PAREDES SENT TO HERMOSILLO IN 4-PLAYER SWAP

Infielder Isaac Paredes dealt to Hermosillo

    Isaac Paredes is going home. With the first half of the Mexican Pacific League's 2022-23 season winding down, Mexicali and Hermosillo swung a big trade on Sunday with the Aguilas sending infielder Paredes, a Hermosillo native, to the first-place Naranjeros in exchange for three LMP veterans: outfielder Norberto Obeso, shortstop Walter Ibarra and lefty pitcher Marcelo Martinez.

    Paredes, 23, hit .205 with 20 homers with 45 RBIs while playing four positions over 111 games for the Tampa Bay Rays last summer. This is his sixth winter in the Mex Pac, where he's batted .304 with 15 homers and an even 100 RBIs for Obregon, Mazatlan and Mexicali. The 5'11 213-pounder has performed for the Naranjeros twice as a January playoff reinforcement and played for Mazatlan in the Caribbean Series two years ago. A former Cubs and Tigers prospect before arriving in Tampa Bay this season, Paredes was traded to Mexicali by the Venados last February in exchange for the rights to shortstop Daniel Castro and outfielder Fabricio Macias. Capable of playing three infield positions, Paredes seems to be best suited for third base to complete an infield with Jasson Atondo at shortstop, Jose Luis Cruz at second and Roberto Ramos at first.

    While Mexicali had to give up a top LMP player in Paredes, they'll add depth to their roster. Obeso has played eight seasons for Hermosillo in the LMP but used sparingly this winter, playing in only 12 of 28 Orangemen contests in 2022-23 and hitting just .167 for manager Juan Castro. Obeso's lifetime LMP numbers are much better: a .289 average with 209 hits and 79 RBIs in 219 games.The 27-year-old former Jays prospect can play all three outfield positions and hit .316 for Yucatan's Mexican League champs this year.

    Ibarra is a 14-year veteran of the winterball wars who spent four seasons in Mexicali between 2014 and 2018. The 35-year-old spent eight summers in the Yankees system and can play shortstop or second base with experience in the corners. Like Obeso, Ibarra struggled at the plate for Hermosillo this season (.191 in 13 games) but his career numbers of .247 with 72 doubles and 23 homers in 546 games are much better and he's been a .290 batter in seven Mexican League seasons, batting .257 for Yucatan this summer.

    The 26-year-old Martinez is a bit of an X factor for Aguilas manager Gil Velazquez. A Reynosa product, Martinez has pitched four years in the Kansas City organization, including two stints with AAA Omaha, primarily as a starter. His 24-26 record in the Royals system is so-so and his 4.68 ERA is nothing to write home about, but 440 strikeouts in 421.1 innings can't be ignored. Martinez has been a middle reliever in Mex Pac play, going 3-8 with a 2.29 ERA in 65 trips from the bullpen over six years for the Naranjeros.

    Hermosillo was doing well enough before trading for Paredes and currently lead the Mex Pac standings with an 18-11 record, one game ahead of 17-12 Guasave and two up on Los Mochis and Mazatlan at 16-13 each. Navojoa is fifth with a 15-14 ledger, one game ahead of 14-15 Mexicali, where impatient owner Dio Alberto Murillo may be ready to jettison manager Velazquez during the season for a second time. Obregon and Culiacan are tied for seventh at 13-16, defending champion Jalisco (12-17) is in ninth and Monterrey is 11-18 in last place in the ten-team loop.

    Los Mochis outfielder Yosmany Tomas continues to lead LMP batters with a .358 average, ahead of Roel Santos of Hermosillo (.354) and Monterrey's Roberto Valenzuela (.337). Mexicali's Anthony Giansanti homered against Culiacan last Wednesday to bring his season total to eight, two more than Sebastian Valle of Obregon. Four players are tied for third with five roundtrippers each. Christian Villanueva of Jalisco tops te RBI charts with 23 in 28 games; Obregon's Yadir Drake is second with 21 ribbies while Tomas and Niko Vasquez (Mexicali) are tied for third with 20 apiece. Hermosillo's Jose Cardona (14), Randy Romero of Mazatlan (11) and Santos (10) are the Mex Pac's top three basestealers thus far.

    Among pitchers, three starters are tied for the wins lead with four victories each: Jeff Kinley (Guasave), Juan Pablo Oramas (Hermosillo) and Juan Tellez (Mazatlan), the latter showing a 4-2 record for the Venados despite a 4.74 ERA. In that category, Los Mochis' Luis Miranda continues with a perfect 0.00 after five starts and 27 scoreless innings. Nico Tellache of Guasave is second at 1.45 while Oramas is third with a 1.67 ERA. Three hurlers are tied for the lead with 34 strikeouts: Arturo Lopez (Obregon), Matt Pobereyko (Guasave) and Touki Toussaint (Hermosillo), whose 34 K's have come in just 27 entradas. Arizona's first-round pick in the 2016 draft, Toussaint went 1-1 in eight outings for the Los Angeles Angels this summer. The saves co-leaders are Brandon Koch of Guasave and Mazatlan's Elkin Alcala with 10 each. Jake Sanchez of Mexali is third with eight salvados.

    With one week remaining in the first-half battle for playoff points, Hermosillo will try to hold onto first place (and the 10.0 points that accompany it) by taking on Culiacan in a three-game midweek road series before hosting Los Mochis next weekend. Second-place Guasave will be in Mexicali for games Tuesday through Thursday before welcoming Navojoa in a three-game set Friday through Sunday.


SALON DE LA FAMA HOLDS INDUCTION CEREMONY

Mexico president Lopez Obrador at SDF in 2019

    After a wait of two years, the Salon de la Fama in Monterrey held an induction ceremony last Friday night during which seven new members were enshrined in the hall of the immortals. Each had been voted in as members in 2020 but there were no ceremonies held last year due to ongoing Wuhan virus concerns.

    Among those in attendance were Mexico City Diablos and Oaxaca Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu, who bankrolled construction of the facility in 2019 after the Salon and its contents were kept in storage for seven years when the Cuauhtemoc Brewery closed the former facility that had served as home from 1973 to 2012. One of Mexico's richest men, Harp is also president of the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame Association

    Salon director Francisco Padilla Dávila, director of the Hall of Fame, gave a welcome message and the president of the Electoral Committee, Antonio de Valdés, gave a few words to the public and those enthroned. Before beginning with the awards ceremony, Agustín Castillo, who served as master of ceremonies, mentioned how the process of choosing immortals works. De Valdés then began with the delivery of SDF jerseys, rings and plaques.

