ALL LMP QFS OVER IN SIX GAMES, SEMIS OPEN TUESDAY

Hermosillo pitcher Ryan Verdugo

     The opening round of the Mexican Pacific League playoffs is in the history books, with all four quarterfinal series being decided in their respective Game Sixes last Saturday. The winners all move on to the semifinals, which open Tuesday night.

    Ryan Verdugo pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits to pace top seed Hermosillo to a 1-0 home whitewashing of Mazatlan Saturday to punch the Naranjeros' ticket to the LMP Final Four. The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the second when Luis Alfonso Cruz and Jose Cardona both singled and advanced one base on Alex Flores' sacrifice fly before Julian Leon's slow roller to first allowed Cruz to come in from third for the tally. The Venados had the bases full with two out in the top of the eighth, but reliever Robinson Leyer (who pitched six games for Boston last summer) struck out Anthony Giansanti to end the last threat Mazatlan would pose, then pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save of the series.

    Second seed Obregon send Jalisco packing Saturday with a convincing 8-1 win. The Yaquis took a 2-0 lead in the second and gradually built a 6-0 advantage before the Charros scored their only run of the night in the seventh when Dariel Alvarez came in from third on a passed ball by Sebastian Valle. Jonathan Aranda belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh for insurance runs as Obregon pitchers combined to silence to potent Jalisco attack. Yaquis starter Dallas Martinez tossed 4.2 shutout innings while allowing one hit as the Obregon mound staff combined to hold the visitors from Guadalajara to three hits in the tilt.

    Number four seed Monterrey closed out their set with Mexicali by topping the Aguilas, 7-2, at home Saturday. The Sultanes took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Brazilian Paulo Orlando pounded a two-run homer to right. Luis Juarez' RBI single in the fifth brought Mexicali to within a run before a four-run Monterrey explosion in the sixth essentially put the game in their hip pockets as Roberto Valenzuela slashed a two-run single while Antonio Lamas and Gilberto Galaviz added run-scoring singles. Sultanes starter Luis Gamez had a nice outing, going 4.1 innings and allowing one run on four hits while six relievers held the Aguilas to one more run (on another Juarez single) the rest of the way.

    Defending champion Culiacan was the only lower seed to get past the first round as the sixth-ranked Tomateros eliminated third seed Guasave, 4-3, on the road at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The Tomateros were trailing, 1-0, before posting a three-run fifth inning keyed by Yoelkis Guibert's two-run single to go up by two runs. Alejandro Ortiz tied the game up for the Algodoneros with a two-run double to right in the bottom of the seventh, but the visitors regained the lead for good in the top of the eighth. Ramiro Pena singled, moved to third on another safety by Sebastian Elizalde and then came in on an infield single by Michael Wing. Culiacan reliever Sasagi Sanchez got one out in the bottom of the eighth before closer Alberto Baldonado came in and retired the final five Cottoneer batters (two on strikeouts) for the save. Tomateros starter Manny Barreda gave up one run on one hit over six innings for the winners.

Mexicali shortstop Daniel Castro

    Mexicali shortstop Daniel Castro's .500 average (11-of-22) led all Mex Pac batsmen in the opening round. Monterrey's Paulino Orlando, Joey Meneses of Culiacan and Obregon's Alonzo Harris each had two homers in the quarterfinals while Luis Juarez easily led in RBIs with nine. Harris and Mazatlan's Jorge Flores each stole four bases. Flores' performance was somewhat remarkable in that he only had one hit and drew four walks during the Venados' entire series with Hermosillo. Surprisingly, neither Castro nor Juarez were picked in Sunday's reinforcement draft.

    Among pitchers, two starters (Jalisco's Orlando Lara and Ryan Verdugo of Hermosillo) and two relievers (Monterrey's Francisco Moreno and Obregon's Miguel Aguilar) each had two wins, with Lara earning both Charros' quarterfinal triumphs. Among eleven hurlers with ten innings pitched or more, Verdugo's was the lowest at 0.64. Two Culiacan starters, Manny Barreda and J.C. Ramirez, each had 12 strikeouts. Monterrey's Jeff Johnson led all closers with three saves.

    Sunday's reinforcement draft was held among the four survivors had each team picking one player from the rosters of eliminated squads. After a draw, Monterrey got the first choice and added Mazatlan first baseman Carlos Munoz. With the second pick, Hermosillo added LMP batting champion Isaac Paredes, also from the Venados. Obregon selected Jalisco outfielder Dariel Alvarez with the third pick while Culiacan closed out the draft by taking Guasave's veteran third baseman Jesse Castillo.

