Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta: Day Four Report

It’s Monday morning, which means it’s time to finish packing my bag, check out, head to Tucson International Airport and fly back to Portland so I can drive home to the small town my wife Linda and I live in halfway between Portland and Seattle.  The Mexican Baseball Fiesta concluded Sunday as the Mexicali Aguilas bombed the Obregon Yaquis 15-5 in the opener and the Hermosillo Naranjeros topped the Los Mochis Caneros, 7-2, in the second game, marking the last of four days and four doubleheaders at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium with four Mexican Pacific League teams providing the centerpiece to a weekend of entertainment.  Although I began these missives with game reports that were drier than the Arizona air, I finally realized that I was missing the point: The MBF is more about attitude and atmosphere than balls and strikes.  It was worth the trip on a number of levels.

Before I go any further, I should mention that THIS particular missive was intended for a Tuesday posting because I spent Sunday afternoon and evening moving around Kino Stadium with a camera instead of my Chromebook to take photos of numerous things to augment the Day Three Report.  There is only so much a word picture can do for a reader, so I thought I’d give both my fingers and your sense of delirium from reading my text a break and despite having almost zero experience as a photog, I came away with what I think are 14 or 15 pretty good pictures to share.  Unfortunately, my Kodak C195 camera and Chromebook aren’t playing nice with each other so I’ll have to wait to get home and use another laptop so I can post the pictures Tuesday instead.  Sigh. If you're wondering why I have no game reports today, there you are. Consider it a blessing barely disguised.

Traveling to Tucson was not necessary, but I decided a few weeks ago that it would be a good chance to watch some of the teams and players I’ve been writing about off and on about since April 2005, when I covered the Mexican League for the OurSports Central website.  It was only going to be for that one season but, obviously, it’s lasted a little longer than that.  So I finally got to watch Mexican players like Pablo Ortega, Carlos Gastelum, Luis Alfonso Garcia, Carlos Valencia and Sergio Contreras, who were all active in 2005 when I first started writing about Mexican baseball along with others who’ve made their marks in recent years such as Jose Amador, Javier Solano, C.J. Retherford and Jason Bourgeois.  As a baseball fan, it was a blast seeing guys I’d heretofore only read and written about over the past dozen years and I was rarely disappointed. These are good ballplayers, many of whom have played in the majors.

After a little initial confusion when I first arrived at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium last Thursday, I was able to get my media credential and attendant lanyard and headed up to the press box for my first night of covering Mexican baseball in person.  At this point, I should say that Kino Stadium is a very nice facility, definitely AAA in quality.  I was able to get a good location next to a television booth and did my writing on the first two nights from that vantage point.  There isn’t a traditional roof over the main grandstand, so the press box is set above the concourse running behind the box seats behind home plate and above the concessions stands, meaning you’re set farther back from the playing field than the old-school press boxes you see atop grandstand roofs in older ballparks.

As far as attendance goes, I often saw what might be 200 people sprinkled through Kino Stadium at the start of the opening games (which always featured the champion Mexicali Aguilas throughout the weekend), with the stands filling gradually as the second game approached.  Saturday night’s game between rivals Hermosillo and Obregon was easily the best-attended, with what I’d guesstimate as at least 5,000 people in the ballpark.

While play was going on, there were plenty of other things for attendees to take part in.  While an actual ballgame in Mexico isn’t all that much different from what you’ll see in the States, the presentation in the stands can be a little different.  While there was music pumped through the PA system throughout all the games, much like in the USA, the music consisted mostly of Mexican artists (as you’d expect) while English was rarely heard over the loudspeakers, mainly when “The Star-Spangled Banner” was sung.  

What REALLY separated things were the live bands that would play after the games on the concourse next to the main grandstand on the first-base side.   Although teams in the States often do a good job of creating a festive atmosphere during ballgames, they’ve got nothing on our neighbors south of the border.  These folks know how to enjoy themselves.  I’m hoping that more Tucsonans catch on to the Mexican Baseball Fiesta in the future because it goes beyond baseball and is well worth attending.

All in all, I’m glad I was able to make it down to Tucson to watch players I’ve become more familiar with over the years than their MLB counterparts in an atmosphere that reflects the culture of people who like to have a good time and know how to do it.  Thanks to MBF co-founder and president Mike Feder for giving me press credentials so I could come in and describe this event to Baseball Mexico’s readers and a special thanks to Steve Rivera, a writer for the AllSportsTucson website and all-around good guy, for giving me a lift back to the Quality Inn I was staying at after the games.  And kudos to the people in Tucson I had the chance to meet the past four days, from cab drivers to Quality Inn employees and the great staff at Kino Stadium.  I can truthfully say that I didn’t meet one crabby person here in Tucson and that reflects well on the city.  It’s a nice place to visit.  But now it’s time to head home, where I can hopefully get those promised photos online Tuesday.