    Here are profiles of the seven Salon de la Fama inductees from Friday night:

MATIAS CARRILLO
    Carrillo was born on February 24, 1963 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, this remarkable hitter played 22 years in the Mexican League, beginning with his Rookie of the Year season in 1982 for Poza Rica. “El Coyote” played for the Tigres in Mexico City and Puebla from 1984 until the end of his career, playing 2,110 games with 2,531 hits for a .336 average (including 330 homers and 420 doubles), 1,535 runs scored, 1,554 RBIs and 276 stolen bases. He won home run and RBI titles in 1993 with 38 and 125, respectively, as well as the batting title in 1996 with a .368 mark, led in stolen bases in 1984 with 30 and hits in 1999 with 175.

VINICIO “VINNY” CASTILLA
    Born on July 4, 1967 in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Castilla spent three seasons in the Mexican League with Saltillo and Monclova before becoming a Major League star, playing with six teams and reaching his peak in the 1990's with the Colorado Rockies. The formidable third baseman occupies a very special place among Mexican-born MLB players after hitting 320 homers in 16 seasons. In 1,854 games, he batted .296 (topping .300 five times) with 1,884 hits, 902 runs, 349 doubles and 1,105 RBIs. while earning Silver Slugger Awards in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

ISIDRO MARQUEZ
    Born May 15, 1965 in Navojoa, Sonora, Marquez is the king of Mexican baseball relievers after playing for eight teams over 22 seasons in the LMB. He participated in 850 games, achieving a 97-78 (.554) record with a 3.44 ERA and 301 saves, the Liga record. He made an important name for his serenity on the mound and his ability to come out ahead in the climactic moments of matches. He was the saves leader in 1997 with the Tigres (30) and in 2005 with Campeche (25). Marquez pitched seven games in relief for the Chicago White Sox in 1995, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

JOSE LUIS SANDOVAL
    Born on August 25, 1968 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Sandoval shone defensively at shortstop but also was an impactful batter. He played 22 seasons with the Mxco City Diablos Rojos and one with Saltillo. In a record 2,219 games, “El Borrego” collected 2,263 hits, 435 doubles, 253 homers, 1,171 runs, 1,315 RBIs and a .293 batting average. A charismatic player, he soon became the great idol of the capital's fans. Sandoval holds several defensive records for shortstops, including most double plays ever for a shortstop with 1,731 and most double plays in a season with 128 twin-killings.

EDUARDO JIMENEZ
    Jimenez was born September 4, 1964 in Tijuana, BC and went on to become a notable outfielder and designated hitter. He played 21 years in the LMB with eight teams, taking part in 1,795 games an racking up 1,758 hits (including 351 homers and 297 doubles) for a career average of .301. Along the way he scored 1,142 runs and drove in 1,285 more.Jimenez was home run champion with Saltillo in 2000 and holds the record for the most times hitting two longballs in a single game seven times that same year. In addition, he ranks fifth in all-time home runs with 351 roundtrippers.

BONNIE “EL GRILLO” SERRELL
    Born March 9, 1922 in Dallas, Texas, Serrell played second base alongside Jackie Robinson with the Kansas City Monarchs before spending spent 10 seasons with five teams over two stints in the Mexican League from 1945-48 and 1952-57. The lefty batter joined the Tampico in 1945 with Tampico and helped win two pennants there, then was a big factor for Nuevo Laredo's champs in 1953 and 1954. He averaged .311 over his Liga career with 560 runs scored, 1,099 hits, 173 doubles, 66 triples, 44 home runs, 517 RBI, 90 stolen bases and posted six years over .300. Magnificent in the field as well.

JORGE MENENDEZ TORRE
    Born December 24, 1938 in Mérida, Yucatán, Menendez was one of the best journalists of his day. His career began in 1960 with the Yucatán Diario, where he was until 1968 when he founded the sports weekly La Crónica. He later wrote for Juzgue, Excelsior, Heraldo de México, Ovaciones, Sport Illustrated, Hit, and SuperHit magazines, as well as The Sporting News. He won four Writer of the Year awards from the Salon de la Fama and one Fray Nano National Award in 2000. In his last years, Menendez wrote in Mundo al Día and Novedades de Yucatán before dying in 2013 at age 74.

MEXICAN LEAGUE ADDS 19TH TEAM IN QUERETARO
 

   The Mexican League has awarded a nineteenth franchise to the state of Queretaro, contingent on construction of a new baseball stadium there. According to sources, a new facility will cost an estimated 400 to 500 million pesos (US$20.5-35.6 million) and be built with private funding. The team will be nicknamed the Conspiradores, or “Conspirators.”

    LMB president Horacio de la Vegas was present at the announcement and said, “It is a historic day, very important for baseball in our country. Baseball has grown significantly. We have had an important streak of growth.” De la Vega added that Liga income grew by nearly 1,000 percent from 2019 to 2022, leaguewide attendance went up from 1.9 million spectators in 2019 to 4.3 million this year and that the LMB had 24 television contracts with distribution in more than 20 countries in 2022 reaching more than 60 million viewers.

    The proposed ballpark is expected to be located between five and ten minutes from Queretaro International Airport, according to Conspiradores owner Francisco Orozco. The first stone for the 6,000-seat facility (which will include 144 private boxes, will be laid in January with completion due in March 2024. Orozco said advanced negotiations are underway the the property near Queretaro City in El Marquez.

    The state of Queretaro is located in in north central Mexico and lies north of Mexico City, south of San Luis Potosi and east of Guanajuato. One of the smallest states in the country, Queretaro is home to 2.4 million residents, 1.6 million in metropolitan Queretaro City, the state capital. The climate is relatively mild, with average high temperatures in the low to mid 80's during baeball season and annual rainfall of about 20 inches. Queretaro City is one of Mexico's fastest-growing and has become an industrial center with a per capita income of US$20,000, second only to Monterrey. The Conspiradores will be the city's first professional baseball club.

    Team director Gerardo Quezada expressed his belief that the Conspiradores will be a competitive team from the start. “This is a historic day: a franchise is born in the Mexican Baseball League,” he declared. “Baseball is a family sport. We will lead Querétaro to triumphs and victories in the future.”

    It's estimated that 60 to 70 percent of Queretaro's players in 2024 will be supplied by the 18 current LMB teams, with the remainder coming through other channels like free agency.

    A twentieth Mexican League franchise for 2024 is expected to be formally announced soon.

LEYVA, VALLE GIVE LEONES 1-1 TIE IN SERIE DE REY

Yucatan Leones pitcher Elian Leyva

After taking a lead role in overcoming a 3-games-to-1 deficit to win the Mexican League South Division Championship Series over the heavy-hitting Mexico City Diablos Rojos, Yucatan pitcher Elian Leyva could be forgiven if he was exhausted heading into the LMB’s Serie del Rey against Monterrey to determine this year’s pennant winner.