    The selection of Munoz with the top pick by Monterrey was somewhat surprising. While the 26-year-old former Pirates farmhand has become a fixture in the Venados lineup over seven winters, he's not generally regarded as one the Mex Pac's top players and lacks the kind of power usually associated with first basemen. On the other hand, Munoz (who hit .286 in Mazatlan's loss to Hermosillo) drew ten walks in six games for a standout on-base percentage and figures to replace struggling DH Jose Amador (.154) or RF Courtney Hawkins (.143) in the Sultanes batting order.

    The semifinals open with a pair of games on Tuesday night. Culiacan will visit Obregon for Game One at 6:00PM while Hermosillo hosts Monterrey at 7:00PM. All LMP playoff series use a best-of-7 format.

MIRANDA LMP ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, SALAS TOP RELIEVER

Guasave starter Luis Miranda

    Guasave pitcher Luis Miranda has been named the Mexican Pacific League's Rookie of the Year for 2020-21 after tying Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas for the league lead with eight wins. Former MLB hurler Fernando Salas, now with the Naranjeros, was chosen Reliever of the Year as the LMP's postseason awards have begun trickling out.

    The 26-year-old Miranda, an Hermosillo native, finished the regular season with an 8-2 record over 11 starts. He fanned 36 batters and walked 21 over 49 innings of work on the mound. A 5'11” righty, Miranda had a decent outing in his lone postseason start for the Algodoneros in their six-game quarterfinal loss to Culiacan, tossing 4.2 innings of one-run, three-hit ball and striking out eight in a 6-1 loss to the defending champions in the series opener last Tuesday in a game that was tied at one run apiece when Miranda was pulled by manager Ramon Orates in the fifth frame.

    While this was Miranda's first full season in the Mex Pac, he is a veteran of six minor league seasons, including three as a reliever in the Atlanta system between 2013 and 2015. He was 7-7 with a 4.87 ERA in 22 games (17 of them starts) for Quintana Roo of the Mexican League in 2016 but has seen limited action since. Miranda received 58 percent of votes by what the LMP calls a “specialized press,” far outdistancing the four other ROY nominees.

Hermosillo reliever Fernando Salas

    Salas was also a landslide winner as Reliever of the Year after leading the Mex Pac with 17 saves in 19 opportunities and was an important part of a Hermosillo team that is the top seed for the postseason. He had a 2-1 record and turned in a microscopic 0.74 ERA in 25 appearances, striking out 22 batters in 24.1 innings. Salas pitched in two opening round contests in the Naranjeros' six-game win over Mazatlan, tossing three scoreless entradas and striking out five but recording no saves.

    The 25-year-old righthander from Huatabampo debuted with Saltillo of the Mexican League in 2005 and spent parts of three seasons with the Saraperos before signing with St. Louis in 2007. Salas worked his way through the Cardinals organization before reaching the majors in 2010. He served as closer during the regular season for St. Louis' 2011 world champions, saving 24 games and turning in a 2.28 ERA over 68 trips from the bullpen before pitching in four World Series contests against Texas. Salas went on to pitch all or part of ten MLB seasons for four teams between 2010 and 2019, mostly as a middleman, and had a career 25-28 record with 30 saves and a 3.91 ERA.

    Salas came away with 74 percent of the “specialized press” vote while runner-up Jeff Ibarra of Guasave was far behind with 11 percent. The league had announced that fans would determine postseason award winners for 2020-21, but neither mentioned fans nor defined what a “specialized press” in either of last week's announcements.

PEREYRA: RACE WALKING, BOXING FUNDS DIVERTED TO PROBEIS

    Funding has been a major concern for the organization created to foster growth of baseball in Mexico ever since its foundation in 2019. According to Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra, however, future allocations to Probeis will come in part by being diverted from the country's race walking and boxing commissions. Here is a cleaned-up Google translation of Pereyra's report for Proceso:

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

    MEXICO CITY - On the instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the 264 million pesos that the Chamber of Deputies allocated for the operation of the race walking, boxing and baseball commissions will be used only in the Office of the Presidency to the Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico (Probeis).

    In this way, the race walking commission headed by Olympic medalist Bernardo Segura disappears. Segura resigned last October after accusing officials of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) as "bureaucrats" because they did not assign a budget to him during 2020. Segura had not finished verifying the money they gave him to operate in 2019.