Then there are those Mexican Pacific League season openers next weekend to gear up for.  As I’ve said many times before, Mexico represents Baseball Heaven because there’s never an offseason, and I'm glad I was able to indulge in a slice of it this weekend.

Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta: Day One Report

Hermosillo DH Jose Amador

The Mexican Baseball Fiesta kicked off its final weekend of play in 2017 Thursday night with a pair of games at Tucson's Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium featuring three Mexican Pacific League teams.  The Obregon Yaquis opened the four-day, eight-game event with a convincing 9-1 win over Mexicali in the seven-inning first contest while a team of Cincinnati Reds prospects pulled off a 5-3 comeback win over the Hermosillo Naranjeros in the nightcap.

Former Phillies outfielder Cedric Hunter lofted a solo homer with two out in the top of the first as his Obregon Yaquis went on to pull away from the defending MexPac champion Aguilas.  Felix Pie led off the game getting plunked by Mexicali starter Francisco Rodriguez, but was cut down at second when Obregon centerfielder Yordanys Linares made a diving catch of an Irving Falu Texas Leaguer and threw a strike to second baseman Paul Leon, who calmly tagged Pie to complete the double play.  Hunter then took Rodriguez deep into the right field bullpen.

Pie got a measure of revenge one inning later by lashing a two-run single off Rodriguez to give the Yaquis a 3-0 advantage, to which Falu added another run by rapping a sharp single to right that brought Armando Araiza in from third.  Mexicali scored their lone run in the bottom of the fourth when former Yankees farmhand Josh Romanski drilled a liner off Obregon reliever David Reyes' right leg, scoring C.J. Retherford from third as the ball rolled into foul territory. Romanski is a former pitcher who hit .324 for Winnipeg last summer in the independent American Association.  Reyes was taken out of the game after that play and his status is unknown.

The Yaquis essentially put the game in their hip pockets in the top of the sixth when Paul Leon stepped up with the sacks loaded and belted a bases-clearing double against Mexicali reliever Edgar Gomez that rattled high off the center field wall, bringing the Obregon lead to 7-1.  The Tribe concluded the night's scoring in the top of the seventh inning when Alex Liddi rapped a two-run double to left that brought in subs Jonathan Aranda and Andres Martin.  It was left to Edwin Fierro to hold the Aguilas scoreless in the bottom of the frame to seal the win.

Wily veteran Pablo Ortega looked anything but 40 years old in tossing three scoreless innings on two hits to earn the win for the Yaquis.  Rodriguez took the loss for Mexicali after getting touched for three runs on four hits in the first two entradas.  Aguilas reliever Edgar Osuna was razor-sharp by retiring all nine batters he faced over three innings.  Osuna struggled to an 0-5 record last summer for Yucatan in Mexican League play after being shipped to the Leones from Union Laguna (for whom he was 5-4) as part of the Ricky Alvarez trade, so the 29-year-old lefty from Mazatlan is seeking some redemption this winter.  Alvarez is a teammate of Osuna's in Obregon.

The nightcap between Hermosillo and a team of Cincinnati Reds minor leaguers was much closer, if not quite as interesting until the end.  The Reds manufactured a run in the top of the first when Stuart Fairchild drew a walk from Naranjeros starter Hector Galvan, stole second without a throw from catcher Alejandro Flores and then motored in on Taylor Trammell's single.  Trammell was cut down trying to advance to second when Flores took the wide throw from the outfield and burned another throw to Carlos Gastelum, who tagged Trammell for the second out of the inning.  Cincinnati's 2015 first-round draft pick, Tyler Stephenson, struck out swinging to end the threat.

Hermosillo tied the game back up in the bottom of the first when speedy rightfielder Norberto Obeso tripled off the wall in right center and scored on Gastelum's groundout to short to make it a 1-1 contest.  The Orangemen regained the lead in the top of the second the old-fashioned way, when 2016-17 LMP Most Valuable Player Jose Amador blasted a Jonathon Crawford offering off the top of the 18-foot wall in back of the Hermosillo bullpen in left.  Hermosillo went up 3-1 later in the inning when a Jorge Flores groundout to third brought in Jose Cardona with a run.

And that's how the score remained until the top of the seventh and final inning, when the Reds erupted for four runs on as many hits and an error as Cincinnati batted through the order against reliever Rafael Cordova.  After Cassidy Brown led off with a groundout to short, the Reds got three consecutive hits:  A Miles Gordon single, a Joe Sansone double and a two-run single by Carlos Rivero to tie the score at 3-all.  The Naranjeros ran into more trouble when Jorge Flores mishandled a Shed Long grounder to short to put runners on the corners.  Fairchild then singled Rivero home to give Cincy a 4-3 lead and Long scooted in from third to make it 5-3 when Trammell's lazy fly ball to left was dropped.  Cordova got the final two outs of the inning but the Naranjeros went down in order in the bottom of the seventh with pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez striking out swinging to end the game.

