THUNDER STRUCK: CANEROS WIN MEX PAC PENNANT

Los Mochis RHP Nick Struck

    A superb performance by pitchers Nick Struck and Fabian Cota and a bases-loaded double by Most Valuable Player Yasmany Tomas on Saturday keyed a 5-0 Los Mochis win at home over Guasave to give the Caneros a 4-games-to-2 Mexican Pacific League championship series win, the fourth pennant since the city's entry into winterball in 1947 and the first since 2002-03. In winning the flag, the Caneros will represent Mexico at the 2023 Caribbean Series beginning Thursday in Venezuela.

    The 33-year-old Struck began the winterball season in the Dominican Republic before joining the Caneros in December for five starts, going 1-2 but turning in a sparkling 1.64 ERA. A two-time Cubs organizational All-Star as a farmhand, the Oregon native native is now 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in five postseason starts after limiting the Algodoneros to a first-inning single by Jesse Castillo over seven innings of work, striking out four and throwing 61 strikes in 93 pitches. Cota, who represented Oaxaca in last summer's Mexican League All-Star Game, took over in the eighth and held Guasave scoreless on one hit over the last two frames to close out the title-winning game.

    Tomas gave the Caneros all the runs they'd need with a two-out, three-run double off Cottoneers starter Jeff Kinley in the bottom of the third to send the sellout crowd of 11,770 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada into a paroxysm of joy one day after chaos erupted outside the ballpark when fans stampeded the team office to buy tickets for Game Six. Los Mochis added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth when Isaac Rodriguez scored on Rudy Amador's sacrifice fly and a Fernando Villegas single plated Roberto “Tito” Valenzuela. Kinley took the loss and was charged for all five Caneros runs on eight hits before being yanked following Valenzuela's one-out single in the fifth.

    Juan Uriarte was named MVP of the championship series after batting .410 (10-for-21) with a homer, six RBIs and three runs scored for first-year manager Jose Moreno's Caneros. Thousands of Los Mochis fans celebrated the team's championship after the game and a parade through the streets of downtown was scheduled for Monday at 3:00PM local time.

    The team will travel to Caracas, Venezuela in preparation for their first Caribbean Series game against Dominican champion Licey at noon Thursday in the first-ever game at Estadio La Rinconada, a new 36,500-ballpark being inaugurated during the Serie del Caribe. The facility will be hostile to right-handed power hitters, given its dimensions of 442 feet to the center field wall and 351 feet to left, although the right-field foul line is a more approachable 338 feet away from home plate. Estadio La Rinconada has taken ten years for construction, indicative of Venezuela's unsteady economy.

    Los Mochis held off Guasave in the series opener, 9-6, on Saturday, January 21 behind Uriarte's three hits and four RBIs (including a three-run homer); then won a Game Two thriller the following night by a 3-2 count as Amador launched a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Caneros a 2-games-to-0 lead before the two teams traveled to Guasave for three midweek games.

    The Algodoneros bounced back with a 10-0 home thrashing over Los Mochis at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon on Tuesday, January 24. Guasave starter Matt Poberyko dominated the visitors over six innings as the LMP strikeout king allowed just one Uriarte single and one walk while striking out nine, including Justin Dean for his final out in the sixth.

Los Mochis fans celebrating LMP title

    Conversely, the Cottoneers sent Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda to the showers with one out in the third after the Caneros opener let in five runs on seven hits and two walks. Guasave scored in each of the first four innings to enter the fifth with a 5-0 advantage and continued pulling away thereafter. Jesse Castillo had a triple and homer, scoring twice and driving in two runs for the winners while Alejandro Ortiz singled and tripled in two at-bats to score two times and drive in two more counters.

    Los Mochis bounced back with a 4-1 Game Four win Wednesday, January 24 to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the series. The Caneros took a 2-0 lead right out the gate in the top of the first on RBI singles from Valenzuela and Uriarte, but Guasave cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth when Joey Terdoslavich singled in Castillo. That would be all the scoring that night for the Algodoneros, however, as an RBI one-bagger by Amador in the top of the fifth gave Los Mochis their two-run lead back and Edgar Robles' solo homer to right off Cottoneers starter Geno Encino on a full count one inning later gave the Caneros their final margin of victory.

    Starting pitcher Darel Torres took the win for the visitors by tossing five innings of one-run ball and scattering three hits. Reliever Cota, who was awarded the Game One win out of the bullpen, followed Torres and contributed 3.1 frames of two-hit scoreless pitching. Encina was saddled with the loss after being touched for four runs (three earned) over 5.2 entradas before being pulled following Robles' roundtripper in the sixth.

    Game Five on Thursday, January 26 in Guasave began as a pitcher's duel between Los Mochis' Manny Barreda and Nico Tellache of the Algodoneros. The two teams traded zeros through four innings until a two-out Amador single up the middle off Tellache plated Valenzuela with the game's first run to give the Caneros a 1-0 lead. Guasave's Castillo erased that edge with one swing in the bottom of the sixth, launching a 2-1 Barreda over the right field wall for a solo homer to tie the tilt at one run apiece. The score remained knotted at 1-1 as Tellache was replaced after six innings by reliever Rafael Cordova and Barreda was lifted for 40-year-old veteran Tomas Solis two outs into the bottom of the seventh.

    Solis got the final out and after a scoreless top of the eighth for the Caneros, Los Mochis skipper Jose Moreno brought Daniel Duarte (who made his MLB debut for the Reds last summer) in from the bullpen. Duarte got the first two outs but his 1-1 delivery to Julian Ornelas was sent sailing over the right field wall for a homer to put Guasave up 2-1. Algodoneros closer Brandon Koch, who gave up two ninth-inning homers in their Game Two loss to the Caneros, came in and held the visitors scoreless on 13 pitches to end the game, cutting Los Mochis' series lead to 3-games-to-2 and bringing Guasave within a game of tying up the finals, which moved to Los Mochis for Saturday's Game Six.


FIELD NEARLY SET FOR 65th SERIE DEL CARIBE

Caracas' new Estadio La Rinconada

    The competition has almost been set for the start of this week's Caribbean Series as eight winterball national champions will converge on the greater Caracas, Venezuela region, where four games will be played for seven days at two ballparks, followed by two semifinal contests on Thursday, February 9 and the championship game Friday, February 10. Seven of the pennant-winners had been determined by the end of the weekend, with only the title series between Caracas and La Guaira for the host Venezuelan League title still in doubt. The Leones lead by a 3-games-to-2 margin.

    Curacao will send a team for the first time while Cuba is back after a two-year ban to join holdovers Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Colombia's Barranquilla Caimanes won last year's title in Santo Domingo after teams from that nation had been winless over the two previous Caribbean Series, their first after entering the competition in 2020.

    The Caimanes topped Dominican champions Cibao, 4-1, in the title game as this season's Reliever of the Year in the Mexican Pacific League for Mazatlan, Elkin Alcala, earned the victory. Surprisingly, only one Colombia, player, first baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez (who spent this winter in Mexicali), was named to the CS Dream Team along with Barranquilla manager Jose Mosquera. The lone player from Mex Pac champion Jalisco to make the team was outfielder Felix Perez, who was a teammate of Alcala's in Mazatlan in 2022-23.

    Here is a list of the eight national champions who will be battling for Serie del Caribe supremacy this year:

COLOMBIA – Monteria Vaqueros (Won second LPB title since 2019 formation; went 0-5 in 2020 Caribbean Series in San Juan, including 5-4 loss to eventual champ Este Toros)
CUBA – Bayamo Agricultores (Combined team of Las Tunas and Granma players from Cuban National Series, now a summer league, won first Elite League championship)
CURACAO – Willemstad Wildcats KJ74 (Have won last three Curacao National Championship AA League pennants and 17 overall since 1975; Dutch League affiliate)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Licey Tigres (Debuted in 1907; 23 LiDom pennants and 10 Caribbean Series; alumni include Bob Gibson, Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez)
MEXICO – Los Mochis Caneros (First pennant in 20 years, seeking initial CS title; past Caneros include Aurelio Rodriguez, Jose Valverde and Andres Mora)
PANAMA – Chiriqui Federales (Went 16-4, beat Bocas Atlanticos in playoff to win flag; won twice at 2021 Serie del Caribe in Mazatlan despite canceled regular season)
PUERTO RICO – Mayaguez Indios (19 pennants, 2 Caribbean Series crowns; Denny McLain, Lance Parrish, Luke Easter and Dave McNally played for Mayaguez)
VENEZUELA – TBD (Caracas Leones beat LaGuaira Tiburones, 7-2, Saturday to take a 3-games-to-2 lead in LVBP championship series; Game 6 set for Monday in Caracas)

MEXICO FALLS TO NUMBER 5 IN WBSC RANKINGS

    The World Baseball and Softball Confederation has revealed the end-of-the-year World Rankings for men's baseball with Japan leading' the way (a position it has held since 2014) with 4,179 points to top a list of 81 baseball programs worldwide. Mexico fell one slot from fourth to fifth place after the United States jumped two places into third in the rankings, which measure National Team performances from U-12 to the top level in WBSC-sanctioned international competitions over a four-year period. The end-of-the-year rankings reflect the expiration of all points earned in 2018.