    Meanwhile, the boxing commission led by Miguel Torruco will continue in force, but without a federal budget. During 2019 and 2020, for this project in the Federation Expenditure Budget (PEF), 15% of the federal resources for the item called Physical Education of Excellence that operates within the SEP was allocated.

    According to López Obrador's request, the 264 million pesos from the aforementioned items will be used to finish building the baseball schools that are the governing axis of the Probeis. According to the project, which has already been modified countless times, five schools of the so-called T1, that is, those with dormitories, will be located in Campeche, Texcoco, Veracruz, Hermosillo and Obregón. For the last two mentioned, the federal government paid more than one billion pesos to the government of Sonora to acquire the old stadiums, Héctor Espino and Tomás Oroz Gaytán, respectively. The plan indicates that these five will begin operating in August 2021.

    Likewise, another four located in Guanajuato, Mexicali, Lagos de Moreno and Cancun that do not have bedrooms (known as T3) will start between next February and April.

Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra

    Beyond the allocation of resources, there is still no clear outline of how these schools will operate. The federal government has not determined who will hire and pay both the instructors who will teach classes at the high school and the baseball coaches. The sports equipment that they will use has not been acquired either.

    It remains uncertain what will happen to the 69 boxing schools (12 of which are operated by the Ministry of National Defense) that the commission launched during 2019 and 2020, where more than 2,000 children train for free with 257 receiving monthly scholarships of 3,500 pesos. The salary earned by the trainers who in different states of the country serve the boxers who are part of this program come from the money allocated to the Physical Education of Excellence item.

    In 2019 and 2020, the boxing commission received, per year, 75 million pesos, but in neither of the two fiscal years were those amounts spent. In 2020, Miguel Torruco's commission spent around 40 million pesos. So far there is no certainty of how much Probeis spent that same year, since the SEP transferred money to two states during the month of December but in both cases it was returned because there was no longer time to spend it.

MLB CANCELS APRIL PADRES-D'BACKS MEXICO SERIES

The outbreak of the coronavirus and the resulting panic that led to the delay of the Major League Baseball regular season has unsurprisingly meant the cancellation of a planned two-game series between the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City next month. The so-called Mexico Series would've pitted the two National League West rivals against each other on the weekend of April 18-19 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City.

Instead, the two contests will be rescheduled later in the season in Phoenix, as the Diamondbacks had relinquished two home dates to make room for the Mexico Series. "It breaks our heart we won't be playing in front of the incredible fans in Mexico," a statement from the Arizona front office reads, "but health and safety come first." A tweet from the Padres states, "Our series in Mexico City has been cancelled do to the delayed start of the 2020 season. We look forward to the next time we are playing in front of our beloved fans in Mexico." MLB also cancelled a planned three-game series between the New York Mets and Miami Marlins between April 28-30 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. No decision has been made yet regarding the fate of this June's London Series in England between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

Mexico City's Estadio Harp Helu

The Mexico Series would've marked the first MLB regular season games ever played in Mexico City, where the Diablos Rojos' 20,576-seat ballpark (named after their billionaire owner) opened a year ago this Monday when the Diablos hosted a team of Padres minor leaguers in front of a full house. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador became the first Mexico president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch since 1947 and Mexico City's Jesus Fabela scored the first run in the new facility, but the rest of the contest belonged to the Padres, who won 11-2 in a game that was overshadowed by the festivities surrounding it. The Diablos went on to draw 389,641 fans over 54 regular season games last year (an average of 7,216 per opening) to finish fourth in the LMB in attendance, trailing only Tijuana (11,291), Monterrey (9,770) and Yucatan (8,673). The Toros and Sultanes led all of Minor League Baseball in average attendance while the Leones finished fifth. Mexico City was 18th overall.

The cancellation of the Mexico City will cause a financial hit to the host Diablos Rojos. Ticket prices for the two games started at 450 pesos (US$18.41) for outfield seats and rose to 3,200 pesos (US$130.95) for VIP seats and 2,500 pesos (US$102.30) to sit behind home plate. Ticket refunds are being offered to those who already purchased their ducats.

MLB has previously held eleven regular season games in Mexico, all at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey, home of the Sultanes.  The first was a Padres-Colorado Rockies game on April 4, 1999, which brought in a ballpark record 27,104 spectators. A pair of two-game series last year (Cardinals-Red and Angels-Astros) drew in the 16,000-18,000 range per opening. 

