One
unusual feature is that the traditional two-game, home-and-away
inaugural sets between rival teams are being discarded for 2020-21.
While those series typically result in packed ballparks across the
circuit, the possibility that no fans will be allowed in the stands due to the panicdemic has compelled the LMP to take no chances.
Instead,
the regular season will open with five four-game series commencing
Thursday, October 15: Mexicali at Obregon, Hermosillo at Navojoa,
Mazatlan at Los Mochis, Guasave at Culiacan and Jalisco at Monterrey.
It
appears that the Monterrey Sultanes may have backtracked on their
plans to play home games in Mazatlan this season, although the team
website wasn't even displaying a Mex Pac schedule or ticket
information as this story was being written on Sunday afternoon.
Sultanes sports manager Jesus Valdez Jr. was quoted in
SeptimaEntrada.com as saying he was confident that the team will get
the okay from Nuevo Leon state government officials to play in
Monterrey with people in the stands. The Sultanes will train in
Mazatlan prior to the season opener.
The
first half will consist of 35 games and run through Sunday, November
22. The second half will open Tuesday, November 24, with 33-game
schedules being played through Wednesday, December 30. A full
eight-team, three-stage
Who
else will participate in the Serie del Caribe is another
matter due to health, economic and political concerns in other
nations. Cuba was already uninvited earlier this year due their
pullout from the 2020 tournament just prior to it being held in San
Juan, Puerto Rico. Colombia joined 2019 champion Panama to make it a
six-team field with champions from traditional CS countries Mexico
(represented by LMP title-winner Culiacan), Venezuela, Puerto Rico
and the Dominican Republic.
ISMAEL
VALDEZ SELECTED TO LATIN BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
Former
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ismael “Rocket” Valdez was named last
month as a 2020 inductee to the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame
in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Valdez will join Panamanian Mariano
Rivera as the newest members of the pantheon, which was opened in
2010. Induction ceremonies have been delayed due to the panicdemic.
A
native of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Ismael Valdes (who changed his
surname to Valdez later in his career) was signed at age 17 in 1991
by the Dodgers out of the Pasteje Academy in Mexico City, a
forerunner to the current Mexican Baseball Academy near Monterrey.
Valdes was assigned to the Dodgers' Gulf Coast League Rookie Team in
Florida that summer and went 2-2 with a 2.33 ERA in ten starts.
Three
years later, after stops in AA San Antonio and AAA Albuquerque,
Valdes made his big league debut at 20 in Los Angeles on June 15,
1994, tossing two innings of scoreless relief in a 4-2 loss to
Cincinnati in front of over 51,000 onlookers at Dodger Stadium. His
first win came July 5 in relief as the Dodgers pulled out a 2-1
victory in ten innings at home as the 6'3” right-hander pitched
mostly out of the bullpen in 21 outings, finishing 3-1 with a 3.18
ERA. It was a nice debut for Valdes but gave no indication of what
was to come.
Los
Angeles manager Tommy Lasorda moved Valdes into the starting rotation
early in 1995 and was rewarded when Valdes turned in a 13-11 record
and 3.05 ERA (fourth-best in the National League) that included six
complete games, two of them shutouts. He started a League Divisional
Series against Atlanta and got a no-decision after pitching seven
innings of in a 5-4 loss to the Reds, allowing a two-run homer by
Reggie Sanders in the fourth.
Still,
it was a good year for Valdes, who finished seventh in Rookie of the
Year balloting, and began a string of five seasons in LA in which he
won 58 games and turned in a sub-4.00 ERA each year before he was
sent the the Chicago Cubs as part of a five-player trade in December
1999. After an ineffective stint with the Cubs (2-4, 5.37 in 12
starts), Valdes was sent BACK to the Dodgers for two minor leaguers
and cash in July 2000, struggled his way to three more losses in
eight starts and was declared a free agent after the season.
Valdez
came out of retirement in 2013 when, at 39 years of age, he pitched
eight games (including two starts) for the Mexican League's Quintana
Roo Tigres. It was not the swan song he may have hoped for, going 1-1
with a 10.91 ERA before retiring for good in June, but his signing
did draw the Cancun team some extra nationwide attention and he did
contribute a win for manager Matias Carrillo's pennant-winning club.
