chihuahua in 1976, and went 2-for-9 in five more games in 1977, even attempting to steal a base (he got caught) before stepping down for good. 

Over his long professional career, Pilo played in 2,604 games, totaling 2,419 hits, 346 doubles and 1,062 RBIs and hitting .288. In the Mexican Pacific League, Gaspar spent several winters with Guaymas, Navojoa and Hermosillo, connecting for 503 hits and an average of .262. Gaspar, who managed Mexican League teams in Veracruz, Chihuahua and Quatzocoalcos, was elected to the Salon de la Fama in 1994.

Gaspar was mentioned in Bill Heward’s 1974 gem of a book, “Some Are Called Clowns,” a diary of Heward’s 1973 season with the barnstorming Indianapolis Clowns.  The book touched on Mexican baseball in one chapter, including this passage quoting one of Heward’s teammates who spent time south of the border: “Our catcher was a guy named Pelo (sic) Gaspar, out of Sonora, Mexico. Some say he’s 42. Other guys who’re in the know say he’s 50. What a baseball head!  I never saw him blow a popup.  Pelo had a fabulous arm.  I never saw a guy steal on him. Pelo’s right index finger was broken and bent sideways about 45 degrees. The players who didn’t know him would thumb their noses and say, ‘Aw, crooked finger.’ But when he threw out two or three of them they forgot about his finger.”

SOLANO TRADED, SILVA RETIRING; 1ST HALF END NEARS

    Career changes involving two of the Mexican Pacific League's most notable pitchers over the past decade were in the news last week. Longtime Mexicali starter Javier Solano was sent to Guadalajara after the Aguilas announced a four-player trade with the Jalisco Charros while Mazatlan hurler Walter Silva announced his pending retirement as a player to focus on serving at the Venados pitching coach at a press conference.

    Solano, a 31-year-old righty who's in his 14th winter of LMP action, has pitched 177 games over the seasons (107 as a starter) and has a Mex Pac career record of 48-36 with a 3.44 ERA. The San Luis Colorado native nicknamed “El Terrorista” was the loop's Pitcher of the Year in 2015-16, the ERA champion in 2019-20 and won a Gold Glove last winter. Solano, who made his LMP debut in 2008-09 with Hermosillo, was off to a rough start for Mexicali this season with an 0-4 record and 8.37 ERA in five starts after going 2-6 and 7.12 for Quintana Roo in the Mexican League over the summer.

    The former Dodgers farmhand was sent to the Charros along with fellow right-hander Felipe Arredondo in exchange for pitchers Fredy Quintero and Jesus Cruz. Arredondo is a middleman who has yet to pitch this winter but was 2-0 and 2.75 for the Charros last season before coming to the border city in the offseason. In return, the Aguilas get a veteran reliever in Quintero who was 1-0 and 4.76 for Jalisco this season while Cruz (5-2 and 4.76 in four years for the Charros) is another reliever who pitched one MLB game for St. Louis in 2020.

    Meanwhile, Silva is calling it a career after 20 years on the mound. After signing with Monterrey in 2002 at the relatively advanced age of 25, the Mazatlan product pitched for the LMB Sultanes and his hometown Venados (along with a one-year stint in Taiwan) before inking a free agent deal with San Diego in 2009. The 6'1 righty pitched six times that year for the Padres (0-2, 8.76) as a teammate of brothers Edgar and Adrian Gonzalez, with whom he'd previously played winterball in Mazatlan.

    After returning to Mexico for good, Silva spent ten more years in the Liga (five with Monterrey) and compiled a lifetime record of 97-86 over 16 seasons with a 4.56 ERA. He pitched another ten winters for Mazatlan and two more in Guasave. He was picked up as an emergency pitcher for Panama in the Caribbean Series last February and appeared in two games out of the bullpen. Now 44, Silva will make his first start this season (and last of his career) for the Venados against Jalisco at home on Wednesday night before becoming a full-time pitching coach under Mazatlan manager Eddie Diaz. His number 39 will be retired.

    Surprising Navojoa has created some breathing room at the top of the Mex Pac standings with a 19-10 record, three games ahead of 16-12 Guasave. With three games remaining in the first half, the Mayos are within grasp of clinching first place and the 10 points that come with it. For their part, Nipping the Algodoneros' heels are Jalisco, Obregon and defending champion Culiacan , all with 16-13 ledgers. At the bottom of the standings, hapless Los Mochis (8-20) has clinched last place and 3.5 points.