Amador finished the night 2-for-3 with his homer but no other Naranjero batter had more than one hit.  Gordon and Rivero led the Reds with two singles apiece as the visitors collected nine hits to Hermosillo's two.  Dauri Maureta earned the win out of the bullpen for Cincinnati with a perfect sixth and seventh while Cordova took the loss.

Day Two of the Mexican Baseball Fiesta on Friday will feature the Reds taking on Mexicali at 5:30PM while the nightcap has Hermosillo and Obregon tangling in a renewal of the MexPac's version of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

Mexican Baseball Fiesta's Tucson series to open Thursday

The seventh annual Mexican Baseball Fiesta will conclude with eight games in four nights at Tucson's Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, beginning with a Thursday night doubleheader.  The first game will feature the defending Mexican Pacific League champion Mexicali Aguilas and the Obregon Yaquis at 5:30PM PDT, followed by a nightcap between the Hermosillo Naranjeros and a team of Cincinnati Reds prospects.  There will also be 5:30 twinbills on Friday and Saturday nights leading to the final day of MBF action Sunday afternoon at 3:00.

The Mexican Baseball Fiesta is the brainchild of Mike Feder, a two-time Pacific Coast League Executive of the Year while serving as general manager of Tucson teams, and former MexPac player Francisco Gamez, who spent ten years playing in the LMP.  The initial MBF was held in 2011 in Tucson and has since grown to include games in other towns and cities in Arizona, Texas, California and Nevada over the years, as well as a few stops south of the border. This year's Fiesta opened in Las Vegas with two games late last month at Cashman Field (home of the 51s of the PCL) before coming home to Arizona for contests in San Luis (near Yuma), Mesa, Nogales and Douglas. The centerpiece remains in Tucson, however, where the MBF puts on its biggest show.  The four-day event in the Old Pueblo will include more than baseball, with live music, dancers, mascots and many other elements augmenting the games that are not always seen in ballparks in the States.

Hermosillo Naranjeros manager Lorenzo Bundy

The games in Kino Stadium also represent a homecoming for Tucson resident Lorenzo Bundy, who will manage Hermosillo this winter after spending the spring and summer as a coach for the Miami Marlins under manager Don Mattingly.  The 2017-18 season marks the 24th winter Bundy has spent managing in the MexPac, where he tells Tucson's Arizona Daily Star newspaper that he's managed seven of the circuit's eight teams after batting .318 over six winters as a player.  Now 57, the Philadelphia-born Bundy told reporter PJ Brown the MaxPac is "a big part of my life.  It's been good to me, an import, although some guys consider me a 'Mexican' now."

Bundy elaborated on what makes the Mexican Pacific League unique: "Winter ball is extra special.  The music, the skits, the mascots, the spectacular for the fan, plus good baseball.  The mix makes it fun to watch.  As a player, it keeps you going."   All four games involving Bundy's Naranjeros will be broadcast live via the Telemax Sonora page on Facebook.

2017 MEXICAN BASEBALL FIESTA in TUCSON
Thursday, October 5 (1st game at 5:30PM PDT)
Thirsty Thursday: $1 domestic beer sold through Game 1
Game 1: Obregon vs. Mexicali.  Game 2: Hermosillo vs. Cincinnati
Bands: La Picosa and Grupo Conducta

Friday, October 6 (1st game at 5:30PM PDT)
Kids Night (Free tickets for kids 6-16 at all eegee's locations)
Game 1: Mexicali vs Cincinnati.  Game 2: Hermosillo vs. Obregon
Bands: La Membrillera (Magdalena) and La Banda Llegamaz de Guamuchil Sin

Saturday, October 7 (1st game at 5:30PM PDT)
Game 1: Mexicali vs. Los Mochis.  Game 2: Hermosillo vs. Obregon
Band: Freddy Vega

Sunday, October 8 (1st game at 3:00PM PDT)
Vantage West Family Day ($10 family vouchers for up to 8 people at all Vantage West locations)
Game 1: Obregon vs. Mexicali.  Game 2: Hermosillo vs. Los Mochis
Band:  Le Llegadoro Banda Sinaloense

Ticket Prices:  $15 box seats, $10 general admission, $6 kids 6-16, seniors 55+, military w/ID

Mexican Baseball Fiesta returns to Tucson; BBM will be there

The Mexican Baseball Fiesta, featuring four Mexican Pacific League teams and a team of MLB prospects, will be back for a seventh year in a row from late September through early October.  The MBF's centerpiece is a four-day stretch of doubleheaders at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium in Tucson, Arizona from October 4-8, with other games taking place in several other Arizona cities like Mesa, Douglas, Nogales and San Luis as well as Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