He
now becomes the twelfth Mexican named to the Latin American Baseball
Hall of Fame. Hector Espino and Beto Avila were among the first
inductees in 2010 and have been followed by Mel Almada, Chile Gomez,
Angel Castro, Felipe Montemayor, Vinny Castilla, Nomar Garciaparra,
Aurelio Lopez, Ted Higuera and Fernando Valenzuela. Garciaparra is
actually California-born but his father Ramon is a Mexico native;
Nomar is “Ramon” spelled backwards.
LIQUIDITY:
THE GENERAL PROBLEM OF THE LMP
Writer
Tito Escobar of ElJonronero.com recently wrote a story outlining the
problems the Mexican Pacific League will face as they move forward in
anticipation of playing a 2020-21 season. According to Escobar, the
main problem will be the ability of Mex Pac teams to pay the bills in
the face of the current panicdemic. Here is a Google translation
(slightly edited) of his column:
 |
| El Jonronero cronista Tito Escobar |
This
reporter has talked with owners, brands, sponsors, advertising
agencies and with all those involved in the mechanics of advertising
and getting sponsorships, brand managers and advertising sellers.
They have found as a barrier in their work: the obvious problem of
lack of liquidity.
Even
so, the Mexican Pacific League remains firm, but at the moment things
are complicated collectively and with almost all clubs. We know who
the clubs are that have the most economic power due to their
locations, but they are all important and the efforts are aimed at
them: Having advertisers, the best players and, therefore, having
liquidity to face the campaign.
As
an example and unofficially, the negotiations with the players have
flowed, but if there are cases where we will soon find out about
players who (given the decision not to accept the reduction that
exists as a league agreement to lower the payroll to 50%) have
rejected the offers and will not play. There is everything, those who
demand discreetly and those who publish private conversations such as
the Cuban Félix Pérez of the Monterrey Sultans.
Each
one handles their situation differently and faces the pandemic in a
different way. Most understand that the easy thing was for the owners
to say NO to play and voila'…they leave the player to his own
devices. But that's not the case. The player is going to play with
everyone sacrificing something in the face of the difficult situation
because having a job in these times is a blessing.
And
as many owners have mentioned to El Jonronero, with a player
who does not want to play there is no problem: he stays at home, next
year things are better in every way and contract negotiations begin
on a regular basis. But, of course, there are no loans to other clubs
for this year in the case of players who wish not to sign with their
club for not wanting to accept the mandatory reduction in salary.
On
the topic of brands, El Jonronero received unofficial
information that two of the main advertisers at the LMP level have
said no for this campaign: One prestigious brand of fried foods and a
major sportsbook that has been enthusiastically supporting winter
baseball year after year. But obviously, the economic damage caused
by the effects of the pandemic leads them to step aside this year.
Sponsoring brands are obviously also experiencing economic problems
in this chain of problems unleashed by the global pandemic.
The
beer brands have individual contracts with the LMP clubs and are
normally one of the strongest sponsorships, but today they are in
serious economic difficulty to be able to participate according to
contracts. There are cases in which they want to be absent this
season, as there are those who can only contribute 25% of what was
agreed to and thus help in some way. Each city and each beer brand is
different. The soft drink brands that distribute bottled soft drinks,
tea, and natural water are waiting mainly for what is the number of
people who will be authorized by the federal health authorities to
enter each ballpark of LMP. They go through that as a sales
projection exercise and it is logical in their business.
And
so hundreds of examples, like the dealers who are seeing if they bet
on selling their products like other years, are waiting. The sale of
seats is a very complicated topic among fans. Buying tickets or not
is what fans have in mind in all the cities and to a certain extent,
it is understood. The work of each club in this sense is titanic when
it comes to the bet they have made that the Mexican Pacific League
season is going to be played.
All
the actors in the different areas should cooperate to boost the
Mexican baseball economy and try to normalize as soon as possible
this great game that we all enjoy in Mexico.