    Christian Villanueva of Jalisco holds the batting lead over Navojoa's Tirso Ornelas by a slim .386 to .383 margin. Yoelkis Guibert of Culiacan is third at .354. Navojoa's Kyle Martin has taken the home run lead with seven longballs after just 16 games, one more than Mayos teammate Maikel Serrano and Nick Torres of Hermosillo. Guasave's Jesse Castillo are tied for the lead in runs batted in with 25 each and Luis Alfonso Cruz of Hermosillo) is third with 23 ribbies. Culiacan's Dairon Blanco is tops with 12 stolen bases while teammate Sebastian Elizalde and Los Mochis' Isaac Rodriguez tied for second with 10 swipes.

    Elian Leyva of Hermosillo finally allowed an earned run during his sixth start Friday when Jalisco's Felix Perez singled in Julian Ornelas during the fourth inning of a 5-1 Naranjeros win, but Leyva's 0.24 ERA over 37 innings still leads all LMP starters. Jalisco's Orlando Lara is right behind at 1.13 and Hector Velazquez of Obregon is third with a 1.64 mark. Navojoa's Carlos De Leon has won all five starts for a 5-0 record to lead in wins, one more than Leyva and Lara. Luis Escobar of Obregon has an LMP-best 34 strikeouts in 35.1 innings, ahead of Obregon's Arturo Lopez (32) and new Jalisco starter Javier Solano (28) on the K table. Mexicali's Jake Sanchez continues to top the saves category with nine in 12 outings as Fernando Salas of Hermosillo trails with eight and Navojoa's Carlos Bustamante is third with seven salvados.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Standings: Navojoa 19-10, Guasave 16-12, Jalisco 16-13, Culiacan 16-13, Obregon 16-13, Hermosillo 15-14, Mazatlan 13-16, Monterrey 13-16, Mexicali 12-17, Los Mochis 8-20.

TWELVE CUBAN PLAYERS DEFECT AFTER U-23 WORLD CUP

    The final day of last month's WBSC Under-23 Baseball World Cup in Sonora saw the Cuba drop the Bronze medal game to Colombia, 5-3, in Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora. However, the Cubans suffered a greater loss with longer-lasting implications off the field after 12 young players had defected to Mexico by the time the tournament ended.

    Officials with the National Sports Agency in Havana referred to the largest group defection of Cuban athletes in years as “vile abandonments” involving players of “weak morals and ethics.” The remaining players and coaches returned to Cuba on Monday, October 4, two days after the loss to Colombia, during which 11 of 24 rostered players appeared.

    According to the Periodico Cubano website, the 12 players (all members of Cuban National Series teams) who remained behind in Sonora were LHP Dariel Fernandez (Pinar del Rio), LHP Leinel Zayas (Isla de Juventus), RHP Bryan Chi (Industriales), RHP Luis Dany Morales (Sancti Spiritus), RHP Uber Luis Medina (Santiago de Cuba), C Loidel Rodriguez (Sancti Spiritus), IF Miguel Antonio Gonzalez (Granma), IF Dismany Palacios (Sancti Spiritus), IF Yandy Yanes (Camaguey), OF Geisel Cepeda (Sancti Spiritus), OF Loidel Chapelli, Jr. (Camaguey), and OF Reinaldo Lazaga (Pinar del Rio).

    Gonzalez (.385), Yanez (.333) and Chapelli (.320) were Cuba's top three hitters in World Cup competition Chi went 1-2 with a 4.45 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 11 innings and Zayas struck out both batters faced in his lone appearance. While 11 of the 12 are technically free agents (Cepeda is under contract with Los Mochis of the Mexican Pacific League), all will first have to establish residency in Mexico or another country before being allowed to negotiate with any non-Cuban baseball organization.

    Cuban ballplayers have been defecting from the island nation for years since failed pitcher Fidel Castro took over in 1959 and subsequently ruled that baseball would henceforth be an “amateur” sport. Current Tampa Bay infielder Randy Arozarena defected to Mexico in 2016 after two seasons with Pinar del Rio and spent a year playing in the Mexican League for Tijuana and with Navojoa of the Mexican Pacific League (leading the loop in homers) after signing with St. Louis for $1.25 million. Arozarena still resides in Merida, Yucatan and has stated his desires for Mexican citizenship and a spot on the Mexican National Team. Several Cubans have made Mexico their permanent baseball home, including Ronnier Mustelier, Henry Urrutia, Daniel Carbonell and Elian Leyva.