Instead, the two-time Mexican Pacific League Pitcher of the Year showed no ill effects of facing one the Liga’s most potent offenses over seven games, including a pivotal relief stint in the LMB South title series clincher, Sunday against the Sultanes. Leyva gave the Leones four-hit shutout pitching until being lifted by manager Roberto Vizcarra (who led the Merida squad to the Spring 2018 crown) one out into the seventh inning of a 1-0 win over the hometown Sultanes, disappointing the capacity crowd of 21,909 at Estadio Monterrey. By then, the 33-year-old righty had thrown 84 pitches (52 for strikes), struck out seven Sultanes hitters and not allowed a baserunner past second base. Three relievers went on to preserve the shutout, with closer Jorge Rondon getting the final three outs in the ninth for the save to tie the series at one game apiece.

Obviously, manager Roberto Kelly’s Sultanes were getting some pretty good pitching too. Julio Teheran, who has had an excellent postseason, gave up five hits and struck out four Leones batsmen in a solid five-inning performance of his own. Unfortunately for the ex-Braves starter, two of those hits came in the top of the fateful fifth frame. Yadir Drake led off with a single and one out later motored in from first on Sebastian Valle’s double to left fielder Jose Figueroa, whose throw to catcher Ali Solis was not in time to nail the 2017 LMB batting champion, who has hit .342 over five summers in Mexico. Five different players had a hit for Yucatan Sunday while Sebastian Elizalde and ex-Yankees prospect Ramiro Pena split four of Monterrey’s five safeties.

The series opened on Saturday night (a day later than the scheduled Friday opener because the Yucatan-Mexico City went the full seven games) with a 4-3 Sultanes win in front of 19,026 fans at Estadio Monterrey.  The Leones took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Luis Juarez RBI single but the Sultanes tied it up in the bottom of the second on a Jose Figueroa groundout when baserunner Orlando Calixte ran home from third on the play and drew an errant throw to the plate from first baseman Art Charles. Monterrey took a 2-1 lead one innings later on Zoilo Almonte’s one-bagger that plated Jose Cardona from third but Sebastian Valle’s homer off reliever Manuel Chavez in the fifth lifted Yucatan back into a 2-2 tie.

The Sultanes regained the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth when Calixte lined a full-count double to left off reliever Jake Thompson, who had just come in for Chavez, scoring Victor Mendoza all the way from first. After advancing to third on a Thompson wild pitch to Ramiro Pena, Calixte made it a 4-2 contest by coming in on Pena’s sacrifice fly to right. Juarez’ two-out single drove in Josh Fuentes in the top of the seventh but the Leones got no closer as Monterrey skipper Roberto Kelly replaced reliever Wander Suero with Jose Martinez, who combined with two other bullpen mates to shut down the visitors the rest of the way. Juan Gamez was awarded the win after pitching a scoreless sixth for Monterrey and Neftali Feliz earned the save while Chavez took the opening loss for Yucatan.

The Serie del Rey now moves to Merida for Tuesday’s Game Three.

Yucatan earned the LMB South championship (and their slot in the title series) with a miraculous seven-game defeat of Mexico City after having trailed the Diablos Rojos, 3 games to one, at one point. Following their 2-0 home shutout over the Red Devils last Sunday to stave off elimination, the Leones then took the final two games of the set before hostile crowds in the nation’s capital at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu.

Game Six began last Tuesday and ended a day later with a wild 21-18 Yucatan win in ten innings. A six-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh keyed by a Roberto Ramos three-run homer gave Mexico City an 18-7 lead. Valle’s three-run roundtripper of his own in the top of the eighth off Connor Greene cut the Diablos lead to five and the visitors tied it up at 18-18 in the top of the ninth with five more runs on a three-run longball from Cristhian Adames and a two-run blast off the bat of Fuentes.

After Andre Tovalin held the Diablos scoreless for the second inning in a row in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into overtime, Mexico City reliever Francisco Haro ran into immediate trouble in the top of the tenth by allowing a leadoff double to Juarez and then intentionally walking Charles to pitch to Jose Martinez, who then launched a 2-2 Haro delivery over the wall in left center for yet another three-run homer, this one giving the Leones the lead at 21-18. It was left to Rondon (the 16th pitcher to appear for the two teams) to hold the Diablos scoreless to save the win and tie the series at three games apiece. 

The combatants combined for 40 hits, including eight homers (two by Juarez, who finished 5-for-7 with six RBIs and four runs), as the game was halted by rain in the fourth inning Tuesday night and had to be completed Wednesday. Juan Carlos Gamboa drove in seven runs on a double and homer for Mexico City in their home loss, witnessed by 18,916 spectators.

The deciding Game Seven, which was delayed until Thursday night, when just 10,497 were in the stands as Yucatan completed their series comeback with a 7-5 win to advance to the Serie del Rey. Charles opened the scoring for the Leones in the top of the first with a two-run homer (his third of the series) off starter William Cuevas. Jesus Fabela sliced a leadoff single off Yucatan starter Henderson Alvarez in the bottom of the first, advanced to third on a pair of groundouts and then scored the Diablos’ first run on a Japhet Amador single. Martinez gave the Leones a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth with a leadoff homer off Cuevas, followed later by back-to-back doubles by Yadir Drake and Fuentes (the latter scoring Drake) and a Norberto Obeso groundout that brought in Fuentes from second thanks to a throwing error by Gamboa at short to give the Lions a 5-1 advantage.

To their credit, the Diablos Rojos did not lie down, scoring once in the fourth on a Gamboa single that scored Amador from third and then pushing three more runs across in the fifth to tie the game on a solo homer by Amador and a two-run bomb by Ramos, both with two out. Alvarez was able to record the third out but Yucatan manager Roberto Vizcarra, who returned to Merida on May 30 to replace Luis Matos at the helm two days after being fired in Saltillo, replaced the former big leaguer withLeyva in the sixth. Normally a starter, Leyva held scoreless for two innings before his teammates put the final two runs of the game on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth, when a Juarez double scored Obeso and Walter Ibarra to give Yucatan a 7-5 lead. Cervenka and Rondon each turned in a shutout inning to seal the win, which went to Leyva (his second of the series). Charles led the Leones offense with two hits, a homer and two RBIs while Amador was 3-for-4 on the night for Mexico City, driving in three runs, scoring twice and homering once.

ROJAS NEW MANAGER IN NAVOJOA

The Navojoa Mayos announced that Homar Rojas, fresh off a summer season that saw his Tijuana Toros post the best regular season in the Mexican League and reaching the LMB North Championship Series (a loss to Monterrey) will be their manager for the 2022-23 Mexican Pacific League season. He’ll replace Matias Carrillo as dugout boss for the Mayos, who finished with the top overall playoff seed in the LMP last winter with a 40-28 record before being knocked out by eventual LMP champion Culiacan in four straight games in January’s first round. Carrillo finished the Mexican League season as manager in Monclova and will presumably manage the Acereros’ defending Mexican Winter League champions in the coming months.

Rojas, 58, debuted as a professional player in 1982 with Monterrey in the summer circuit and went on to spend 23 seasons playing in both leagues, including Navojoa in 1996-97, hitting .248 over 44 games. He was a lifetime .291 hitter in the LMB, topping the .300 mark nine times, and was a solid defender behind the plate.