    Japan and Taiwan (3,819 points) retained the top two positions in the rankings while the United States became the baseball program which improved the most among the top 10 thanks to its title triumphs at the WBSC's U-12, U-15 and U-18 Baseball World Cups last year to move from fifth to third position with 3,449 points.

    South Korea and Mexico both dropped a position and rank now fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Venezuela, the Netherlands and Cuba. The latter three programs each gained one place. With their 7th place ranking, the Netherlands lead the European programs. The Dominican Republic lost three positions and is now in ninth while Australia remained stable in rounding out the Top Ten.

    Positions from 11 to 20 are split between American and European programs. Puerto Rico is now at number 13, gaining three places to became the most improved of the baseball programs in the Top 20. Canada (14th) and Nicaragua (17th) both lost two positions. Seven of the nations with winter champions competing at next month's Caribbean Series in Venezuela finished among the top 13 in the rankings. The eighth participant, Curacao (playing in their first Serie del Caribe) ranks 33rd in the world, representing a leap of eleven slots from the last rankings released.

    Nicaragua has sought to send its winterball champion to the tournament for the past few years and is ranked 16 places higher than Curacao but has never been invited by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, led since 1991 by Dominican commissioner Juan Francisco Puello. A communist government headed by Daniel Ortega has been cited as the reason for Nicaragua's exclusion by Puello, who has been more forgiving of Cuba and its own one-party communist rule since 1959 as initial Elite League champions Bayamo are expected to be in Caracas later this week.

LOS MOCHIS LEADS GUASAVE 2-0 IN LMP TITLE SET

Rodolfo Amador, Los Mochis Caneros

    The Los Mochis Caneros continued their surprising quest for a Mexican Pacific League pennant with a pair of weekend home wins over Guasave heading into three scheduled midweek games at the Algodoneros' Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The Caneros finished last in the LMP playoff points race in 2020-21 and 2021-22 prior to this winter, where they stand poised to win just their fourth title since their 1947 formation and first since the 2002-03 season. For their part, Guasave seeks the second pennant of that city's existence as an LMP franchise site beginning in 1965 (their first came in 1971-72).

    Saturday's Game One was a 9-6 slugfest during which the Caneros broke open a 1-1 contest with six runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer by DH Juan Uriarte off Guasave starter Nico Tellache, who'd pitched one-run ball through three frames but did not survive the Los Mochis onslaught in the fourth. Tellache absorbed both the beatdown AND the loss, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks in 3.1 entradas, striking out four.

    Manny Barreda only fared slightly better as the Caneros opener, tossing four innings of one-run ball himself (the one run coming on an Esteban Quiroz solo homer in the second) before being chased during a four-run Algodoneros fifth that saw Sebastian Elizalde take him deep for another three-run bomb on what proved to be the last pitch the veteran lefty would throw. Fabian Cota came in and registered the third out. The Caneros scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 9-4 lead that was never threatened. Uriarte finished with a 3-for-4 night for four RBIs and two runs scored. Elizalde went 3-for-5 for the Cottoneers in a losing cause as Cota's one inning of relief work was enough to be awarded the win.

    Things were a little tighter for Sunday's Game Two as the Caneros scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 walkoff win over the visitors. Longballs factored in this one, starting with Joey Terdoslavich's line-drive roundtripper off Caneros starter Nick Struck in the top of the second to give Guasave a 1-0 lead. It would prove to be the only run Struck allowed in four innings and when he left after six inning, the game was tied at 1-1 thanks to a run-scoring Uriarte single in the bottom of the fourth that knotted the score. That was the only run Guasave starter Jeff Kinley gave up in seven innings as the former Marlins minor leaguer continued to show his move out of the bullpen after ten years as a reliever is working.

    The score remained at 1-1 until the top of the ninth, when the Algodoneros nudged ahead on an Alejandro Ortiz double off Carlos Vazquez scored Juan Carlos Gamboa from second. However, fate proved a cruel mistress to Guasave closer Brandon Koch, whose third pitch to leadoff batter Roberto Valenzuela was redirected over the wall in left-center for a homer that brought the Caneros back even at 2-2. Then, with two down and a 1-0 count on Rudy Amador, the veteran third sacker smoked a Koch offering for a line-drive circuit clout to left that ended the game and sent a second straight sellout crowd of 11,662 at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada home with smiles on their faces.

    Game Three is slated for Tuesday night at 8:30PM local time. Pitcher of the Year Luis Miranda will open on the mound for Los Mochis while Guasave will send Geno Encina to the hill. Miranda is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four playoff starts for the Caneros while Encina has won one of three starts with a 3.60 ERA for the Algodoneros.

    The two teams reached the LMP title series with respective Game Six wins last Wednesday. Los Mochis topped Obregon, 5-2 at home behind the solid pitching of Miranda, who allowed one run on one hit with six strikeouts over six innings. The Yaquis opened the scoring in the top of the third when Dariel Alvarez launched a solo homer off Miranda, but the Caneros fought back to take the lead with a three-run fifth during which Wagner Lagrange singled in Uriarte with the go-ahead run and later scored on Isaac Rodriguez' safety.

    Obregon scored a single tally in the seventh when Yadir Drake scored from second on a Victor Mendoza one-bagger but Los Mochis put the contest away one inning later when reinforcement Valenzuela, the LMP batting leader, belted a two-run homer. Miranda got the win for the Caneros while Braulio Torres-Perez took the loss after letting in three runs over five innings.

    Strong pitching made all the difference in Wednesday's other Game Six, this time a 2-0 Guasave shutout in Hermosillo that closed out that series, 4 games to 2. Mex Pac strikeouts champion Matt Pobereyko tossed seven beautiful innings, allowing just two hits and no walks with five strikeouts to take the win home for the Algodoneros, who qualified for their first LMP championship series since 2011-12.

    Jesse Castillo socked a two-run homer to center in the top of the seventh off Hermosillo starter Elian Leyva as the Cottoneers pitching staff held the potent Naranjeros scoreless over the final 18 innings of the series. Leyva, a two-time Pitcher of the Year, absorbed the loss despite a strong start himself in which he took a shutout of his own into the seventh before Castillo broke the scoreless tie.

    At the conclusion of the Guasave-Hermosillo series, Naranjeros pitcher Wilmer Rios (who led the Mex Pac with nine wins) was removed from the reinforcement draft pool by signing a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds. Rios' Mexican League rights remain with the Monclova Acereros, for whom his nine wins last summer were tied for the LMB lead with Veracruz' Luis Marquez.

    In the subsequent third installment of the reinforcement draft, the Caneros picked first after some arcane proceedings and selected Obregon pitcher Manny Barreda, who himself had been picked by the Yaquis from Culiacan in the first reinforcement draft. Barreda had gone 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in four starts for Obregon. In the second round, Los Mochis picked another Obregon starting pitcher in Torres-Perez, who we mistakenly identified as Brazilian last week. Torres-Perez, who pitched for Mazatlan during the regular season, actually hails from the tropical paradise of Auburn, Washington.

    Choosing second, Guasave fortified their infield by choosing Obregon's Juan Carlos Gamboa in the first round and Jasson Atondo from Hermosillo in the second. Neither have distinguished themselves during the current postseason (Atondo was batting just .216 at the conclusion of the semifinals while Gamboa's average was only .146), but Gamboa is a former Mets farmhand who was MVP of the 2014 Serie del Rey in Mexico City's last Mexican League title-winning season while Atondo is a former Mex Pac Rookie of the Year who can play several positions.