MEX PAC NAMES 2019-20 GOLD GOVE AWARD WINNERS

Jalisco catcher Gabriel Gutierrez

The Mexican Pacific League has announced the winners of its 2019-20 season Rawlings Gold Glove awards, given annually to players considered the best fielder at their respective positions. Four of then ten players receiving honors were members of the LMP champion Culiacan Tomateros.

Pitcher of the Year Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis aided his own cause by handling 18 chances in the field without a miscue in 87.2 innings over 14 starts without to earn the Gold Glove for hurlers, his second in a row with the Caneros. As a Culiacan postseason addition, Quiala was perfect on four chances during his lone start in the Caribbean Series.

Two catchers also played errorless ball in 2019-20 to share the Gold Glove. Jalisco's Gabriel Gutierrez, already known as a top-notch receiver, burnished his reputation by not committing an error on 458 chances behind the plate. He also nailed 25 of 49 base-stealers for a 51% mark in that category. Another stalwart defensive backstop, Mexicali's Xorge Carrillo, was awarded after fielding 376 chances cleanly in 51 games. Carrillo threw out 17 of 46 base-stealers, a 37 percent rate.

Culiacan anchored the right side of the LMP's defensive dream team. First baseman Joey Meneses committed two errors on 454 opportunities to finish with a .996 fielding percentage. Meneses, who hit .332 during the regular season, was flawless in 35 chances in four games at the initial hassock during the Caribbean Series and hit .417 before signing with Boston after the tournament.

Tomateros second baseman Ramiro Pena, a favorite of manager Benji Gil, earned top honors at the keystone position by turning in a .988 fielding percentage after committing just three blunders over 256 chances. The former Yankees infielder, who also had MLB stints with Atlanta and San Francisco, handled 24 chances without error in the Caribbean Series and turned three double plays.

Culiacan second baseman Ramiro Pena

Jalisco veteran Agustin Murillo is not a newcomer when it comes to winning Gold Gloves at third base in the Mex Pac, and 2019-20 was no exception. Murillo turns 38 in May but showed no sign of slowing after augmenting his .314 batting average with a .993 fielding percentage, committing just one gaffe in 139 chances and taking part in nine twin-killings.

Daniel Castro's glovework is what led to MLB opportunities with both Atlanta and Colorado between 2015 and 2018, thus it's no surprise that his work at shortstop for Mexicali has been rewarded. Castro, who also plays second and third, was 261-for-266 in fielding chances for the Aguilas to finish with a .981 average after splitting the 2019 season between the Mariners and Dodgers systems.

Culiacan players also anchored two of three positions on the LMP's Gold Glove team. Speedy Rico Noel, who led the league in steals (30) and runs scored (47), earned the nod in centerfield with a .986 fielding percentage, committing five errors in 138 chances during the regular season. He handled 18 chances without sin during the Caribbean and started a double play from the outfield.

Tomateros teammate Sebastian Elizalde was named the Gold Glove rightfielder after recording a .983 fielding average, committing two errors in 115 chances over 54 regular season contests. A former Reds farmhand who played for Mexico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Elizalde played three games in the Serie del Caribe, fielding eight fly balls cleanly before signing with the New York Mets.

Navojoa's Alonzo Harris, the 2019 Mexican League MVP, was given a Gold Glove for his play in left field for the Mayos. Harris was 133-for-135 in chances for a .985 fielding percentage and threw out six baserunners. The Mississippi native broke into pro ball in 2008 as a second baseman before being converted into an outfielder as a Mets minor leaguer during the 2011 season.

MEXICO HOLDS FIFTH PLACE IN LATEST WBSC BASEBALL RANKINGS

The World Baseball Softball Confederation released its first set of global baseball rankings for 2020 last Friday. There were no changes among the top six teams, which means Mexico maintained its number five ranking from the previous rankings released on December 31, 2019. In all, 86 nations were listed.

Japan held on to the top spot with 6,167 total points, providing the Baseball Samurai a comfortable lead over the second-ranked United States, who came in with 4,676 points. South Korea is breathing down the USA's neck with 4,648 points while Taiwan held on to fourth place at 4,385. Mexico's 3,375 points was good enough to keep the fifth slot but Australia is not far behind in sixth at 3,249. Cuba and Venezuela leap-frogged past The Netherlands into seventh and eighth place, respectively, while the Dutchmen slipped from seventh to ninth. The Dominican Republic rounded out the Top Ten with Puerto Rico hanging on to its #11 ranking while Panama slipped past Canada into twelfth on the list as Latin American countries make up half of the dozen leading nations on the listing. At the other end of the spectrum, Bahrain, Haiti and Iraq were tied for 84th and last with five points apiece.