One year after retiring as a player, Rojas made his managerial debut in 2005 with Oaxaca. Later, he directed Liga teams in Reynosa, Campeche, Monclova, Aguascalientes and the last two years in Tijuana, winning the 2021 LMB pennant with the Toros. In 15 years managing in the LMB, Rojas has a 816-749 record and was named Manager of the Year in 2008 with Oaxaca and 2017 with Aguascalientes, two teams that historically have rarely been winners on the field or at the turnstiles.

Over the winters in the Mex Pac, Rojas has managed in Obregon, Hermosillo, Jalisco and Monterrey, while also serving as bench coach with Mazataán. He won LMP pennants with Obregon in 2007-08 and Hermosillo in 2009-10 and was named manager of the year in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 with the Yaquis. 

RODRIGO LOPEZ NEW GM FOR MEXICAN 2023 WBC TEAM

Mexican WBC GM Rodrigo Lopez

According to both the Mexican Baseball Federation (FEMEBE) and the Mexican League, former major league pitcher Rodrigo Lopez, who started three Opening Day games for Baltimore, was appointed General Manager of the Mexican National Team, which will play the World Baseball Classic in 2023.

Lopez played eleven seasons in the Major Leagues with the Orioles, San Diego, Colorado, Philadelphia, Arizona and the Chicago Cubs between 2000 and 2012. The former pitcher appeared in a total of 257 games, 215 as a starter, with a 4.82 ERA. In 2004 and 2005 he was eighth in the American League in wins both seasons with 14 and 15, respectively, and reached double figures in wins three times. However, the Mexico City area product also led the AL in losses in 2006 (18) as well as the NL with 16 setbacks for the Diamondbacks in 2010 and led each league in earned runs allowed both seasons.  

In 2013, Lopez started 15 games with the Liga’s Mexico City Diablos Rojos, going 4-3 with a 5.49 ERA, and was 13-13 with a 3.68 ERA in 38 outings over six winters for Culiacan in the Mexican Pacific League between 2008-09 and 2014-15 He started twice in the 2013 Caribbean Series and had a 0.66 ERA with no decisions.

Lopez is part of the Diamondbacks radio team as an analyst on their Spanish broadcasts so the Verdes Grande will play in a ballpark that he knows well, since at Chase Field they’ll play the first round of next year’s WBC against the United States, Colombia, Canada and one more national team to determine. Mexico played at Chase Field in two previous WBC tournaments.

To best face the international competition, Lopez will form a “multidisciplinary team, including advanced analytics and sports consulting personnel” according to a FEMEBE press release.The most recent outing by Mexico’s National Team at a professional level was their disastrous performance in last year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where the team lost to host Japan and the Dominican Republic in the first round before an embarrassing 15-2 knockout round defeat at the hands of Israel while also running afoul of Olympics officials after manager Benji Gil and several team members who’d played winterball for him in Culiacan had a picture taken of them wearing Tomateros apparel in violation of Olympic Village rules.

Mexico's best showing in a World Baseball Classic was at the inaugural event in 2006, where they played at Chase Field prior to eliminating the United States in Anaheim and took sixth place. At the most recent WBC in 2017, Mexico went 1-2 in Group D play at Guadalajara and just missed playing an extra game against Venezuela for second place after a tiebreaker ruling regarding an earlier loss to Italy went the way of the Italians, creating much controversy among the host team and their fans (who only came out 1,783 strong for Venezuela’s 4-3 win over Italy after an average of 14,058 had attended the previous six games).

JALISCO TOPS CULIACAN IN 7, ON TO CARIBBEAN SERIES

The Mexican Pacific League’s championship series came down to a seventh and deciding game for the third year in a row but instead of Culiacan winning the rubber match as they did in 2020 and 2021, the Jalisco Charros crushed the Tomateros, 8-2, Saturday night in Guadalajara. The win punched the Charros’ ticket to the Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo, where Jalisco will represent Mexico in a Friday opener against the host Liga Dominicana champion Cibao Gigantes at 8PM local time. 

After Jalisco won the first two games in Guadalajara, the series shifted north to Culiacan for the next three contests. The Tomateros took a series lead last Monday by trimming the Charros, 7-3. Manager Benji Gil’s defending champions exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the first inning to chase Jalisco starter Brennan Bernardino. Jesus Fabela closed out the scoring with a two-run triple off Manuel Flores. The Charros scored in the third when ageless Manny Rodriguez hit a solo homer off Manny Barreda and again in the eighth when Feliz Perez crunched a two-run roundtripper off reliever Alejandro Chavez. Barreda got the win, the 10th of his LMP playoff career, by tossing six innings and allowing one run on two hits and a walk, striking out six.

Culiacan tied the series at two games apiece by slipping past the Charros, 3-2, in Tuesday’s Game Four. Starters Irwin Delgado of Jalisco and Tomateros opener Jose Bravo swapped zeros on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth when Alexis Wilson and Emmanuel Avila contributed RBI singles to give Culiacan a 2-0 lead. Jalisco scored their first run in the top of the fifth when Missael Rivera barely beat Sebastian Elizalde’s throw to the plate from right field on an Esteban Quiroz single. The Charros tied the game in the top of the eighth when Christian Villanueva singled home Jose Juan Aguilar, but the Tomateros went again for good in the bottom of the frame when Elizade came in from third on a Stevie Wilkerson infield single. Culiacan closer Alberto Baldonado struck out three batsmen in the ninth for the save.

Jalisco regained the series lead in Game Five by trouncing the Tomateros, 8-2, Wednesday night in Culiacan. The hosts went up, 2-0, in the bottom of the first on Victor Mendoza’s two-run double off Charros starter Orlando Lara, but the 36-year-old lefty settled down and allowed no more runs over his winning six-inning stint. Jalisco went ahead in the top of the second on an RBI double by Villanueva and a two-run single from Amadeo Zazueta. Villanueva’s two-run homer in the sixth made it a 5-2 game and a three-run bomb from Perez one entrada later closed the scoring for the night. The Charros outhit Culiacan by a 12-to-4 margin as Dariel Alvarez singled three times and scored thrice. Anthony Vasquez suffered the loss in his last start for the Tomateros after announcing his pending retirement, giving up four runs on six hits over five innings. Lara has yet to allow an earned run in the postseason.

After Thursday’s travel day, the title series resumed Friday with Game Six in Guadalajara as the visiting Tomateros stayed alive with a 5-3 win over the Charros. The two teams were knotted up at 3-3 in a see-saw battle before the defending champs went ahead for good in the eight when Efren Navarro led off with a grounder to Jalisco third baseman Agustin Murillo, who made a diving stop but threw the ball into foul territory, allowing Navarro to advance to second. Pinch-runner Randy Romero took third when Alexis Wilson singled and came home on an Avila sac fly to right. A Joey Meneses RBI single in the ninth closed the scoring for both teams as Tomateros closer Baldonado held Jalisco scoreless in the bottom of the inning to earn the save. Reliever Oliver Perez got the win while Jared Wilson suffered his second series loss out of the bullpen for Jalisco.