CANEROS' YASMANY TOMAS NAMED MEX PAC MVP

LMP MVP Yasmany Tomas

    After two consecutive last-place finishes in the playoff points standings, the Los Mochis Caneros are the surprise team in this winter's Mexican Pacific League championship series after finishing second in both the regular season combined standings and points race. One of the prime movers for that turnaround is Cuban-born outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who has been named the LMP's Most Valuable Player for 2022-23.

    Tomas finished tied for the league lead with 10 homers while topping the tables with 57 RBIs. He also hit for a .328 average (4th), a .383 OBP (6th), a .510 slugging percentage (3rd), an .893 OPS (4^th) and 27 extra-base hits (2nd). That regular season plate success hasn't yet carried over into the playoffs, where Tomas was batting .245 with just one homer and five ribbies over 13 games through Sunday, but Los Mochis wouldn't be where they are today without him.

    Nicknamed “El Tanque,” the 32-year-old Havana native spent five winters playing for his hometown Industriales between 2008 and 2014 in the Cuban National Series, batting a composite .290 with 39 homers and 151 RBIs over 272 games. He defected to Haiti after the 2013-14 season and after some legal maneuvering, the 6'2” 260-pounder was able to audition in the Dominican Republic for various MLB teams and eventually signed with Arizona to a six-year, $68.5 million contract. He made his MLB debut in 2015 and one year later clubbed 31 homers for the Diamondbacks, although he had the dubious distinction of finished in the National League's top five in errors committed by both left fielders and right fielders that year.

    Tomas appeared on his way to stardom but injuries in 2017 and a 2018 incident that resulted in speeding and reckless driving charges after he was clocked driving 105 mph in Tempe, Arizona led to a demotion to the minor and his eventual release in late 2019 despite two strong years for AAA Reno. He had only played 26 games for AAA Rochester in 2021 since prior to his arrival in Los Mochis last fall.

    Now primarily a first baseman, Tomas becomes the seventh player from the Caneros to win the Héctor Espino Trophy and the first since Brian Burgamy in the 2013-14 season. The ballot vote that prioritized members of all ten LMP team front offices, the specialized media and the fans gave 45 percent of the votes to Tomas so it wasn't really close among the six candidates to choose from.

    Other finalists included Monterrey's batting champion Roberto Valenzuela (21 percent), Hermosillo pitcher Wilmer Rios (16 percent), Caneros outfielder Justin Dean (11 percent), Obregon first baseman/DH Victor Mendoza (5 percent) and Los Mochis pitcher Luis Miranda (2 percent). While Miranda edged out Rios for Pitcher of the Year honors in the balloting for that award, Rios led Miranda by an 8-to-1 margin in MVP voting.


SULTANES TO REOPEN BASEBALL ACADEMY

El Carmen Baseball Academy

    After three years of inactivity, the former Mexican League Baseball Academy in El Carmen, Nuevo Leon will come back to life in 2023 with the support of the Monterrey Sultanes. Team's president Jose Maiz García made the anouncement, according to Septima Entrada writer Tomas Lopez. Interviewed on the Bateo Libre radio program, Maiz stated that an agreement has been reached with the Mexican League to once again develop players at the facilities.

    “Monterrey is going to continue training Mexican baseball players,” Maiz declared, “especially now that no other team in the league wanted to participate in El Carmen. Possibly we are just going to participate. It has already been arranged with the league. The other 17 teams did not want to take part in the El Carmen Academy. The Sultanes have already sent people to see the facilities and in about two or three months we will be working in El Carmen. Sultanes only.”

    Maiz, a member of Monterrey's Little League World Series champions along with future big league shortstop Hector Torres and Mexican League star Angel Macias, added that it may be called Academia Cerro de la Silla or Academy Cerro de Las Mitras.

    The academy was inaugurated in 1996 as the brainchild of then-LMB president Pedro Treto Cisneros, Mexico City Tigres owner Alejo Peralta and Mexico City Diablos Rojos president Roberto Mansur to develop prospects for future play in the Mexican League. In more than two decades of operation, thousands of young players called the dormitories home as such future MLB players as relievers Roberto Osuna and Joakim Soria plus infielder Ramiro Pena cut their teeth on the diamonds in El Carmen, as did eventual LMBers like shortstop Heber Gomez and first baseman Japhet Amador.

    The academy's expenses (which included housing, dining and education in addition to baseball development) were shared for years by all Liga teams at approximately US$500,000 each. LMB organizations would send teenage signees for some seasoning before bringing them up to the LMB if they were good enough, although the contracts of many were sold to Major League organizations while they were still at the facility.

    However, as many teams were struggling to pay the bills at home while others began building academies of their own (especially after MLB determined that teams cannot sell players to its organizations but academies can), support faded for the El Carmen operation and it was shut down in 2019. It has remained closed since.

CANEROS WIN 5 OF 6, TAKE EARLY SECOND HALF LEAD

Los Mochis OF Yasmany Tomas

    Following a decent first half in which they went 19-16 to tie for third in the Mexican Pacific League standings (and collecting 7.0 playoff points), the Los Mochis Caneros have had a strong start in the Mex Pac's second half by winning five of their first six games to take a one-game lead over Obregon and first-half champs Hermosillo in the standings.

    New Caneros manager Jose Moreno, who replaced Victor Bojorquez in the offseason after a disastrous 2021-22 campaign during which Los Mochis won just 23 of 68 games, has gotten solid performances from a number of players thus far. Outfielder Yasmany Tomas tops Los Mochis hitters with a .335 average, five homers and 28 RBIs and has been among the LMP's batting leaders all season. Veteran third baseman Rudy Amador has given the team a .314 average and his usual solid defense at the hot corner, Braves farmhand Justin Dean is batting .299 and is second in the league with 11 steals while eighth-year infielder Isaac Rodriguez has a .294 average and ranks among Caneros leaders in several offensive categories.

    Luis Miranda has led a good Los Mochis pitching staff with a 4-0 record and a league-leading 0.20 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 44 innings over eight starts. Former Mariners minor leaguer Rafael Pineda is 4-2 with a 2.52 ERA, Fabian Cota is 2-2 and 3.09 and former Mexican League Pitcher of the Year Yoanner Negrin is 1-2 and 3.30. Moreno also has a solid bullpen with relievers Tomas Solis, Fredy Quintero, Juan Gamez and one-time Baltimore hurler Connor Greene, who leads the Caneros with six saves.

    The Caneros helped themselves greatly over the weekend by sweeping a three-game series in Mazatlan. They host Navojoa in a midweek series before defending champs Jalisco visits Los Mochis for three games starting Friday. Both the Mayos and Charros have overall losing records thus far and give the Caneros a prime opportunity to pad their 5-1 record.

    Monterrey's Roberto Valenzuela continues pacing Mex Pac batsmen with a .380 average, well ahead of Tomas' .335 mark and Jalisco's Fernando Villegas at .321. Venerable Jesse Castillo of Guasave belted six homers in as many games earlier this month to take over the LMP longball lead at 10, one more than Mexicali's Anthony Giansanti and three up on both Jesus Espinoza (Navojoa) and Sebastian Valle (Obregon). Valle's Yaquis teammate, Victor Mendoza, has 34 RBIs for a comfortable lead over yet another Obregon batter, Yadir Drake (29) and Tomas' 28 ribbies for the Caneros. Mazatlan's Randy Romero has 17 steals in 21 tries to lead the circuit, with Jose Carmona of Hermosillo right behind with 16 swipes while Pirates minor leaguer Jared Oliva has had 13 steals for both Obregon and Monterrey.

    Two pitchers have finally won their fifth games of the season, Hermosillo's Wilmer Rios and Cristian Castillo of Monterrey. After serving mainly as a reliever over his first six winters for the Naranjeros, Rios has become one of the Mex Pac's most reliable starters the past two seasons. Nine other pitchers have four wins, including ERA leader Miranda (0.20) of Los Mochis and strikeouts leader Matt Pobereyko of Guasave, who's tied with Culiacan vet Manny Barreda at 44 K's apiece. Miranda's 0.727 is also tops among starters. Guasave's Brandon Koch still leads the LMP with 10 while former big leaguer Josh Lueke of Jalisco is tied with Monterrey's Joe Riley at nine salvados apiece.