Former Tucson Toros and Padres general manager Mike Feder, who was the Pacific Coast League's Executive of the Year in both 1991 and 2013, is heading the effort in the Old Pueblo.  "We believe it was essential that we continue this fun-filled, cross-border and cultural event in Tucson," says Feder.  "This tournament includes some of the most popular teams in Mexico."  This year, the Hermosillo Naranjeros, Obregon Yaquis, Mexicali Aguilas and Los Mochis Caneros from the LMP will be joined in Tucson by a team of Cincinnati Reds minor leaguers.  The MBF serves a dual purpose of providing MexPac teams a chance to play exhibition games in preparation for next month's season openers while exposing fans north of the border to baseball Mexican-style.  In addition to the game on the field, there will be live music and other elements to bring a little salsa to the ballpark.

Originally known as Tucson Electric Park, Kino Stadium was completed in 1998 with 8,000 permanent seats plus room for 3,500 more on the outfield berm.  It has served as home to not only Tucson's PCL teams but also as a spring training site for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox before both teams joined the Colorado Rockies (who'd used crosstown Hi Corbett Field) in leaving Tucson for the Phoenix area.  Since the Padres departed town for El Paso in 2014 after three seasons, the city of a million metropolitan residents has not had its own PCL minor league baseball team, although the Tucson Saguaros of the independent Pecos League completed their second season at Kino Stadium from May to August this year.

Baseball Mexico (i.e., me) will be on hand in Tucson next month to file daily reports on all eight games played there, marking the first time BBM has ever covered Mexican baseball in person since the old Viva Beisbol column began in 2005, although audio from one of the old BBM programs on Florida shortwave radio station WRMI in late 2009 originated from Estadio Teodoro Mariscal in Mazatlan.  Options are being explored for broadcasting at least one MBF game live from Tucson on shortwave or the internet.

MEXICAN BASEBALL FIESTA: Tucson schedule
THU, Oct. 5   Obregon vs. Mexicali, Hermosillo vs. Cincinnati (1st game at 5:30pm MT)
FRI, Oct. 6    Mexicali vs. Cincinnati, Hermosillo vs. Obregon (1st game at 5:30pm MT)
SAT, Oct. 7   Los Mochis vs. Mexicali, Obregon vs. Hermosillo (1st game at 5:30pm MT)
SUN, Oct. 8  Mexicali vs. Obregon, Hermosillo vs. Los Mochis (1st game at 3:00pm MT)

Other MBF Dates and Venues
FRI, Sept. 22  Hermosillo vs. Obregon at Las Vegas, NV (7:05pm PT)
SAT, Sept. 23  Obregon vs. Hermosillo at Las Vegas, NV (7:05pm PT)
SAT, Sept. 30  Mexicali vs. Hermosillo at San Luis, AZ (7:00pm MT)
SUN, Oct. 1    Hermosillo vs. Mexicali, Mexicali vs. Los Mochis at Mesa AZ (1st game at 3:00pm MT)
WED, Oct. 4   Obregon vs. Hermosillo at Nogales, AZ (7:30pm MT)
THU, Oct. 5    Hermosillo vs. Los Mochis (7:30pm) at Douglas, AZ (7:30pm MT)

EX-NL ROOKIE OF YEAR WILLIAMSON PITCHING FOR MEX PAC SLOT

"Have Fastball - Will Travel." Former National League Rookie of the Year Scott Williamson is hoping to spend the winter pitching in Mexico. Williamson won ROY honors in 1999 after going 12-7 with 19 saves and a 2.41 ERA for the Cincinnati Reds. Now 34, the 6’0” righty spent nine seasons in the majors, fashioning a 28-28 record with 55 saves and a 3.36 ERA (with 510 strikeouts in 439 innings) before arm miseries derailed his career.

After his last MLB outing with Baltimore in 2007, Williamson struggled to get his groove back before spending much of 2010 out of the game while spending eight weeks at the Athletes Performance training facility before signing with the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League during the season and was dominant, going 11-for-11 in save opportunities with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings. Moreover, his fastball was clocked a number of times at 97 MPH and he appeared to regain his once-nasty slider. “I’m stronger than I’ve been in years,” Williamson stated after the season, and now he wants to spend time in the Mex Pac to show big league organizations in need of pitching that his strong showing last summer was no fluke.

Agent Tom Godfrey says several MLB teams have told him they want to see Williamson pitch in the Mexican Pacific League this winter. “They’ll like what they see,” the pitcher says. “I can help someone win down there. I just need a chance to prove it.”