The deciding Game Seven was played Saturday in Estadio Charros and there was little doubt in this one after four innings. Jalisco broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second with consecutive run-scoring doubles from Zazueta, Flores and Aguilar, then batted through the order in the fourth for four tallies, including consecutive RBI singles by Quiroz, Japhet Amador and Alvarez to make it a 7-0 game. Culiacan broke into the scoring column with a solo homer by Meneses in the top of the seventh but the hosts plated one more run in the eighth when Flores and Aguilar hit back-to-back doubles off Tomateros reliever Derrick Loop. Charros starter Bernardino tossed eight innings, allowing four hits (including Meneses’ roundtripper) and striking out four. Culiacan opener Barreda was racked up for six runs on eight hits and a walk in 3.1 frames as the Charros outhit the visitors by a 15-to-4 margin, with Aguilar contributing two doubles and a single.

Manager Roberto Vizcarra’s troops will load up on reinforcements prior to heading to the Dominican Republic, where the six league champions will likely reflect de facto all-star teams more than the rosters they ended their regular seasons with. 

AGUILAS’ SANCHEZ NAMED LMP MVP, RELIEVER OF THE YEAR

Mexicali closer Jake Sanchez has capped an extraordinary season by being voted the Mexican Pacific League’s Most Valuable Player, earning the Hector Espino Trophy. The 32-year-old righty from Brawley, California was also awarded the Isidro Marquez Trophy as the LMP Reliever of the Year.

By recording 26 saves for the Aguilas in as many opportunities (setting another Mex Pac record for consecutive saves) to augment a 1.69 ERA, Sanchez earned a measure of redemption after some relatively lean years following a 2016-17 season during which he led the LMP with 21 saves and posted a remarkable 0.28 ERA, then earned a pair of salvados during that winter’s Caribbean Series. He then bounced around the A’s minor league system for a couple years before landing in the Mexican League with Tijuana for the Fall 2018 season. In three years with the Toros between 2018 and 2021, Sanchez has only turned in 13 saves and a 3.54 ERA over 76 trips from the bullpen (although he was a member of TJ’s pennant-winning team last summer). 

Sanchez suffered through a tough 2020-21 season for Mexicali as well by finishing with five saves and a 4.24 ERA in 19 outings before taking a blunt instrument to the LMP record book this winter. He becomes the first hurler to win MVP honors since Mazatlan’s Francisco Campos won the pitching Triple Crown in 2002-03 and the first reliever ever to cop top honors. Sanchez won 36 percent of the vote among media members, ahead of Navojoa outfielder Tirso Ornelas’ 19 percent and the 16 percent of votes cast for Obregon’s Victor Mendoza as six players received at least 12 percent support as Most Valuable Player.

Sanchez had an easier time fending off competitors for Reliever of the Year, pulling down 91 percent of that vote while only Jalisco’s Alejandro Tovalin (8 percent) and Carlos Stiff Rodriguez of Monterrey (1 percent) joined him as vote-getters. The 6’1” product of Iowa Wesleyan College added an 0.84 WHIP and 48 strikeouts in 32 innings to rise to fifth in Mex Pac history with 72 career saves, four behind Oscar Villareal.

Hermosillo starter Elian Leyva staged his own comeback season by winning the Vicente “Huevo” Romo Trophy as Pitcher of the Year. Over 12 starts for the Naranjeros, the Cuban-born Leyva led LMP openers in four categories: wins (7), ERA (1.54), WHIP (0.99) and lowest opponent batting average (.205). He also posted a rare so-called “immaculate inning” when he struck out Los Mochis’ Jorge Rivera, Edgar Robles and Isaac Rodriguez on nine pitches during his first start on October 8. Leyva, who won the Romo Trophy two years ago after winning the Pitching Triple Crown with Jalisco, received 80 percent of the vote, well ahead of teammate Wilmer Rios (6%).

Ornelas received a measure of consolation by earning the Baldomero “Melo” Almada Trophy as Rookie of the Year. The Navojoa outfielder clinched that win by leading the league with a .353 batting average in 60 games on 77 hits, including 16 doubles and a pair of homers. The Padres prospect collected 84 percent of votes cast, well ahead of Mazatlan’s Randy Romero’s 12 percent. Ornelas becomes the ninth Mayos player to be chosen as Rookie of the Year.

To nobody’s surprise, Navojoa helmsman Matias Carrillo was named Manager of the Year after piloting the Mayos to the best regular season record (40-28) and top playoff seed after the team went 23-36 last winter and missed the playoffs. It marks the third time Carrillo, who was inducted into the Salon de la Fama as a player a year ago, has taken home the Benjamin “Cananea” Reyes Trophy after doing it in 2011-12 with Guasave and 2016-17 with Navojoa before Mayos owner Victor Cuevas fired him three months after suffering a first-round playoff loss. Carrillo won 73 percent of the media vote, followed by Guasave’s Oscar Robles at 13 percent.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Cornelio Garcia, 1B (1984-07)

The first player out of Mexico’s baseball academy near Monterrey to sign with an MLB organization, Cornelio Garcia went on to fashion a notable career in both the Mexican League and Mexican Pacific League as a good-hitting, fleet-footed outfielder and first baseman over 24 seasons.

Cornelio Garcia Chaidez was born January 23, 1955 in Ensenada, Baja California Norte, where he was a star track runner as a youth.  After playing in the Academia and batting .225 in 19 games for Yucatan as a 19-year-old in 1984, Garcia signed on with the White Sox that summer. He played minor league ball for seven seasons in their organization, including three stints at AA Birmingham. Garcia hit .277 with 20 homers, 134 stolen bases and 254 RBIs over 570 games while turning in an OBP of .324 or higher every season before returning to the Leones during the 1990 campaign.

 

After hitting .290 in 40 games for Yucatan in 1990, Garcia went on a tear during which he never hit below .300 for the next 16 seasons to set a Liga record. The 5’11” 154-pounder joined Monterrey in 1995, leading the LMB in 1997 with 171 hits and a .382 batting average.  He also led in stolen bases with 45 for Yucatan in 1993 and triples with 11 for the Sultanes in 1995. 

 

When he retired after one final turn with the Sultanes in the 2007 season, Garcia had a total of 2,095 hits for an LMB career batting average of .345, which is tied for fourth all-time with Teo Acosta and Oswaldo Olivares and is the highest among all Mexican-born players. His 1,174 runs scored are 14th among all Liga batsmen while Garcia’s 340 stolen bases rank fifth.