    Among managers, Mexicali fired Gil Velazquez a week ago (see below) and while in most baseball leagues the skipper of a defending champion usually has breathing room during a slow start to the subsequent season. However, this being Mexican baseball, Jalisco helmsman Roberto Vizcarra's seat may be getting hot in Guadalajara, where the Charros are following up a ninth-place finish and a 15-20 record in the first half with five losses in their first six contests in the second half.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Second Half Standings
Los Mochis 5-1, Hermosillo 4-2, Obregon 4-2, Guasave 3-3, Mexicali 3-3, Monterrey 3-3, Navojoa 3-3, Culiacan 2-4, Mazatlan 2-4, Jalisco 1-5.


VELAZQUEZ FIRED, CANCEL NEW MEXICALI SKIPPER

    Puerto Rican Robinson Cancel has been named as interim manager of the Mexicali Aguilas after the Mexican Pacfic League team fired Gil Velazquez during the season for a second time after the Eagles finished tied for sixth in the first half standings with a 16-19 record. Velazquez was canned by the Aguilas during the 2016-17 season and took the reigns of the squad a second time after Bronswell Patrick was canned midway through the schedule last winter. The “interim” label isn't usually applied when a new manager is hired but in Mexican baseball, all managers seem to end up working on a interim basis.

    The 46-year-old Cancel took over from temporary dugout boss Jesus Arredondo this past Saturday after the Aguilas had dropped their series opener in Guasave, 7-0, on Friday night. Mexicali split the two remaining games of the weekend set, including Sunday's 3-0 shutout over the Algodoneros as David Reyes tossed five scoreless innings for the win.

    As a player, Cancel spent eight years as a catcher in the Milwaukee organization and appeared in the majors with the Brewers, New York Mets and Houston between 1999 and 2011, batting .200 with one homers and 10 RBIs over 45 games. He wrapped up his playing career in the Mexican League with Monterrey in 2012 and Minatitlan in 2013, hitting a combined .316 with 14 homers in 97 contests.

    Cancel has since managed six years in the minors in the Braves and Rockies system, taking Fresno to a first-place finish in the Class A California League's North Division last summer with an 83-49 record before falling to Lake Elsinore in the loop's championship series. He's had previous stints managing in the Mex Pac with Los Mochis and Mazatlan.

    Arredondo returned to coaching third base after filling in as manager after the ouster of Velazquez, bench coach Pedro Mere and pitching coach Eleazar Mora on November 22 (with the usual “We thank Gil Velázquez, Pedró Meré and Eleazar Mora for their dedication and professionalism towards our organization, wishing in advance the best of successes in their future projects” press release from the front office). A pair of ex-MLBers have been added to the coaching staff: Pitching coach Vicente Palacios and bullpen coach Jailen Peguero.


PROCESO: ESPIONAGE IN MEXICAN BASEBALL

Beatriz Pereyra of Proceso

    According to Mexico City's Proceso magazine writer Beatriz Pereyra, “The scandal over manipulation of television cameras in Games One and Two of the Mexican League South Division championship series between Mexico City and Yucatan is not the first in which Miguel 'El Negro' Ojeda (once a major league catcher and now a director of the Diablos Rojos) has been involved.”

    In an interview with Pereyra, entrepreneur Alredo Aramburo, a former owner of the Durango Generales, talks about the problems he had with Ojeda when he was the sole owner of that team. “ He did not transfer or steal from me,” referring to the hiring of the players, “he did more delicate things than that...”

    The following is a translated Pereyra column in which Ojeda's alleged transgressions are discussed and first appeared in Proceso in September. It's as fascinating as it is long and worth reading all the way through:

    The Yucatan Leones will appeal the fine and sanction that the Mexican League imposed on the Mexico City Red Devils and its sports director, Miguel Ojeda. One of the Leones owners believes the entire technical body of the Diablos should also be punished for manipulating the television broadcast of Games One and Two of the LMB South finals.

    Yucatan team president Juan José Arellano tells Proceso that they do not agree with the resolution made by LMB president Horacio de la Vega, who determined that Ojeda must comply with a one-year suspension and the Red Devils must pay a fine of 1.5 million pesos (approximately US$77,000). According to the Manual for the use of electronic and video devices in stadiums, Arellano argues, there are others involved who deserve to be penalized.

    As of this edition, the directors of the Leones had not yet presented their appeal. Or had the Red Devils, whose owner, businessman Alfredo Harp Helú, announced that they would file the appeal after the LMB released the punishment on September 4. “The Diablos Rojos support Miguel Ojeda Siqueiros, sports director, and Marco Antonio Ávila, television producer. We are in the process of appealing to the accusation made to the team,” Harp posted on his Twitter account September 5.

    Likewise, through a statement, the Mexico City club emphasized that if the LMB concludes that “there is no evidence of signal theft” derived from the investigations requested by the Yucatan Leones, these unsubstantiated allegations have caused them moral harm.

    The conflict originates from the fact that on September 1, Leones executive president Érick Arellano asked the LMB to open an investigation folder against the Red Devils “for manipulating the television shots” during the first two games of the LMB South title series held at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in Mexico City.

    “The television broadcast was done fraudulently and with all the intent to benefit the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and harm the Yucatan Leones” Erick Arellano states, ”since the shots showed the signs of the catcher (Sebastián Valle) when the Leones were on defense and deliberately there was never the same shot when the Diablos were on defense (with catcher Julián León), this is clearly a theft of signals...”, accused the plaintiff, who accompanied his complaint with the videos that demonstrate “the willful manipulation.”

Diablos sports manager Miguel Ojeda

    Before the formal request, during play of Game Two, Érick Arellano denounced what was happening to LMB executives who were at the stadium. Two of them, Alberto Guadarrama and Diego Patricio Pérez, went to the broadcast booth where they spoke with producer Marco Antonio Ávila, an employee of the Red Devils, who informed them that he was doing the switches and frames that way at the request of Miguel Ojeda.

    In response to the accusations from Merida, team directors in Mexico City replied: “We can say categorically that in no way and at no time was it intended to commit any breach of the regulations, especially on the subject of sign theft. In this sense, the only intention was to take care of any situation with the Diablos Rojos catcher. In such a way that there was a difference between the shots during the turns to the Diablos Rojos batters and the shots during the shifts to the Yucatan Leones batters which, at that time, the league was asked to equalize and it was immediately done.

    “Within the analysis we carried out, in any case, the only thing the Yucatan Leones team could have been affected by was not allowing them to see the signs for the Diablos catcher but since sign theft is not allowed, it cannot be considered that there was such.”

    Based on the above, although the LMB emphasized that it could not be verified that the Diablos stole the signals, both the team and the sports manager deserve sanctions because what was done violates the Manual for the use of electronic and video devices in stadiums, specifically regarding the theft of signals established therein.

    “The above, together with the fact that manipulating the production and transmission of games has other effects, such as generating a reasonable and genuine doubt about the delivery of replays for review in case of game challenges during the matches, during the regular and postseason season of the LMB, which would update a manipulation in the television broadcast that could lead to damages for the defendant's rival teams, as well as favorable benefits for Diablos,” explained the LMB in its resolution.

    In accordance with the LMB regulations, both appeals will be presented to the council that is made up of the following owners: Alejandro Uribe (Tijuana), Gerardo Benavides (Monclova), Eustacio Álvarez (Aguascalientes) and José Antonio Mansur (Dos Laredos).

    If the parties do not agree with the ruling issued by these presidents, they may appeal to the LMB assembly where the owners of the 18 clubs will decide by majority. If that other resolution does not satisfy them either, they will have the option of resorting to ordinary courts. The LMB does not rule out forming a Dispute Commission to vent this case.

Alfredo Aramburo and the Durango case

    This is not the first time that Miguel Ojeda has questionable behavior. In 2019, the LMB, then led by Javier Salinas, did not dare to sanction him for posing as the owner of the Durango Generals and even brought before the assembly a certain Fernando Espinosa del Campo, a logging businessman who was supposedly his partner.