    A 2018 deal between Cuban authorities and Major League Baseball allowing some players to sign directly with MLB organizations was canceled by then-president Donald Trump, signaling a return to the flotilla method of players leaving the island under the coak of secrecy hoping for higher pay and a better life elsewhere.

    A December 13, 2013 story in England's Guardian newspaper said Cuban star Yuliesky Gurriel (28 at the time and now playing for Houston) had just been given a “huge” standard salary raise to 13,000 Cuban pesos per month, or about US$414 at the time, to play for Sancti Spiritus of the National Series. In 2016, Gurriel signed a five-year, $47.5 million contract with the Astros five months after first defecting from Cuba during the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic and then establishing residency in Haiti.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP (Stop #6): Los Mochis, Sinaloa

    Driving from Navojoa, Sonora 98 miles southbound on Highway 15 for about two hours, our virtual Mexican Pacific League Road Trip takes us into the state of Sinaloa and Los Mochis, our sixth stop and a city with 300,000 metropolitan residents founded in 1893 by Pennsylvanian Benjamin Johnson.

    While it's a wealthy city in a fertile agricultural area, Los Mochis (like most LMP sites) is not geared towards tourism. It's a hub of sorts, connected by ferry to La Paz, Baja California Sur; a busy airport with flights to and from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson; and the western terminus of the legendary Copper Canyon railroad, Mexico’s last major passenger railway featuring one of the most spectacular views in North American train travel.

    Los Mochis sits on the Rio Fuerte, which irrigates an extensive valley region whose main crops are vegetables (e.g., beans and corn) and sugar cane and for which the city is the commercial and financial center, and is 15 miles east of the Gulf of California port of Topolobampo, famous for its shrimp and fishing activity. Among the native animals is the yellow crocodile, which can grow as large as 38.8 feet and weigh over a ton.

    Visitors to town should check out Parque Sinaloa, which contains the most complete collection of palm trees in Mexico, including rare species imported from around the world, and is a great setting for a stroll in the cool of the evening. Parque Sinaloa is set in the old “Colonia Americana” section of Los Mochis, a former residential district for North Americans easily identified by its USA-style architecture featuring brick houses with front porches and yards on all four sides, giving a unique character to Los Mochis rarely seen in Mexico.

    Los Mochis can trace its baseball history to 1947 and the Pericos of the old Pacific coast League, a predecessor to the present-day Mexican Pacific League. The team was renamed Caneros, or “Cane Growers,” in subsequent seasons and after a couple of stops and starts, re-entered winterball for good in 1962. While the Caneros are rarely prime contenders for a title, Mochis has won three LMP pennants: in 1968-69 with manager Ben Valenzuela, 1983-84 under Vinicio Garcia and in 2002-03 for Chico Rodriguez. In two Caribbean Series, the Caneros have gone 4-8.

    The Caneros play home games at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada, which opened in 1947 as Estadio Mochis with a capacity of 4,700 fans. The ballpark has undergone three renovations over the years: One in 1962 included expansion of seating to 6,000 and the addition of lights for night games; another in 1982 after Hurricane Paul devastated the facility nearly doubled the capacity to 11,000 and included a new lighting system; and finally a major 285 million peso upgrade completed in 2018 that raised capacity to 12,000 seats. The ballpark (which was renamed in 1972) has hosted six LMP All-Star Games, ten Mex Pac championship series and the 2015 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup.

LIGA ADDS 2 TEAMS, TO PLAY 66-GAME SEASON IN '21

Veracruz, Guadalajara to join LMB in 2021

   At a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City last week, the Mexican League announced the expected addition of two teams for the 2021 season while unveiling plans for a reduced schedule next year with a May 20 opening date. Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led the event, in which it was announced that both Veracruz and Guadalajara will be returning to give the circuit a total of 18 teams.

    The Veracruz Aguilas ownership group is headed by Bernardo Pasquel, grand-nephew of controversial LMB strongman Jorge Pasquel (whose story has been touched upon here and elsewhere). One of the younger Pasquel's investors is former MLB All-Star Adrian Gonzalez, who is expected to be active in bringing ballplayers to the Gulf Coast team, while the sports manager will be Jesus “Chino” Valdez, who has filled that role with the Mazatlan Venados for several years. Veracruz' 7,782-seat Estadio Universitario Beto Avila, which opened in 1992 and underwent renovations in 2006, will receive modifications in anticipation of the LMB's return.