Garcia was also a hitting machine over his 20 winters for Hermosillo. While he never won a MexPac batting title, he did lead the LMP with 79 hits and 47 runs in 1993-94 and topped the circuit with 18 doubles in 1999-2000 en route to a Mex Pac career .288 hitting mark, fourth all-time. His 151 stolen bases in 1,010 LMP games ranks eighth all-time, while his 568 runs scored are sixth on the list.

Although never regarded as a power hitter, especially for a first baseman over his latter years (his career-high in homers was 15), Cornelio Garcia made his mark in Mexican baseball as a good instinctive hitter who was aggressive at the plate and on the bases plus a quality glove man in the field. Carlos Fragoso, who has scouted in Mexico for both the Yankees and Red Sox, compares Garcia to Vic Davalillo. He was selected to the Salon de la Fama in 2013.

3.5 GAMES SEPARATE TOP NINE LMP TEAMS

   As the Mexican Pacific League’s regular season heads into its final month, the second half standings are very tight, with only three-and-a-half games of daylight between the top two teams and the ninth-place squad and only one club apparently out of contention for a postseason berth in January.

Navojoa and Mexicali have both won six of their last ten games to remain tied for the lead with 12-8 records, one game ahead of 11-9 Hermosillo and Mazatlan while 10-9 Monterrey sits in fifth place. Obregon and Guasave are tied for sixth at 10-10, two games out of the top slot, defending champion Culiacan is three games back in eighth at 9-11 while Jalisco is a half-game behind the Tomateros at 8-11. The only team that looks to be out of the running is Los Mochis, who are following up their last-place finish in the first half (finishing five games out of ninth at 9-23) with a 6-14 ledger for the second half.

Navojoa is firing on all cylinders under manager Matias Carrillo, with five batters hitting .302 or above and a solid, if not invincible, pitching staff featuring a five-man rotation with an aggregate 21-12 season record and a respectable 3.65 ERA plus one of the Mex Pac’s top closers in Carlos Bustamante. The Mayos, who have the LMP’s top overall record at 32-20, swept a three-game midweek series in Los Mochis before splitting two games at home against Obregon. 

Mexicali is likewise doing well in winning 12 of their first 20 games under new manager Gil Velazquez, who replaced Bronswell Patrick in the dugout after the Aguilas came in ninth in the first half with a 14-18 record. The Eagles dropped two of three tilts in their midweek series at Hermosillo before taking two weekenders over Guasave at home in El Nido. Despite their strong second half showing, Mexicali is last in the LMP with a .232 team batting average so Alex Liddi and his .215 average with seven RBIs over 29 games was placed on the Reserve List and former MLB first baseman Ryon Healy was brought in. Healy hit .257 with seven homers over 67 games  for Hanwha in the Korea Baseball Organization this summer after belting 69 longballs in five major league seasons. So far, he’s hit .389 in his first five games for the Aguilas.

Hermosillo is a game off the pace in third under another new manager, former Mexican National Team helmsman Juan Gabriel Castro. Castro, who was fired as leader of the Verdes Grande shortly before the Olympics after leveling criticisms about funding and leadership against CONADE (Mexico’s national sports commission) and director Ana Guevara, a former Olympic track athlete and an ally of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He was replaced by current Culiacan manager Benji Gil, who took the team to an 0-3 record in Tokyo.  

While Monterrey is a competitive 10-9 under second-year manager Gerardo Alvarez, who now has the aforementioned Bronswell Patrick on his staff as bench coach, the Sultanes made more news off the field last week by announcing that Roberto Kelly would be back as manager of their Mexican League team. Kelly, who went 143-89 in 2018 and 2019 (winning the LMB’s Fall 2019 pennant along the way), chose not to return to Mexico last season due to pandemic concerns and a stated desire to work with a son who had aspirations of entering pro ball. Homar Rojas began the 2021 season as Monterrey’s manager but was fired eight games into the season after the Sultanes had lost their first five games en route to a 2-6 start and replaced by Sergio Gastelum, who went 26-25 over the rest of the schedule before losing to Guadalajara in the first round of the playoffs. 

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Second Half Standings

Mexicali 12-8 (4.0), Navojoa 12-8 (10.0), Hermosillo 11-9 (5.5), Mazatlan 11-9 (4.5), Monterrey 10-9 (5.0), Guasave 10-10 (9.0), Obregon 10-10 (7.0), Culiacan 9-11 (6.0), Jalisco 8-11 (8.0), Los Mochis 6-14 (3.5). First Half playoff points are in parentheses

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

Batting: Tirso Ornelas, NAV (.369); Victor Mendoza, OBR (.368); Yadir Drake, GUA (.331) 

Home Runs: Kyle Martin, NAV (15); Felix Perez, JAL (10); two players tied with 8 each

Runs Batted In: Felix Perez, JAL (39); Kyle Martin, NAV (37); Joey Meneses, CUL (36)

Stolen Bases: Dairon Blanco, CUL (21); Alonzo Harris, OBR (15); Ramon Rios, MAZ (14)

PITCHING LEADERS

Wins: Raul Carrillo, NAV (6); nine pitchers tied with 5 each

Earned Run Average: Elian Leyva, HER (1.17); Arturo Lopez, OBR (2.08); Hector Velazquez, OBR (2.42)

Strikeouts: Octavio Acosta, NAV (49); three pitchers tied with 47 each

Saves: Jake Sanchez, MXI (19); Fernando Salas, HER (12); Carlos Bustamante (NAV (11)

MONCLOVA, PUEBLA CLASH FOR LIM CROWN

The rebooted Mexican Winter League is holding its Prince Series (Serie del Principe) after the Monclova Acereros and Puebla Pericos won the North and South division playoffs, respectively, last week. Game One of the best-of-five set was slated for Sunday afternoon at Puebla’s Estadio Hermanos Serdan.

The two four-team divisions played intramural schedules with no crossover games. Monclova finished first in the LIM North with a 16-7 record, four games ahead of 11-10 Monterrey, who nudged out 12-12 Union Laguna for second place. Saltillo came in a distant fourth at 6-16. The Acereros are managed by former New York Mets dugout boss Mickey Callaway, who was suspended by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred through the 2022 season earlier this year after an investigation into Callaway regarding sexual harassment. 

Acereros owner Gerardo Benavides saw no problem bringing in the former pitcher, who played in South Korea and Taiwan (including the 2009 CPBL champion Uni-President Lions) after pitching for three MLB teams between 1999 and 2004, and was rewarded when Callaway led Monclova to a three-game sweep over Monterrey in the LIM North Finals. 

The Steelers won Game 3 last Thursday with a 9-0 blowout as the winners scored four first-inning runs and never looked back. Ethan Lopez had three hits for Monclova while another four Acereros had two safeties each, including LMB veterans Rodolfo Amador and Ricky Rodriguez. Obregon native Jasiel Ocosta aided the mound cause with four shutout innings on three hits. Another Mexican League vet, pitcher Carlos Teller, took the loss for the Sultanes after allowing five runs on nine hits.