    But the reality is that the owner was businessman Alfredo Arámburo, who owned a modest batmaking company, that Ojeda had to accept in a corporation that lasted just a year due to the abuses that the now-director of the Red Devils committed. When other owners were upset, the businessman appeared before the LMB to say that he was the sole owner, having gone from having 90% to 100% of the shares. This upset the owners of the other clubs and he was forced to sell the team for getting into the league through the back door (via Process 2284). Unlike the businessman who was punished in this way, Ojeda did not suffer any retaliation.

    This reporter interviewed in February 2020 the former owner of the Generals of Durango, who recounted on tape recorder the abuses that Miguel Ojeda committed with that team, then requested that information not be published due to the damage it could cause.

    Following the events involving manipulating the transmission of games during the South Division championship series in which producer Marco Antonio Ávila (who works for the Diablos Rojos) pointed to Ojeda as the person who asked him to alter the signal, this reporter asked Aramburo again for his authorization to publish the full interview.

    The businessman confirmed something that was rumored for months when Miguel Ojeda appeared as the owner of the Generals of Durango: the LMB veteran did not have enough money to buy a baseball club. In 2018, the sale and purchase of this equipment amounted to around 28 million pesos (about US$1.5 million in 2018). Then he lied blatantly, knowing that he only owned 10% of the shares but pretended to be the sole owner.

Former Generales owner Alfredo Aramburo

    “The reality is that I was the owner from day one and Miguel was my partner,” Aramburo said. “I gave him shares. It was a project where he contributed the workforce and his relationships in baseball to develop the sports theme, but he did not contribute capital. ‘You are going to show your face...you are known,’ that was the agreement. But something happened on the way.

    “I think something that collided was my rigid training to manage weight over weight. I am risking my capital, he wanted more freedom (to handle money) and there was a disagreement. He said he was not comfortable and that he was leaving, and that's when I notified the LMB that I already had 100% of the equipment. When I was not accepted, I sold the team and thus ended my ephemeral passage through the LMB.”

Did Miguel Ojeda put his money in it? Did he have anything left, or you?

    “I did owe him money and I did not pay him of my own free will. I was left owing 300 thousand pesos that I wanted to give him as a decent departure from Generals. He said to me, 'The team cost so much, so my share is worth is so many millions,' and I said, 'No, Dad, it's not like that. These are the financial statements, I invested in this so don't be confused. I'm going to pay you because you don't have any support left. I 'll give it to you in payments.' And it was so because I wanted to take care of some situations and I wanted him to act correctly because I did have to pay him in a single exhibition.

    “The company brought millions in losses so I said, ‘Let's agree. You owe me and I can tell you that since you aren't going to contribute the money, I dilute your actions. But neither you nor me. I'll give you so much.’ I gave him 50% of what was agreed upon and the other 50% was to be paid in a year because my situation in the LMB was going to be defined there. Why did I default on those 300 thousand pesos? Because he spoke of me. I found out. I'm not stupid and I connected the dots. He threw dirt on me with the Diablos and with Mr. Harp and that did not make me look professional.

    “They played me a recording where he spoke ill of me with Harp and the LMB. He (Ojeda) sent me messages and I no longer answered him. I don't want to stain his career. He lives on it. If I tell what he did on my team, you'd run it. I don't think Don Alfredo Harp would see it well. He got into serious trouble. He did not transfer or steal,” referring to the hiring of the players,” he did more delicate things than that. For me it is a closed chapter.”

LMB president weighs in

    The president of the LMB, Horacio de la Vega, emphasizes that in the body he heads, “we are not going to allow any director of any team to get into an international transmission.”

    This was possible because the Mexico City Diablos Rojos are the only LMB club with its own television production. That of the other 17 teams is generated by LMB Media Company, a company that was born from a merger between the League and AYM Sports.

    “It is not a matter of having evidence of signal theft,” caims de la Vega, ”but unfortunately the conversations will go that way. The LMB is not sanctioning that. They are sanctioning a subject of unequal intervention, and call it what you want in terms of whether they (the Red Devils) have an advantage or not,. It is simply not equal and if it is not equal, it is not a fair game. That is what the league is not going to allow,” says De la Vega.

    So why is this issue serious if the Diablos insist, and you yourself have said, that it is impossible to steal signs in a transmission?

    “The fact that the LMB allows that with any of the teams is wrong because obviously, as you point it out, there is speculation or a possibility of doing it (to steal the) signs. The LMB is impartial in a difficult decision, but I think the evidence is clear about what we don't want to happen with franchises.'

    They insist that the signals are indecipherable on television. Don't you think it's strange that Miguel Ojeda, someone who was a catcher and who played baseball for many years, decides that to avoid sign theft, to removes Julián León of the Devils from the transmission if this is useless?

    “You will have to ask him.”

    Did YOU ask him?

    “No, we have a specific criterion of what happened, we are sanctioning based on that evidence and we consider that what was done is incorrect.”

    Horacio de la Vega anticipates that the owners of the LMB clubs are already analyzing the possibility of implementing the same electronic devices in Mexico that are already beginning to be used in the Major Leagues, through which the catchers ask the pitchers for the pitches.

    The LMB president also clarifies that if the Diablos Rojos television signal is the only independent in the entire league, it is because when Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú was built, the team made a huge investment in technology. But at the same time, there is the Manual for the use of electronic and video devices in ballparks that regulates the use of other cameras, radar and other equipment that clubs such as the Tijuana Toros have installed in order to generate data for scouting and advanced statistics, like the Bats and True Media System or even Trackman, which the LMB installed in stadiums this year.

    Obviously, the use of any technology that transmits information in real time directly to dugouts is prohibited.

    The LMB president also stressed that, although in the resolution of the LMB it was determined that it will be the personnel of the LMB who will be in charge of generating the transmission of the games of the Red Devils for a year – so that Marco Antonio Ávila no longer intervenes – “ it's something that the LMB is already going to do permanently.”

    De la Vega was questioned about a post that Monclova Acereros pitcher Héctor Velázquez made on the Instagram social network after one of the Toros players, Leandro Castro, celebrated his home runs in the playoffs. “Warned, even I batted,” the pitcher wrote to the batter, in clear reference to Tijuana stealing signals and knowing what pitches their rivals will throw.

    “As a result of sports scores, you can speculate many things and the joke is to demonstrate it. When you have strong evidence that something is wrong, you are co-responsible for the information you put on the table and if there is a player who is saying that, it is only fair that they prove it,” de la Vega says.

    “I am left with the task of investigating more on this subject. What we cannot do is that by mentioning any player, we have to open research folders. I urge any player to provide the information so the LMB can act accordingly,” the manager concludes.

LEANDRO CASTRO NAMED MEXICAN LEAGUE MVP

    Tijuana Toros outfielder Leandro Castro received 65% of the votes en route to winning the Mexican League's 2021 Most Valuable Player award last week. The 32-year-old Dominican easily beat out Henry Urrutia (Saltillo), Niko Vasquez (Guadalajara), Leo Heras (Guadalajara) and Alex Liddi (Yucatan) for top honors.

    Castro missed only one of the Toros' 65 regular season games and led the LMB with 93 hits and 72 runs batted in, finished second with 159 total bases, third with 36 extra-base hits and a .646 slugging percentage, sixth in batting (.378), tenth with a .433 on-base percentage and twelfth with 14 homers.

    Castro has a .311 Mexican League career batting average and has cranked it up a notch since coming to Tijuana from Saltillo in 2019. He batted .361 that summer, which was his Liga best before this year's .378 after the 2020 campaign was called off due to the pandemic.

    The 5'11” 175-pounder has an overall .288 average with 202 homers and 231 stolen bases over 1,612 games after 15 years of summer and winter action. Castro signed with Philadelphia in 2007 as an 18-year-old free agent and spent that summer with the Phillies' Dominican Summer League team, batting .278 with six homers in 59 games. 

    He went on to play eight seasons in the Phils' system, reaching AAA Lehigh Valley in 2013 and 2014, where he hit a combined .257 with 14 homers, 27 steals and 105 RBIs over two years with the IronPigs. Castro played independent ball in the Canadian-American Association and American Association in 2015 and 2016 before signing with Leon of the LMB for the 2017 season.