    The Veracruz entry can trace their roots to 1903, when the original Aguilas played their first game, and lay claim to being an ancestor of Mexico's first formal team. Although Veracruz has long been fertile ground for baseball players and the Aguilas have won six Mexican League pennants over the years (most recently in 2012), that hasn't translated to fans in the stands. LMB teams have come and gone over the decades, most recently after the 2017 season when Veracruz' last team moved to Nuevo Laredo and was rechristened the Tecolotes. While the Aguilas can proudly point to their city's history, they'll still have to convince people to buy tickets in 2021.

    Guadalajara hosted three Mexican League franchises between 1949 and 1995, all known as the Jalisco Charros. The second incarnation won pennants in 1967 and 1971 but the city's LMB teams had to play at the substandard Estadio Tecnologico while losing the battle for fans to soccer's Chivas team, arguably the most popular sports team in the country. The Charros were revived in 2014, but this time it was for the Mexican Pacific League, where the team has become popular among locals while winning the 2018-19 LMP pennant and hosting a number of important baseball events in the six years since. 

Mariachis (the other kind) at Estadio Charros

   However, the Mariachis are already encountering difficulties. The team's investors are led by Carlos "Calo" Valenzuela, a contractor whose Dynamica company has built ballparks in Mexico City, Obregon and Hermosillo while refurbishing existing facilities in Mazatlan and Los Mochis. There appear to be no formal ties with their winterball counterparts, although Valenzuela has been a director with the Charros. The Mariachis recently received word that the mayor of Zapopan (where Estadio Charros sits) is not yet willing to allow them to play at the 16,500-seat facility. Pablo Lemus Navarro told the Mural newspaper of Zapopan that he has issues over the Mariachis being named for Guadalajara and not Jalisco or Zapopan while the team gave his government no formal notice until after the presidential announcement. Lemus says the new club will have to go through both City and State governments to modify an agreement that currently allows the Charros (who own the stadium) to host a maximum of 90 games over five months at the formerly state-owned facility. Ironically, it was Valenzuela's own firm that renovated Estadio Charros into a ballpark prior to that team's 2014 move from Guasave.

    Meanwhile, at the same press conference, it was announced that the Mexican League will delay its 2021 season opener to Thursday, May 20 while shortening its regular season schedule to 66 games due to the pandemic before launching into a twelve-team postseason after the season finale on Thursday, August 5. Playoffs will consist of four stages in 2021: a First Round, Division Semifinals, Division Championships and the Serie del Rey. It's assumed the First Round will involve the third through sixth place teams in each division, with the top two teams given a bye to the Division Semis. The Liga will sport two nine-team divisions next year, with Guadalajara entering the North Division and Veracruz joining the LMB South.

VILLANUEVA HEATS UP AS CHARROS CLIMB LMP STANDINGS

Christian Villanueva jogs out a homer

    When Christian Villanueva returned home to Guadalajara last month after a second difficult season, he was hoping to regain his batting eye and batting stroke while playing winterball for the Jalisco Charros. Two recent games for the former Mexican Pacific League MVP indicate that the 29-year-old third baseman is getting his groove back.

    Villanueva went 4-for-9 with a homer in his first two games of December before a dry spell that saw him collect two hits over his next five game as he watched his batting average fall to .233 after nine games. Then Los Mochis arrived at Estadio Charros for a three-game series last Friday and the former Padres starter feasted on the struggling Caneros over the next two nights, going 4-for-6 with three homers to score six runs and drive in nine as his batting average rose 53 points to .286.

    Villanueva's recent resurgence coincided with the activation of relief pitcher Sergio Romo, a three-time World Series winner with San Francisco who is a free agent after pitching for Minnesota this year. Romo made his season debut for the Charros last Thursday, tossing a scoreless tenth inning of a wild 9-8 win at Obregon in which the score was tied at 3-3 heading into the eleventh. Both teams scored four runs that frame, then Jalisco scored twice in the top of the twelfth and held on for the win.

    One night later, Jalisco second baseman Manny Rodriguez homered and doubled twice in a 12-3 thrashing of Los Mochis. Rodriguez moved into third place on the Mex Pac's all-time doubles list with 215 while his 118th career roundtripper places him twelfth in that category. After finishing the first half in sixth place with a desultory 15-14 record, manager Roberto Vizcarra needs top performances from Villanueva, Romo and Rodriguez in the second half to move up in the standings and earn more playoff points.