Puebla defeated Veracruz-Yucatan, four games to one, to win the LIM South playoff title after finishing the regular season in first at 18-13, one game ahead of the 17-12 mark of Veracruz-Yucatan (who played their home games in Xalapa and also had players from Durango on the roster). Mexico City finished third in the South at 15-15 while Oaxaca, with Guerreros regular season skipper Erick Rodriguez at the helm) was dead last at 9-20. 

In their series-clinching win last Monday night, the Pericos outlasted Veracruz-Yucatan, 12-11, in Xalapa. Puebla went up 1-0 in the top of the first but Oliver Carrillo knotted the game up for the home side with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame. 

The Parakeets exploded for five runs in the third, including a tiebreaking two-run single by Armando Aguilar and a two-run double from Miguel Gamboa to make it a 6-1 contest. Puebla’s lead eventually reached 12-5 before Veracruz-Yucatan scored five times in the bottom of the seventh and a Carrillo solo homer in the eighth made it a one-run game before Pericos closer Cristian Alvarado shut the door on the series in the ninth.

Carrillo, a Yucatan prospect, was named the LIM’s Most Valuable Player after leading the South with eight homers and 46 RBIs while finishing second to Mexico City’s Pedro Castellano in batting with a .441 average. Castellano topped the division with a .448 average and 47 hits. A 19-year-old outfielder who played two games for the Leones last summer, Carrillo has spent time at the team’s academy in Mazatlan and also played in various national and international tournaments.  He was also named the LIM South MVP while Monclova’s Roberto Castro won similar honors for the LIM North.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP (Stop #10): Guadalajara, Jalisco

The final jump on our virtual road trip to all ten Mexican Pacific League cities is also the longest. From Mazatlan, Sinaloa, we’ll drive 300 miles for about six-and-a-half hours south on Highway 15 through the state of Nayarit into Jalisco, curving inland until reaching Guadalajara, home of both the LMP’s Jalisco Charros and the Guadalajara Mariachis of the Mexican League.

Guadalajara has a metropolitan population of 5.3 million, making it Mexico’s third-largest metro area. It’s a far cry from the city’s humble beginnings in 1542, when conquistador Cristobal de Onate founded it as part of what was then called New Spain. By the 18th century, Guadalajara had already become Mexico’s second-largest city. During the Mexican War of Independence in the early 1800’s, Miguel Hidalgo established a revolutionary government there and Guadalajara later flourished between 1876 and 1911 under the three different presidencies of Porfirio Diaz, whose harsh methods created hardships among the people but also built the country’s economy and infrastructure.

Present-day Guadalajara is an international business and cultural center. It’s home to Mexico’s largest U.S. expat population, drawn by its relatively temperate climate, low cost of living and lively cultural scene. It’s home to numerous landmarks, including Guadalajara Cathedral, the Teatro Degollado, the Templo Expiatorio, the Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market (the largest indoor market in Latin America). Guadalajara hosts the most important film festival in Mexico as well as the International Book Fair, the largest such event in the Western Hemisphere. Two of the country’s most highly-rated colleges, the University of Guadalajara (founded in 1792) and the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, are here.

Professional baseball made its debut in Guadalajara when the Jalisco Charros played in the Mexican League in 1949 and lasted three seasons. After the Charros folded following the 1951 season, the Guadalajara Blue Sox entered the old Pacific Coast League in 1952-53 and also lasted three years. The city later fielded LMB teams on three different occasions between the 1960’s and 1990’s, winning two titles, but baseball never really built a local following until the Mexican Pacific League’s Guasave Algodoneros were bought and moved to Guadalajara in 2014. Named the Jalisco Charros, the franchise has become one of the Mex Pac’s most valuable. The Mariachis LMB team was formed last winter and played its first season in 2021, finishing first in the North Division, but crowds for the Liga side failed to approach their winterball counterparts.

Both teams play at 16,500-seat Estadio Charros, also known as Estadio Panamericano because it was built for track and field events at the 2012 Pan American Games. Although the design of the facility makes for less-than-desirable sightlines for baseball, even after a number of renovations over the past decade, Estadio Charros has hosted the Caribbean Series, World Baseball Classic and WBSC Premier12 tournament while the Charros have been among the top-drawing LMP teams since their arrival.

MAYOS HOLD OFF GUASAVE FOR LMP FIRST HALF TITLE

    The Navojoa Mayos entered last week's final Mexican Pacific League series of the first half with a slim lead over Guasave. The schedule favored the Algodoneros, who hosted last-place Los Mochis while Navojoa was visiting a tough Obregon squad.

    However, the Mayos clinched first place last Tuesday with a 3-2 win over the Yaquis behind homers by Kyle Martin and Alan Espinoza while Guasave dropped their opener with the Caneros by an identical 3-2 score as Los Mochis overcame a 2-1 deficit in the top of the ninth when Juan Camacho lofted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to plate the tying run and Francisco Cordoba's single pushed the go-ahead run.

    The Mayos lost their last two games in Obregon, 5-4 (Michael Wing hit a bases-clearing triple in the 7th) and 10-4 (Wing had a two-run double and Juan Carlos Gamboa contributed a two-run single for the Yaquis), while Guasave won their last two contests, 14-5 (Jhoan Urena and Yadir Drake combined for seven singles and six RBIs) and 11-4 (Angel Erro went 4-for-4 for the Algonoderos with four RBIs), but Navojoa was able to cling to the top of the standings with a 20-12 record, one game ahead of the 19-13 Cottoneers.

    As a result, manager Matias Carrillo's Mayos pocketed 10.0 points going into the second half last Friday while Guasave was awarded 9.0 points for their runner-up finish. Jalisco and Obregon tied for third place with 18-14 records, but the Charros were awarded 8.0 points due to their winning record for the half against the Yaquis, who earned 7.0 points. Defending champion Culiacan was right behind at 17-15, good for 6.0 points, while Hermosillo finished at an even 16-16 for sixth place and 5.5 points. Rounding out the standings were 15-17 Monterrey (5.0 points), 14-18 Mazatlan (4.5), 14-18 Mexicali (4.0), and 9-23 Los Mochis (3.5). The Venados got the nod in points over Mexicali due to their superior record against the Aguilas in the half.

    Somewhat surprisingly, no managers were fired during the first half of the schedule (skippers have been canned less than two weeks into the season in past years), but a couple teams have made amends for their tardiness. Robinson Cancel was sacked as manager in Los Mochis on the heels of the aforementioned pair of drubbings in Guasave to close out the first half schedule. 

    Cancel went 9-23 with the Caneros after replacing Victor Bojorquez, who led the team to two last-place finishes in 2020-21. Luis Carlos Rivera has been named as Los Mochis' new pilot. Rivera has managed Mexican League teams in Leon, Yucatan and Aguascalientes (who he led to a playoff berth last summer), but this will be his first time as a dugout boss in the Mex Pac.