In other categories, Japan also led in the women's baseball rankings, ahead of Canada, Taiwan and Venezuela, who bypassed the USA into fourth place while the Americans dropped to fifth. Mexico moved past the Philippines into 14th place in women's baseball. In men's softball, Japan holds the top slot in those rankings as well after slipping past former #1 Argentina in the latest listing. New Zealand, Canada, Australia and the United States round out the top six while Mexico moved up one berth to eighth, trailing the seventh-place Czech Republic. In the WBSC women's softball rankings, the USA preventing Japan from sweeping all the top spots by holding the number one position on that table while Japan stayed in second. Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico complete the first five.

Mexico's 2018 U-23 World Cup champions

Global rankings from the WBSC are compiled on a points system based on how well respective national teams perform at various levels of competition. Baseball rankings are drawn from the World Baseball Classic and Premier12 events as well as Baseball World Cup tournaments at the U-23, U-18, U-15 and U-12 age groups. Continental events such as Europe's CEB Championships or the Pan-American Games are also included, albeit for fewer points in the ranking system, while co-called friendlies between national teams in non-tournament settings (such as last winter's Samurai Series between Japan and Mexico) round out the points system. Rankings are released on an irregular basis, although the WBSC usually compiles them at least once a year.

Aguilas slip past Caneros, 7-6, in MexPac season opener

Mexicali shortstop Walter Ibarra

Walter Ibarra's grand slam keyed a five-run second inning as defending champion Mexicali went on to sneak by visiting Los Mochis, 7-6, Tuesday in a seesaw Mexican Pacific League season opener in front of 17,000 fans in sold-out Estadio B'Air.

The Caneros scored right off the bat in the top of the first when Leandro Castro singled off Aguilas starter Javier Solano to drive in Ramon Urias with the game’s first run before the Eagles flew into a four-run lead in the bottom of the second, with Ibarra’s four-run, four-bagger off Mochis opener Akeem Bostick providing the key blow en route to a 5-1 lead.

Los Mochis closed the gap to 5-3 in the fourth via Sebastian Valle’s two-run homer and another two-run blast by Mitch Walding followed by Valle’s second homer of the night (both off Aguilas reliever Marco Quevedo) two innings later to give the Caneros a 6-5 lead.

Mexicali came back to knot the game up in the bottom of the six after Daniel Castro scored when Yuniesky Betancourt grounded to third for a double play and then took the lead for good in the eighth as C.J. Retherford singled to right to bring Castro in from third to go up, 7-6.  Aguilas manager Roberto Vizcarra sent Ryan Kussmaul in to save the win and Kussmaul responded by retiring Mochis in order with one strikeout in seven pitches.

Reliever Cody Wisniarski got the win for Mexicali after walking the bases loaded in the eighth but escaping without being scored upon.  Manuel Rodriguez was tagged with the loss for the Caneros after allowing Daniel Castro to lead off the eighth with a bunt single, putting the winning run on base.  It was Mochis’ third pitcher of the entrada, D.J. Johnson, who gave up Retherford’s go-ahead single.  Ibarra, Betancourt, Yordanys Linares and Josh Romanski each had two hits for the winners.  Valle finished with his two longballs and three RBIs for the Caneros with Walding walking three times and scoring twice to go with his homer.

The Aguilas and Caneros will take Wednesday night off as the MexPac’s six other teams open their seasons as Jalisco plays at Mazatlan, Navojoa visits Culiacan and Obregon travels to Hermosillo.  Teams will swap venues Friday night to conclude each two-game series.

Gallardo named WBC opener starter; will Adrian play?

With the 2017 World Baseball Classic less than two weeks away, Mexican National Team manager Edgar Gonzalez has announced his five-man starting rotation for the tournament, which will see the Verdes Grande open their Pool D schedule in Guadalajara with a March 9 game against Italy at Estadio Charros.

Gonzalez has named Yovani Gallardo, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Jaime Garcia, Luis Mendoza and Jorge De La Rosa as his pitching starters.  All have significant major league experience.  Gallardo, Gonzalez and Garcia are currently on 40-man MLB team rosters, De La Rosa recently signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks and Mendoza is prepping for his fourth season with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan's Pacific League.  The Fighters are training in Arizona this month.

