LIGA MAY OPEN IN AUGUST, MEX PAC SETS OPENER

Saltillo's remodeled Estadio Francisco I. Madero

The Mexican League is reportedly considering starting its season in August, with teams playing 51-game schedules (or half the original 102-game total heading into April's canceled openers. However, nothing has been etched in stone as the Wuhan virus panic continues while three LMB teams were even facing the choice of either playing their seasons on the road or canceling altogether, including the defending Liga champion Monclova Acereros.

The LMB Assembly of Presidents held a videoconference early last week to go over their latest options. Saltillo Saraperos president Cesar Cantu told the El Zocalo newspaper that the 16 team owners and league president Horacio de la Vega conferred with Mexican health authorities, who offered advice regarding parameters for when and how the circuit would operate in 2020. According to Cantu, each state with an LMB franchise may make a decision on what kind of events with large gatherings would be allowed (more on that in a paragraph).

Cantu said the Liga is now eyeing an August start, four months after the loop's five-month regular had been slated to begin. Baseball writers south of the border have speculated that the LMB would play a 51-game season, but it would be hard to do that and play a full eight-team, three-stage postseason without stretching well into the winter Mexican Pacific League season, which is tentatively set to open on October 12.

For a short time, there was a question of how many LMB teams might take the field. Coahuila governor Miguel Angel Riquelme last week announced that there would be no more "massive" events in his state through at least September 15 and possibly the end of a year as a preventive response to the Wuhan virus. "We are going to spend many months taking care of sanitary measures," Riquelme was quoted as saying in Puro Beisbol.

Such a measure would affect the champion Acereros, Saltillo Saraperos and Union Laguna Algodoneros. Although there may be options of playing home games in empty ballparks or all games away from their respective homes, Mexican League teams rely on ticket, concessions and ballpark advertising revenue to survive financially and the potential of the three teams simply closing down until 2021 to minimize losses was not off the table. Riquelme backtracked on his statement one day later.

The LMB office had not issued a public comment to that point, perhaps because president de la Vega was trying to dislodge his heart from his throat, but the threat served to heighten the vulnerability of many cash-strapped Liga franchises who lack funds to field a team without recouping the expenses with ballpark income. The bottom line is that the longer it takes for the Mexican League to put its product on the field, the harder it's going to be for the 95-year-old loop to schedule any kind of season in 2020, however abbreviated. As we'll see later, one prominent baseball columnist is calling for the Liga to not play until next year. He won't be the last.

Culiacan averaged 15,000+ in attendance in 2019-20

Meanwhile out west, Mexican Pacific League owners held a videoconference of their own and have confirmed that all ten teams are expected to participate in the upcoming 2020-21 season, which is expected to start on October 12 regardless of what happens with the Mexican League. Although a manpower shortage at the outset of the first half may happen if the two schedules overlap, LMP owners are said to be confident they'll be able to fill their rosters and operate in a state of flux as players complete their LMB obligations.

There has been some debate over the use of imports in both leagues, particularly in the Mexican League, where budget shortfalls make bringing in more-expensive players from the United States a fiscal risk to many teams. Such concerns are not as acute in the Mex Pac, where nearly 10,000 people attended each game last winter (a higher average than any minor league in the hemisphere), but some players who've crossed the border to play winterball in the past may be hesitant to do so if high Wuhan virus concerns in Mexico continue.

LIGA NORTE CONSIDERS WINTER MOVE; NEW BAJA LOOP COMING?

2019 LNM champions San Luis Algodoneros

With their 2020 regular season and playoffs all but scuttled by the Wuhan virus, the Northern Mexico League is now contemplating a move to a winter schedule. However, a group of investors in Baja California Sur is also looking at starting their own league at the same time of year.

During a recent interview posted on the La Paz Delfines Facebook page, LNM president Jorge Rivera said he has not ruled out converting the Liga Norte into a winterball circuit. While stating that his own preference would be to remain a summer league, he noted that economic conditions created by the pandemic might make a move to later in the year more prudent, if not outright necessary. Although Rivera said he would prefer to return to the LNM's traditional April-July schedule in 2021, the changing landscape of baseball in the northwest corner of the country might make a permanent move to a winter schedule more attractive to him and Liga Norte owners.

The LNM, which is considered Class AA within the Mexican baseball system, was dealt a severe blow following their 2018 season when the Mexican League withdrew its official support, along with the player affiliations and 40,000 pesos per team subsidies that came with it. While Liga Norte teams were able to cobble together affiliations with LMB teams last summer, the loss of both their official designation as an LMB "developmental" league and extra cash flow hurt. The LNM fought their way through the 2019 campaign with five teams and had announced expansion to Otay (a suburb of Tijuana), where the Industralies were expected to play in 2020.

Then, after the first of the year, the Liga Norte was dealt a couple of body blows that will be difficult to recover from. The first was the Wuhan virus itself, of course, which has caused baseball across Mexico to shut down and created uncertainty as to when it will be allowed to resume. The second blow, the resurrection of the Sonora Professional Baseball League (or Liga Sonora), may have more longterm implications for the LNM, which itself broke away from the original Northern Sonora League in 2012. The LNS survived two summers before shutting down in 2014 while the LNM carried on, but the revived Liga Sonora appears to be coming back with a vengeance. Leaders were in talks with LMB president Horacio de la Vega earlier this year about affiliation agreements and two of their proposed eight franchises appear to be current LNM teams, the 2019 Liga Norte champion San Luis Algodoneros and Caborca Reds.