    Meanwhile in Mexicali, where patience has never been a virtue, Bronswell Patrick was fired after the Aguilas' 14-18 first-half showing. Patrick took the reins of the Eagles last winter on an interim basis after serving the team as pitching coach and posted a 30-20 record the rest of the way, earning a playoff berth and coming in second in voting for Manager of the Year honors. He was hired permanently in late January, "permanent" in this case being less than ten months and 32 games. 

    Gil Velazquez, who was sefired as manager of the Aguilas during the 2016-17 LMP season, is being brought back to run the team, at least for now. Pedro Mere is returning for his third tour of duty in Mexicali, this time as Velazquez' bench coach. Mere managed the Aguilas on two previous occasions. Mexicali has now fired their manager in the middle of the season six years in a row.

    Tirso Ornelas of Navojoa leads the batting race with a .388 average, a comfortable 19 points ahead of Jalisco's Christian Villanueva (.369), while Miguel Guzman of Guasave is third at .358. Kyle Martin's homer for Navojoa against Obregon last Tuesday gave him nine for the season in 21 games, three more than six different batsmen. One of those, Jesse Castillo of Guasave, leads Jalisco's Felix Perez (who also has six roundtrippers) in the RBI derby, 30 to 29, while Maikel Serrano of Navojoa and Hermosillo's Luis Alfonso Cruz are tied for third at 27 ribbies apiece. Dairon Blanco of Culiacan is running away in the stolen bases category with 18 swipes in 22 attempts, well ahead of Obregon's Alfonso Harris (13) and Sebastian Elizalde of Culiacan (12).

    Navojoa's Carlos De Leon lost his first game of the season last week, but his five wins still are most in the Mex Pac, with four pitchers on his heels at four victories each. Orlando Lara (4-0) of Jalisco is tops with a 1.13 ERA, ahead of Hermosillo's Elian Leyva (4-0) at 1.29 and Tiago da Silva (3-1) of Obregon's 1.39 mark. Obregon's Luis Escobar leads with 38 strikeouts, followed by Javier Solano of Jalisco (33) and Escobar's Yaquis teammate, former Red Sox hurler Hector Velazquez (32). Jake Sanchez of Mexicali heads the saves table with 11 while Navojoa's Carlos Bustamante has eight and Roberto Osuna of Jalisco is at six.

MEX PAX ROAD TRIP (Stop #7): Guasave, Sinaloa

    The seventh visit on our 24-city Mexican Pacific League Road Trip is Guasave, Sinaloa (also known as “The Agricultural Heart of Mexico”), which can easily be reached by traveling on Highway 15 for 45 minutes to cover the 36 miles from our last stop, Los Mochis.

    A municipality of about 320,000 residents, Guasave has an agriculture-based economy, like the majority of Mex Pac venues. The major crops in the area are corn, wheat, sorghum, soy, beans and cotton. The land around Guasave is generally rocky and the climate is usually very dry and warm, with an average of about 15 inches of rain a year and an annual temperature of 80 degrees.

    While Guasave is only 22 miles east from the Gulf of California, the major source of the city’s water is the Sinaloa River, which starts in the southwest corner of the state of Chihuahua and flows into the gulf. The river includes Navachiste Bay, which is known for aquatic sports and fishing; and San Ignacio Bay, noted for its clean landscape, calm waters and abundance of flora and fauna. Further towards the gulf from Guasave are The Glorias, a very popular stretch of the river known for its beaches and terrific seafood like shrimp meatballs. Along the river, there are many poplars and willows lining the shores.

    Among the more interesting spots for travelers to visit are the 17th century ruins of Guasave’s Old Town, the Nio ruins (which date back to 1767), and Tamazula, a colonial site featuring a museum and church first built in 1820. Guasave is well known for the raising of thoroughbred horses. Guasave is (again like most LMP cities) not a tourist destination, but it is a slice of authentic northern Mexico with its own enjoyments, and the lifestyle there is considered very traditional.

    Guasave is represented in the Mexican Pacific League by the Algodoneros (or “Cotton Growers”). The team originally entered the MexPac baseball in 1970 and won the LMP pennant in only their second season under manager Vinicio Garcia (going 1-5 in the Caribbean Series that winter) but won no further titles, although they reached three subsequent championship series. The Cottoneers were bought and moved in 2014 to Guadalajara, where they were renamed the Jalisco Charros. A second edition of the Algodoners debuted in 2019-20. No uniform numbers have been retired in Guasave.

    The Algodoneros play their home games at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon, which is owned by the Sinaloa state government and now seats 10,000 spectators after extensive remodeling was performed prior to their 2019 return, mostly paid for by Mexico City Diablos Rojos owner Alfredo Harp Helu as well as the federal CONADE sports agency.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Andres Mora, OF-1B-DH

    Most North American baseball fans only remember him as a sporadic power hitter who shuttled between Baltimore and Rochester for three years in the late Seventies, but Andres Mora is revered south of the border as one of the all-time great sluggers in Mexican League history on par with Hector Espino and Nelson Barrera. When he retired after the 1997 season, only Espino’s 453 homers topped Mora’s 419 dingers among LMB batters before Barrera passed them both in the early part of this century.

    Andres Mora Ibarra was born May 25, 1955 in Rio Bravo, Coahuila. He broke into pro ball at the tender age of 16 in 1971, splitting his season in Class A ball with Zacatecas and Puerto Penasco. He only played a total of 10 games the next two seasons before settling in with Saltillo in 1974, hitting .311 with 14 homers. 

    Mora hit stride the following year when the 20-year-old led the Liga with 35 homers and 109 RBIs while batting .307 for the Saraperos before being signed by the Orioles, beginning a frustrating three-year period. He spent most of his time playing for Earl Weaver’s O’s, hitting 27 homers and driving in 83 runs in 226 games but only batting in the mid-.220’s and never getting a shot to play consistently.

    Mora found himself back in Saltillo in 1979, and hit .344 with 23 homers and 102 RBIs. With the exception of a nine-game stay with Cleveland in 1980, he played the rest of his career in Mexico, mostly with the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. From 1981 to 1993, Mora topped 20 homers ten times, including a career high 41 in 1985. He drove in 443 runs and belted 142 dingers while hitting nearly .370 in a four-year period between 1984 and 1987 as the linchpin for a Dos Laredos offense that was one of the most-feared of the era.

    Ironically, the year the Tecolotes broke through for a pennant in 1989, Mora was playing in Monterrey for the Industriales. He returned to the binational team in 1990 and spent the rest of his career splitting home games between Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Laredo, Texas. Mora retired from baseball in 1997, ending his 27-year pro career at the age of 42.

    Besides his 419 career Mexican League homers (he hit a total of 471 as a pro), Mora drove in 1,498 runs on 2,259 hits while batting .314. He had 12 Liga seasons at .300 or better, led the loop four times in homers and was RBI champ three times. He is a member of the Salon de la Fama and remembered as a man who could change a game with one swing of the bat.