The 30-year-old Gallardo is the expected starter for Mexico's opener against Italy.  A 2010 All-Star while pitching for Milwaukee, Gallardo was traded by Baltimore to Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto's merry-go-round in Seattle after going 6-8 with a 5.43 ERA for the Orioles in 2016.  After ten MLB seasons, the 6'2" Gallardo has a career 108-83 record, including 72 wins for the Brewers between 2009 and 2013.  Although he's not likely to pick up a bat in the WBC, the 2004 second-round draft pick for Milwaukee wouldn't be out of place doing so.  He's come up to the plate 476 times in his big league career and while his .200 average won't turn any heads, the right-hander's 12 homers and 42 RBIs have shown he was anything but an automatic out for opposing moundsmen.

He'll face an Italian team that is not a pre-WBC favorite to advance beyond Pool play but could surprise observers in Jalisco next month.  While manager Marco Mazzieri will not have the services of Chicago Cubs All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the tournament after the latter opted to play preseason games in Arizona instead of the WBC (he hit .235 in the 2013 tourney), Italy's roster includes Cubs minor league outfielder John Andreoli as well as Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, Royals receiver Drew Butera, Mariners switch-pitcher Pat Venditte and Indians first baseman Chris Colabello.

While Gonzalez has his starting rotation set and a strong bullpen featuring the likes of Roberto Osuna, Yoakim Soria and Oliver Perez, the former Padres infielder continues to plug holes among his position players.  After A's outfielder Khris Davis backed out of playing for Mexico earlier this week, Gonzalez' latest alteration came after infielder Daniel Castro pulled out of the WBC because he wants to concentrate on making the Colorado Rockies roster.  Castro signed with the Denver club as a free agent over the winter after the 24-year-old Guaymas native hit .217 over 80 games with Atlanta in 2015 and 2016 after callups from AAA Gwinnett.

Castro will be replaced on Mexico's roster by 19-year-old infielder Luis Urias, a Padres minor leaguer.  Although the slight (5'9" and 160 pounds) Urias is a longshot to reach San Diego this year, the big club has high hopes for him after he was named Rookie of the Year in the Class A California League last summer after batting .330 to lead the league, adding 26 doubles and 71 runs scored for Lake Elsinore. He's primarily been a second baseman in three minor league seasons, but is expected to see a lot of time at shortstop in training camp.  Urias is said to likely be heading to Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League.

Gonzales did receive some needed good news this week when younger brother Adrian's tennis elbow, which has limited him in the Dodgers' camp thus far, has improved enough the the All-Star first baseman is more likely to be in the Mexican lineup at the WBC.  "El Titan's" participation in the Classic as a player was in doubt after the Los Angeles organization told him to lay off swinging a bat for two weeks, but the longtime linchpin of the Verdes Grande lineup is said to be more likely to be in Guadalajara in two weeks.  With bats in tow.

*     *     *

On an unrelated note, one infielder who definitely would've been a boon to Mexico's WBC fortunes in his prime was Aurelio Rodriguez, the late former MLB infielder regarded by many as the best third baseman in his country's history.  A member of Mexican baseball's Salon de la Fama since 1995, Rodriguez spent all or part of 17 big league seasons as one of the top glove men in the game with a throwing arm that Tigers broadcaster Paul Carey called a "howitzer."  Rodriguez died at age 52 when he was struck by a car while walking a sidewalk during a visit to Detroit for a card show in 2000. Weird fact:  Of the three major league players who've had the first name of Aurelio (Rodriguez, Lopez and Monteagudo), all three played for the Tigers and all three were killed in car accidents.

Aurelio Rodriguez' body was brought to Los Mochis, where he had played winterball for the Caneros, and thousands attended his funeral, including Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo.  His remains were interred at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada, where his cross still stands atop the ballpark.  Rodriguez' loss was also felt in Detroit, where he'd been an extremely popular player, often venturing into the inner city to conduct clinics.  Fred Feliciano, a one-time community relations manager for the Tigers, has been quoted as saying, "He was really the first prominent Hispanic figure in the Detroit community."

Fast forward to 2017.  In his "En la Pelota" column for Puro Beisbol, columnist Juan Vene says that Rodriguez' tomb now lies in ruins.  According to Vene, politician Mario Lopez was behind the effort to place the Cananea product's remains behind the fence in the ballpark's right field corner.  Lopez then neglected it thereafter (not even visiting the site) and no maintenance has ever been performed on it.

It's easy to say this as I write from a location much closer to Canada than Mexico, but Aurelio Rodriguez deserves better.  Heroes should never be forgotten, especially where thousands once cheered their exploits.