    Castro bounced between the Bravos, Dos Laredos and Saltillo before coming to Tijuana in the middle of a 2019 season during which he hit .361 with 27 homers for the Saraperos and Toros in 111 total games. He's currently in his sixth winterball season in the Mexican Pacific League, where he played five seasons with Los Mochis before being sent to Obregon last year and traded to Mexicali prior the current schedule (the Aguilas returned him to the Yaquis after three weeks). Castro was consistently a top batter for the Caneros but after 30 games in 2021-22, he was only hitting .193 with one homer and seven RBIs before being placed on the reserve list last week.

    In other Mexican League awards for 2021, Guadalajara's Benji Gil was named Manager of the Year, Mariachis hurler Masaru Nakamura was voted Pitcher of the Year, Fernando Rodney of Tijuana topped balloting for Reliever of the Year, Veracruz outfielder Yasiel Puig won the new Defensive Player of the Year award, Jesse Castillo of Guadalajara was named Comeback Player of the Year and Oaxaca catcher Juan Carlos Camacho won Rookie of the Year honors.

HERMOSILLO WINS 6 OF 9, TAKES LMP SECOND HALF LEAD

    After a tepid first half in which they went 16-16 to finish seventh in the Mexican Pacific League standings, the Hermosillo Naranjeros are off to a fast start in the second half of the regular season schedule. The Orangemen have won six of the their first nine games to take the lead in the LMP standings, one game ahead of five teams who share identical 5-4 records: Mexicali, Monterrey, Mazatlan, Obregon and first-half champion Navojoa.

    The Naranjeros are led by manager Juan Navarrete, a Salon de la Fama second baseman who defied the odds to reach a second season under impatient Hermosillo owners who've gone through dugout bosses like Elizabeth Taylor went through spouses in search of the team's first pennant since 2013-14. 

    Navarrete has enjoyed having one of the Mex Pac's best pitching staffs this season, including starters Elian Leyva, Wilmer Rios, Ryan Verdugo and Juan Pablo Oramas along with closer Fernando Salas and middleman Heriberto Ruelas. Hermosillo is allowing a league-low 3.60 runs per nine innings (compared to an LMP average of 4.30 R/9 average). Leyva, Rios and Oramas have combined for 12 of Hermosillo's 22 wins on the season.

    Offensively, the Naranjeros have been a middle of the pack team (.266 average with 26 homers and 4.46 runs per game), but they've had some batters who've stood out. Outfielder Nick Torres is sixth in the circuit with a .329 average and is tied for second with seven homers, veteran third baseman Luis Alfonso Cruz is tenth in the batting race at .312 and is tied for sixth in RBIs with 28 and centerfielder Jose Cardona leads the LMP with 34 runs scored amid a well-rounded season during which he's hitting .291 with five homers and nine steals. At this point of the campaign, Navarrete has Hermosillo looking good enough at the plate and on the mound to be a factor in the postseason if they play to their capabilities.

    Leaguewide, Navojoa's Tirso Ornelas (.386) has a clear lead over teammate Samar Leyva (.353) and Yadir Drake of Guasave (.351) in the batting derby. Another Mayos batter, Kyle Martin, isn't hitting homers at the same pace he started out at, but he socked a longball on Sunday to raise his season total to 10 over 29 games, three ahead of four other LMP batsmen. One of those four, Jalisco's Julian Ornelas, leads with 34 RBIs while four competitors are tied for second at 31 ribbies apiece. Dairon Blanco of Culiacan has reached 20 stolen bases after playing 29 games, eight more than Tomateros teammate Sebastian Elizalde and Ramon Rios of Mazatlan.

    Hermosillo's Leyva won his fifth game to tie Carlos De Leon of Hermosillo for the wins lead while ten other hurlers are tied for third with four wins each. Leyva's 1.17 ERA is tops for pitchers, ahead of moundmate Rios at 2.08 and Obregon's Arturo Lopez (2.11). There's a three-way deadlock for the strikeouts lead at 40 apiece between Obregon's Lopez and Luis Escobar along with Octavio Acosta of Navojoa. Mexicali's poor first half didn't appear to affect closer Jake Sanchez, whose 15 saves leads the LMP to augment his 1.93 ERA while Hermosillo's Salas is second with 11 and Carlos Bustamante of Navojoa has 10.

    Attendance is up across the Mex Pac after a disastrous pandemic-fueled season in 2020-21. While the numbers aren't at their usual pre-Covid levels, a total of 1,155,655 fans have clicked the turnstiles through 205 games thus far for an average of 5,637 per opening. That would be enough to lead every minor league north of the border in 2021 but is well below the typical 9-10,000 average in previous LMP seasons. 

    Hermosillo leads the ten-team loop with 187,323 fans over 22 home games for an average of 8,515 per game while Culiacan is right behind at 175,456 over 22 openings, or 7,975 per game. Guasave ranks last at 44,044 in attendance for a 2,318 average while Mazatlan (usually one of the better draws in the Mex Pac) has only had 54,375 visitors at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, an average of 2,862.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP (Stop #8): Culiacan, Sinaloa

    This week, we pay a visit to Culiacan, the eighth Mexican Pacific League site on our virtual ten-city road trip. Culiacan is a two-hour drive lasting just over 100 miles south from Guasave (our last stop) on Highway 15 and is set a few miles inland from the Gulf of California. While Mazatlan is better-known among North Americans, Culiacan is a thriving city and the state capital of Sinaloa. The name “Culican” is an old native word which means “place where they adore the God Coltzin.”

    A municipality of just over a million residents, Culiacan was a small village when Spanish conquistador Nuno Beltran de Guzman founded the villa of San Miguel de Culiacan on September 29, 1531. From the end of the sixteenth century and throughout much of the 1700’s, San Miguel de Culiacan served as an important staging area for the Spanish conquest of the Mexican West. However, independence from Spain was eventually won for Mexico in the early 1820’s, and Culiacan was granted the status of “city” in 1823. At that time, Sinaloa’s state capital was in Mazatlan, but was eventually shifted to Culiacan in 1873.

    As with most of the Mex Pac cities, Culiacan is an agricultural center, surrounded by some of the most arable land in Mexico of which the major crop is tomatoes. While Culiacan has a reputation as a tough town, it is also, in fact, a thriving and busy place with a fine State university in the city center, a lovely 19th Century cathedral sitting three blocks away from the ubiquitous Mexican mercado, there are beaches on the Gulf a few miles away in Atlata and El Tambor, and Ernesto Millan Escalante Park features gardens, pools, an open-air Hellenic theater and the longest water slide in northern Mexico. The Centro Cultural Genaro Estrada contains two theaters, several museums and a café, and is a centerpiece for the arts.

    Something else worth a try is catching an LMP game at Estadio Tomateros, which cost an estimated 305 million pesos (about US$20.8 million during construction) before opening in time for the 2015-16 season. At 20,000 seats, Estadio Tomateros is one of the largest ballparks in minor league baseball and rates among the best in Mexico. Culiacan has been a baseball hotbed for decades and the Tomateros are annually among the leaders in Mex Pac attendance, drawing 16,000 per game during pre-pandemic seasons. Unlike most baseball stadiums in Mexico, Estadio Tomateros is not owned by the government by by the team itself.

    The Tomateros have given their fans a lot to cheer about over the years, with 13 Mex Pac pennants since their 1965 formation: Six of those under manager Francisco “Paquin” Estrada, who also brought home two Caribbean Series titles, while ex-MLB infielder Benji Gil has managed the Guindas to four more titles since 2014-15, including the last two. Players who've wintered in Culiacan include Salome Barojas, Esteban Loaiza, Aurelio Lopez, Oliver Perez and Vicente Romo (all Major League Baseball pitchers).

MEX PAC SEASON BEGINS; 80K ATTEND TEN OPENERS

    The Mexican Pacific League lifted the lid off the 2021-22 season last week to improved overall attendance at its traditional two-game, home-and-away opening series. Last winter's turnouts were severely curtailed fan turnout across the loop due to severe protocol restrictions due to the Wuhan virus outbreak, which had earlier caused the cancellation of the Mexican League's 2020 campaign.

    Things are less tight than a year ago and it showed at the turnstiles, as a combined 80,177 aficionados attended the ten LMP openers over three days between Tuesday and Thursday. The largest crowd was in Mexicali, where 12,867 were in the stands at Estadio Aguilas to watch a 5-1 win over Hermosillo on Thursday. One night earlier, there were 11,289 onlookers at Estadio Monterrey to witness an 8-5 Sultanes loss to visiting Jalisco. The smallest home opener gathering was in Guasave, where just 3,325 fans got their money's worth last Wednesday when the Algodoneros topped Los Mochis, 4-2, in eleven innings at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon.

