BRYANT NAMED MANAGER IN TABASCO

Former Oakland A’s outfielder and Salon de la Fama member Derek Bryant has been appointed manager of the Tabasco Olmecas for the 2011 Mexican League season. Bryant was tabbed as Tabasco skipper after weeks of speculation over who would take over the reins from Enrique “Che” Reyes, who will replace Felix Fermin as manager in Monterrey. Reyes led Tabasco to a 41-39 record after becoming the third Olmecas pilot one month into last season.

Bryant, who briefly played for Oakland in 1979, was one of Mexico’s most dominant batters of the 1980’s and shares the Liga record of homers in a nine-inning game after launching four bombs for Tampico against Aguascalientes on May 14, 1985.

Tabasco will be Bryant’s fifth Mexican League managerial gig. He won pennants with Monterrey in 1995 and 1996 and has led Hermosillo to a pair of Mexican Pacific League winterball titles.

FIVE NEW SALON MEMBERS INDUCTED DURING PREGAME CEREMONY

The five newest members of Mexico’s baseball hall of fame, the Salon de la Fama, were inducted Saturday night in a pregame ceremony at Saltillo’s Parque Francisco I. Madero. Players Derek Bryant, Alonso Tellez and Gerardo “Polvorita” Sanchez were joined by pitcher Armando Reynoso and umpire Efrain Ibarra as Mexican League president Plinio Escalante and Salon director Mario Morales Salazar conducted the ceremony.

Bryant demolished Liga pitchers with a .355 batting average and 141 homers between 1982 and 1988, hitting .389 with 41 homers in just 100 games for Tampico in 1984. He also managed Monterrey to pennants in 1995 and 1996. Tellez, who now coaches in Reynosa, hit over .300 for his career and is in the LMB’s all-time Top Ten list with 2,522 hits and 1,289 RBIs, adding 226 homers. Tellez hit .307 or better every year from 1985 through 1997, mostly for the old Monterrey Industriales. Sanchez, who currently manages Monclova, set a Mexican League record by playing 1,415 consecutive games for Nuevo Laredo. He ended up spending his first 18 seasons with the Tecos, batting .289 with 199 homers, before finishing with the Mexico City Tigres in 2001. Sanchez is in the LMB’s All-Time Top 20 in ten different offensive categories.

Reynoso went 44-23 with a 3.93 ERA for Saltillo from 1988 through 1990 (going 20-3 his final year) before embarking on a 12-year major league career for four teams. He won 12 games for Colorado in 1993 and earned 21 wins between 1999 and 2000 for Arizona. Reynoso finished his MLB career in 2002 with a 68-63 record over 198 games. Ibarra, who died in February at age 70, began his umpiring career in the Mexican Central League in 1965 before becoming a full-time Mexican League ump two years later. He went on to become one of the most-respected arbiters in Mexico, working All-Star and playoff games in the LMB and Mexican Pacific Leagues as well as the Caribbean Series.

VAQUEROS FIRE MANAGER DEREK BRYANT

“But what have you done for us lately?”

Last Thursday, the Laguna Vaqueros fired manager Derek Bryant, who led the team to their first playoff berth in five years and a slot in the Northern Zone finals against eventual champion Saltillo. Things have not gone as smoothly in 2010, as the Cowboys finished sixth in the Zona Madero with a 25-28 record for the first half and were 0-3 in the second half at the time of Bryant’s firing. Third base coach Adulfo Camacho will manage Laguna on an interim basis.

A former Oakland A’s outfielder, Bryant will be inducted into the Salon de la Fama next month after batting a resounding .355 with 141 homers for the Mexico City Tigres, Tampico and Monterrey from 1982 through 1988, averaging .34 homers, 107 RBIs and hitting .380 between 1984 and 1986.

FOUR EX-PLAYERS NOMINATED FOR 2010 SALON BALLOT

Four former players have been placed on the 2010 election ballot for the Salon de la Fama in Monterrey. Alonso Tellez, Derek Bryant, Armando Reynoso (pictured) and Hector Heredia were nominated by the Mexican League’s Salon Nominating Committee.

They join fellow ex-players Luis Alfonso Cruz, Luis Fernando Mendez, Ricardo Solis, Rodolfo Hernandez, Fernando Villaescusa and Gerardo Sanchez on the ballot next year.

Also, one umpire will be chosen in 2010 from among Fernando Guerrero, Antonio Calderon, Efrain Ibarra, Jose Concepcion Rodriguez and one more future nominee.