Mexicali C Xorge Carrillo is hitting .312

    Right now, Jalisco is tied with surprising Guasave for second place with 9-5 records, a game-and-a-half behind 10-3 Mexicali. While Aguilas catcher Xorge Carrillo is their only batter raking among the LMP's Top 20 (he's 19th at .312), Mexicali's pitching has been rock-solid and currently is second to Hermosillo's 3.47 team ERA with a 3.51 mark. Eduardo Vera and Miguel Pena have led manager Bronswell Patrick's mound staff with identical 3-0 records and 2.11 ERAs while vet Javier Solano is also 3-0 record with a 2.53 ERA in nine starts.

    Hermosillo's Yadiel Hernandez continues to lead the league with a .353 batting average. Guasave's Erusbel Arruebarrena is tied with Leandro Castro of Los Mochis and Monterrey's Dustin Peterson with 10 homers apiece. Dariel Alvarez of Jalisco is tops with 36 RBIs and Obregon's Alonzo Harris continues to lead baserunners with 20 steals despite not playing for the Yaquis in nearly three weeks. Harris has been listed on the Obregon roster again, but still nothing about his status on the LMP website.

    Among pitchers, Mexicali's aforementioned Vera and Solano are 1-2 in the LMP with ERAs of 2.11 and 2.53, respectively. Luis Ivan Rodriguez remained at 6-0 after not pitching for Jalisco last week, but Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas moved into a tie for the wins lead by beating Culiacan last week to go to 6-2. The Tomateros' Manny Barreda leads with 46 strikeouts but was placed on the Reserve List last Thursday. In a battle for the saves lead, Fernando Salas of Hermosillo and Guasave's Geno Encino are tied with 12 apiece, one more than Alberto Baldonando of Culiacan.

PITCHING, MACIEL HOMER GIVE BARRERAS COPA JUNTOS TITLE

Action in Copa Juntos title game

    The 2021 Copa Juntos por Mexico tournament is in the books, with fans watching an exciting championship game online as Team Nelson Barrera held off Team Alfredo Ortiz, 3-2, last Saturday behind closed doors at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The Ortiz squad had finished first in the four-team first round with a 16-9 record, three games ahead of the 13-12 Barreras, to earn an automatic berth in the title game. On the other hand, the Barreras had to win a 9-3 semifinal contest Friday against third-place Team Daniel Fernandez to advance to Saturday's final tilt.

    The Barreras took a 1-0 lead in the championship game on Jose Maciel's run-scoring sacrifice fly in the top of the second inning, but the Ortizes came back with a pair of counters via three doubles off Barrera starter Oscar Valenzuela in the bottom of the third to go up by a 2-1 count. At the top of the next frame, Jose Macias hit a one-out single off Ortiz starter Esteban Bloch, who then allowed a two-run homer by Maciel that barely cleared the left-field wall to put the Barreras back on top, 3-2. From that point, Valenzuela and relievers Ariel Gracia and Jesus Navarro combine to shut down Ortizistas over the final six innings to seal the win and the Copa Juntos title.

    Valenzuela earned the win after allowing two runs and striking out six batters over five innings while Navarro was awarded the save with a hitless ninth, but the real winners may have been the Oaxaca Guerreros. The tournament was a showcase for prospects from the Guerreros and Mexico City who'd trained at the Alfredo Harp Helu Academy in Oaxaca, but it was the two teams representing the Warriors, who usually play second fiddle to the Diablos (both LMB franchises are owned by billionaire Harp), playing in the championship game.

Team Nelson Barrera celebrates Cup win

    In the event's third-place game, Team Daniel Fernandez topped Team Jose Luis Sandoval, 5-4, as both teams were managed by their Salon de la Fama namesakes. Team Nelson Barrera was managed by Jose “El Toro” Macias, a former MLB infielder whose son Jose Jr. played on his team, while Team Alfrdo Ortiz was led by current Guerreros skipper Erick Rodriguez. The Barreras lost six games in a row and were in last place before a late surge vaulted them into second heading into the semifinal.

    The best all-round batter in the tournament was arguably Omar Zeleny of Team Ortiz, who finished third in batting with a .432 average while leading all hitters with 32 hits, 25 runs scored and nine stolen bases. Team Barrera's Mikell Granberry hit .365 with 31 hits, including 15 doubles and three homers, while driving in 21 runs. Barrera's Gracia had the best ERA at 0.64 while leading in strikeouts with 35 over 28 innings. Bloch of Team Ortiz won three games, finished second with a 1.45 ERA and 31 strikeouts, and was tops in WHIP at 0.84.