    Let's take a look at all ten Mex Pac home openers:

TUESDAY, October 5

    Agustin Murillo went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs to lead the hometown Jalisco Charros past Monterrey, 4-2, as 6,712 were on hand at Estadio Charros in Guadalajara. After teasing the locals over the past two winters about perhaps joining the Charros, former MLB All-Star Roberto Osuna made his debut by tossing a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save.

    Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas had a great first start of the winterball season, tossing six innings of scoreless ball with seven strikeouts in the Naranjeros' 8-0 shutout over Mexicali. Nicolas Torres slammed a pair of homers and drove in three runs and Jose Cardona went 4-for-5 with a solo blast while 8,731 watched at Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora.

    Culiacan took a 7-6 thriller in ten innings over Mazatlan in front of 9,529 at Estadio Tomateros. Emmanuel Avila got on board in the bottom of the tenth after being hit by a pitch, moved to second on Alfredo Hurtado's bunt and then beat Leo German's throw from right on a Mateo Gil sacrifice fly for the game-winner. Jesus Fabela homered twice for Culiacan.

WEDNESDAY, October 6

    Jalisco made it two wins in as many nights, this time sending 11,289 at Estadio Monterrey home disappointed with an 8-5 triumph over the Sultanes. Japhet Amador and former Monterrey outfielder Felix Perez each belted two-run homers for the winners while slugger Danny Ortiz (42 longballs for Puebla in 2019) went deep for the Sultanes.

    It took eleven innings, but Guasave finally bested visiting Los Mochis, 4-2, as 3,325 watched at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. Jhoan Urena walked before Jesse Castillo slammed a walkoff homer off Caneros reliever Daysbel Hernandez to end it. Urena socked a roundtripper for the Algodoneros while Josuan Hernandez hit a two-run bomb for Los Mochis.

    Ricardo Valenzuela's two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh broke a 2-2 tie as Mazatlan went on to trip Culiacan, 4-2, with 5,447 at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal. Mitch Lively pitched six frames of two-run ball and eight Venados batters had a hit in a game where a brawl among fans from both teams occurred at the concession stands under the grandstand.

    Luis Escobar scattered four hits over five innings and contributed eight strikeouts to combine with three relievers on a 2-0 shutout for visiting Obregon at Navojoa's Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria as 6,496 fans watched. Reynaldo Rodriguez belted a solo homer in the top of the first and Alonzo Harris had an RBI single in the second for the Yaquis.

Friday, October 8

    Jesse Castillo struck again for Guasave, this time with a three-run homer in the top of the first off Los Mochis starter Carlos Viera as the Algodoneros went on to a 7-2 road win with 6,860 witnesses at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada. Castillo and Alejandro Ortiz each had three hits for the Cottoneers; Isaac Rodriguez and Jorge Rivera had RBI singles for the Caneros.

    Mexicali and Hermosillo were tied at 2-2 until Daniel Castro rocked a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh as the Aguilas went on to a 5-2 victory. A crowd of 12,867 at Estadio Aguilas saw Enrique Burgos and Jake Sanchez toss scoreless innings to seal with win for the Eagles. Addison Russell doubled and scored on Nic Torres' single for Hermosillo.

    At home in front of 8,921 observers at Estadio Yaquis, Obregon made it two shutouts in a row with a 5-0 blanking of Navojoa. Hector Velazquez combined with three relievers to extend the Mayos' season-opening scoreless streak to 18 entradas. Carlos Sepulveda homered and Kristian Delgado singled, doubled and had two RBIs for the winners.

    The Mayos' streak of futility extended another four innings to 22 before scoring their first run of the season in the fifth frame of a game in Mazatlan they ended up winning, 6-2, by scoring four times in the top of the ninth (including Tirso Ornelas' two-run double) and then getting a 1-2-3 entrada from Carlos Bustamante to save their first triumph.

LMB REBOOTS MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE

    After an absence of four seasons, the Mexican Winter League is making a return in 2021, albeit with a different look than in the past. This time, the LIM (Liga Invernal Mexicana) will feature two four-team divisions playing six weeks each between mid-October and late November with no crossover contests, followed by division championship series between the top two regular season finishers.

    As before, the LIM will serve as a Class AA affiliate circuit for the Mexican League, who announced the reformation of the loop early this month. LMB president Horacio de la Vega was on hand, as was Mexican League sports director Gabriel Medina. The LIM will feature young players on LMB contracts who are not playing in the Mexican Pacific League or any other winterball league.

    The Mexican Winter League's North Division will include the Monclova Acereros, Monterrey Sultanes, Saltillo Saraperos and Union Laguna Algodoneros of Torreon while the South Division will be comprised of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Oaxaca Guerreros, Puebla Pericos and a combined team of Veracruz Aguilas and Yucatan Leones prospects.

    All games will be played in the same ballparks used during the LMB season between April and September, although the Veracruz venue for the Aguilas-Leones squad hadn't been finalized when the press conference was held. The Aguilas Mexican League team plays home games at Estadio Beto Avila.

    The LIM North regular season (with games played on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) will run 28 games per team from Tuesday, October 12 through November 28, followed by a best-3-of-5 championship series between the top two teams from November 30 through December 4, if needed.

    The LIM South schedule has each team playing 30 games between Tuesday, October 19 through November 21, followed by a best-4-of-7 championship series beginning November 23. A Mexican Winter League title series between the two division champions is slated for early December.

    All teams will be made up of 28 players, with an age limit of 26 for 25 players and no limitations on three players per club. Tie games will extend for a tenth inning before they're considered completed.

    An earlier version of the LIM operated from 2015 through 2017, with teams in places like Celaya, Salamanca, Guanajuato and Moroleon as well as LMB cities such as Puebla, Aguascalientes, Oaxaca and Mexico City. The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won all three pennants under two managers (Jose Luis Sandoval in 2015-16, Victor Bojorquez in 2016-17 and 2017) before the league closed due to financial difficulties.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Hermosillo, Sonora

    From our second road trip stop in Mexicali, we'll take Highway 2 eastbound until heading south on Highway 150 for a total drive of 439 miles (or eight hours) to Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora and a city of 812,239 residents, Mexico's 16th-largest. Hermosillo is in a rather unique setting, a landlocked desert city surrounded by various rock formations and crowned in its center by a tall outcrop lit at night by several radio towers.

    Besides serving as a political center, Hermosillo is very much an agriculture-oriented city, especially cattle ranching. It is also an important place for industry, with car-making one of the leading local occupations. Many early figures of the revolutions in the early 20th century called Hermosillo home, including General Alvaro Obregon, Plutarco Elias Calles and Abelardo Rodriguez. However, the relatively recent boom over the past sixty years has all but obliterated anything that may have survived from the old days.

    While Hermosillo is very spread out and not the best place for visitors who like to walk around, there are some interesting things on hand for tourists to check out. The Plaza Zaragosa is very pleasant with many trees and a lacy white bandstand, while on its edge sits a 19th century cathedral featuring twin towers and a dome with crosses atop each. A mostly neo-classical structure, the cathedral took over a century to build.

    Also nearby is the similar Government Palace, most notable for its courtyard murals painted by three artists in the 1980’s. Another interesting spot is the Museo de Sonora, a beautifully-restored former prison (which maintains vestiges of its past life) now serving a museum. South of town is the Centro Ecological de Sonora, a zoo and botanical garden.

    Hermosillo is home to the Mexican Pacific League’s Naranjeros, or “Orange Growers.” The Naranjeros are considered one of the Mex Pac’s flagship franchises, capable of tracing their roots to 1944 and raking in a total of 20 pennants in three leagues, including 16 LMP championships.

    Their last flag was won in 2013-14 under manager Matias Carrillo, who took the team to their second Caribbean Series title (the first was in 1976 with Ben “Cananea” Reyes at the helm). Mexican baseball legend Hector Espino spent 24 winters playing in Hermosillo. The right-handed batting Espino won 13 batting titles and seven home run crowns in the Mex Pac and still holds most LMP career hitting records.

The Naranjeros play their home games at 16,000-seat Estadio Sonora, which was opened on February 1, 2013 and is still considered one of Mexico's top ballparks eight years later, having won two international awards for architecture. Estadio Sonora hosted the Caribbean Series upon its opening and has been the scene of MLB exhibition games between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in 2015 as well as the WBSC U-23 Baseball Gold Cup last month.

MARIACHIS ADD 2-TIME MVP CASTILLO TO ROSTER

Jesse Castillo batting for Guasave

    The brand-new Guadalajara Mariachis are looking to make a splash in their inaugural Mexican League season. However, while adding prominent players to their roster, they've created a logjam for themselves at one position. According to Roberto Espinosa of Beisbol Puro, the Mariachis have picked up veteran first baseman Jesse Castillo after already signing longtime LMBer Saul Soto and former major league All-Star Adrian Gonzalez, who also play the initial hassock.

    While the threesome would have the potential to belt a combined 75+ homers in a full season for the Jalisco squad (if each was healthy and played every day), even if they split time between first base and designated hitter, someone would be sitting because the 42-year-old Soto hasn't caught a game since 2016, the 38-year-old Castillo has played three games at third base since 2015 and Gonzalez (who turns 39 next month) last played the outfield in 2012. It might make the most sense to rotate the three between first and DH over the upcoming 66-game season, meaning each would play 44 times, but it remains to be seen whether any would be willing to sit every third day.

    Castillo comes with some risk after missing all of the 2019 LMB season due to a blown knee suffered when he was rounding first base while batting for Monclova during the Fall 2018 North Division championship series. The Mexicali-born slugger did play winterball in Venezuela during the 2019-20 campaign and with Guasave last season in the Mexican Pacific

League before being named the LMP Finals MVP and belting a homer and driving in five runs for Culiacan as a reinforcement in the Caribbean Series, so it does appear that his bat is back in shape. Castillo was training to play for Leon last spring before the Wuhan Virus-caused pandemic led to the Liga's 2020 season being canceled.

    Prior to his injury, Castillo may have been the most feared hitter in the Mexican League between 2015 and 2018. Over that timespan, the 6'1” lefty swinger never batted below .324 while leading the LMB with an aggregate 557 hits, 315 RBIs and 322 runs scored. He was second with 108 doubles and 293 walks while belting 66 homers to rank sixth in the loop en route to winning consecutive MVP trophies in 2017 and Spring 2018. In other words, he has legitimate bonafides. But so do El Jefe (Soto) and El Titan (Gonzalez).

    With the start of the Mexican League's shortened schedule less than six weeks away, Guadalajara manager Benji Gil will have to determine what kind of balancing act he'll have to use in the regular season over the next two months. If he goes with the three-man, two-position rotation mentioned above, the trio would at worst be fairly well-rested heading into the playoffs in early August.

ACEREROS, TECOS TO PLAY TWO EXHIBITIONS IN SAN ANTONIO

Danny Espinosa at Acereros camp

    Two Mexican League teams will be playing a pair of exhibition games in San Antonio later this month when the defending LMB champion Monclova Acereros take on the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. The games will take place Thursday, April 29 and Friday, April 30 at Nelson Wolff Stadium, home of the Class AA San Antonio Missions, a San Diego Padres affiliate.

    The Acereros will have a major league look on their roster, starting with their manager. The American League's 1992 Rookie of the Year, Pat Listach, took the reins of the team during the 2019 season and led them to the city's first Mexican League pennant 45 years after Monclova's debut season. One of Listach's coaches is former Phillies second baseman Juan Samuel, a three-time National League All-Star. Then there's the Monclova playing roster.

    Former Cubs World Series shortstop Addison Russell signed with the Steelers last month and another big name is reportedly on the way for 2021. Russell will be joined by outfielder Rajai Davis (who played for Cleveland against Russell's Cubs in the 2006 Fall Classic), first baseman Chris Carter (2016 National League home run champion), Erick Aybar (former American League All-Star) and Bartolo Colon, the AL's 2005 Cy Young Award winner. The Acereros have also picked up former Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa, who is slated to play at shortstop while Russell moves over to third base in initials plans for the upcoming season.

    The Tecolotes will not have nearly the same star power as Monclova brings over the Texas border. The biggest name on the Dos Laredos roster may well be their manager, former pitching star Pablo Ortega. A 44-year-old Nuevo Laredo native, Ortega retired in 2019 after 19 seasons in the Liga, finishing with a 156-101 career record and a 4.41 ERA along with 1,119 strikeouts over 2,072 innings pitched. He reached double figures in wins seven times (five times between 2008 and 2012), pitched in six All-Star Games and was the LMB Comeback Player of the Year in 2011. Ortega served as interim manager last winter in Mazatlan, where he led the Venados to a winning record and a Mexican Pacific League playoff berth after replacing Juan Jose Pacho, but will not be back for the 2021-22 season.

Dos Laredos 1B Balbino Fuenmayor

    Ortega's charges will include a pair of former MLBers from Brazil. Outfielder Paulo Orlando was a member of Kansas City's 2015 American League pennant-winning team as a rookie while fellow Andre Rienzo pitched for the White Sox and Marlins between 2013 and 2015. Both spent time in the Mex Pac with the Obregon Yaquis last winter.

    Some familiar names in Mexican baseball dot the Tecos roster. The border team recently dealt for veteran Oaxaca centerfielder Alan Sanchez, a 2017 All-Star and .305 batter since his 2010 Liga debut. Orlando and Sanchez will be joined in the outfield by Roberto Lopez, who was the 2017 Serie del Rey MVP after leading Tijuana to the pennant that year. First baseman Balbino Fuenmayor, who hit .334 with 31 homers for Dos Laredos in 2019, is back in Mexico after finishing the winterball season in his native Venezuela. One notable member of the Owls' roster is pitcher Luke Heimlich, the Pitcher of the Year in 2018 at Oregon State, who went 8-7 with a 4.58 ERA over 21 starts with the team in his 2019 pro debut.

    Game times in San Antonio for the series will be 7:05PM both night. Ticket prices for the exhibition games will range from $10 to $30 each.

SIXTEEN MEXICANS ON MLB OPENING DAY ROSTERS

Oliver Perez in 19th MLB season

    The Mexican contingent that opened the 2021 Major League Baseball season this month consisted of 16 players. While Oliver Pérez is adding a 19th MLB season to his resume, eight other players of Mexican descent had their first experience on a big league Opening Day roster, including brothers Luis and Ramón Urías.

    The Urías brothers are not the first Mexican-born pair of siblings to open the season on a Major League Baseball roster. Adrián and Édgar González, Mexicans born in California, did it playing for the San Diego Padres in 2009. In the case of Oliver Pérez, he will continue to set the record for most seasons by a Mexican in MLB, In 2020, he passed Fernando Valenzuela, Aurelio Rodríguez and Juan Gabriel Castro, who participated in 17 calendars in The Show.

    Eight of the 16 players who opened the season in the Major Leagues experienced an Opening Day at that level for the first time: José Urquidy (Houston), Giovanny Gallegos (St. Louis), Alejandro Kirk (Toronto), Luis Urías (Milwaukee), Ramón Urías (Baltimore), Víctor González (Dodgers), Río Ruiz (Baltimore) and Felipe “Tres” Barrera (Washington). Last year, Urquidy and Gallegos were scheduled to start the campaign with their teams but the pandemic prevented that from happening.

    The number of 16 Mexicans opening the 2021 MLB season is the most since the same number was recorded in 2017, but still far behind the record of 24 Mexican nationals on Opening Day rosters in the 2003 campaign.

MEXICAN NATIONALS ON 2021 OPENING DAY ROSTERS:

Baltimore infielder Ramon Urias

Felipe “Tres” Barrera (Washington Nationals)
Luis Cessa (New York Yankees)
Phillip Evans (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Giovanny Gallegos (St. Louis Cardinals)
Victor Gonzalez (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Alejandro Kirk (Toronto Blue Jays)
Oliver Pérez (Cleveland Indians)
Daniel Ponce de León (San Luis Cardinals)
Sergio Romo (Oakland Athletics)
Rio Ruiz (Baltimore Orioles)
Joakim Soria (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Julio Urías (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Luis Urías (Milwaukee Brewers)
Ramón Urías (Baltimore Orioles)
José Urquidy (Houston Astros)
Alex Verdugo (Boston Red Sox)