La Paz' Estadio Arturo C. Nahl reopened in 2019

If the Mexican League does indeed make the Liga Sonora their Class AA farm league in 2021, the Liga Norte's best chance for long-term survival may be to make a permanent move to winterball and serve a similar role as a feeder circuit for the Mexican Pacific League. The Mex Pac used to be able to call up players from both the Liga Noroeste (in the state of Nayarit) and the Veracruz Winter League, but the LNB shut down as a professional circuit in 2015 and the LIV went dark last winter with prospects no brighter for 2020-21, as sisters Regina and Fabiola Vazquez (who underwrote the LIV in 2018-19) now appear to be pursuing the return of the Mexican League to Veracruz instead. LMP sports managers had difficulties finding in-shape players last winter to fill roster spots when their own players were injured, released or left the team, so there's reason to believe an agreement could be worked out between the Mex Pac and LNM.

The Liga Norte may face a potential challenger in winter baseball. Editor Fernando Ballesteros of Puro Beisbol reports that businessmen representing the proposed Southern California League (or Liga Sudcaliforniana) approached the Mexican Pacific League earlier this year inquiring about an affiliation agreement of their own. The director of municipal sports in La Paz, Guillermo Ortalejo, reportedly already has that city's Estadio Arturo C. Nahl (home of the LNM Delfines) in mind for games this winter, but Ballesteros writes that while the LMP certainly could use a new in-season source of replacement players, leaders there were not prioritizing the new league. One potential outcome is a merger of sorts between the Liga Norte and the upstarts, who may need each other more than either might be willing to admit.

BENCOMO: "MEXICAN LEAGUE CONDEMNED TO STOP IN 2020"

One of Mexico's most-respected baseball writers, Hitazo.com editor Hector Bencomo, wrote a May 18 column urging the Mexican League to shut down for the current year in order to avoid steep financial losses while regrouping to come back stronger in 2021. Here is a Google Translate version of that column, with minimal translation from Googlese for grammatical clarity:

Every year, most teams in the Mexican Baseball League announce that they lost money by operating their ball clubs.

Perhaps the Sultanes, Tijuana and maybe Diablos could boast of having "won" a little in the last two seasons, but they are profits that are reinvested to continue giving baseball to their loyal fans.

Mexican teams depend on three main factors to stay afloat: advertising, box office and concessions (sale of beer, food, souvenirs).

On some occasions they have depended on the great fortunes of their owners, for whom spending on their team was like taking a cat's hair. But those times seem to be over.

With the Covid 19 pandemic, the national (and world) economy has plummeted and many companies have closed, many people have lost their jobs, and business sales have fallen, so advertising has started to drop out of the screens, radio, newspapers, etc.

Without advertising and with the only option to start a mini season with empty stadiums, what is the point of playing the 2020 season of the LMB?

For the record, I am not being insensitive, but realistic.

I am sure that all the LMB executives want to carry out the campaign and I applaud them. But given the country's conditions, which businessman wants to go and throw millions of pesos in the trash right now?

Closing the offices and thinking of returning stronger in 2021 would be the healthiest thing for Mexican summer baseball. It is true, the big losers are baseball players, stadium workers, chroniclers and all the businesses that depend on baseball activity, such as vendors of bats, balls, uniforms, etc.

Journalist David Medrano published last May 8 in the newspaper Récord that Mexican soccer would lose 2.5 billion pesos (US$108.7 million) if its 2020 season does not end. But it will lose 800 million (US$34.8 million) when playing without people in the seats. Can you imagine how much money a packed house generates at Estadio Universitario to watch the Liga MX Tigres play?

Soccer is a much better business than baseball in Mexico, so that's why it's in their best interest to lose money now to try to get it back in the next tournaments.

Hitazo.com editor Hector Bencomo

In Mexican baseball the figures are not so abundant but in the same way, it will hurt the owners to lose up to 20 million pesos (US$869,000) in an adventure that they do not even know how it will end because if a new outbreak comes or the players catch it, things are going to get worse when they are all back on the field and have to stop again.

And not to think that the government will provide money to save the season...it would be foolish now that attention should focus on the health sector, where there are still deficiencies.

And that is the panorama that we see from here to August or September. In Nuevo León, they expect the peak of infected for mid-June. Massive events in many states will be banned for months, leaving little room for the LMB to even aspire to start its season.

If you rush me a little, the Mexican Pacific League will have to take out the calculator because perhaps in October there will also be no permits for the public to attend massive events.

They will also be subject to the parity of the dollar against the peso, which would make them think of a season with fewer foreigners or to outright play with pure Mexican talent, something that would put Guasave and Monterrey on the ropes, teams that just arrived in the league who have not solidified their national base.

This being the case, the LMB may do better to follow the wise advice to "stay home" and return to 2021 with more force than ever. Remember that I am telling you this first of all, much to my regret.

What do you think?

hbencomo@hotmail.com

#hitazo #hectorbencomo

CORONAVIRUS PANIC DELAYS LMB SEASON FIVE WEEKS

Mexican League openers moved to May 11

When fears over the coronavirus grounded every other professional baseball league around the world to a halt, the Mexican League still expected to begin their 2020 schedule on April 6 as planned. That changed Saturday morning when the LMB office ordered all preseason camps among its 16 teams closed and delayed its season openers until Monday, May 11, five weeks after the original date. The Class A Northern Mexico League suspended its camps and season one day later.

Virtually every professional and collegiate sports league in the United States had suspended operations by the end last week after the number of COVID-19 cases in the USA rose to nearly 3,000 over the weekend, with 60 deaths reported. Worldwide, the numbers stand at a combined 157,000 active and closed cases and over 5,800 deaths, with coronavirus source nation China accounting for more than half of both figures. Mexico, on the other hand, has thus far remained relatively untouched by what the World Health Organization recently declared a "pandemic." As of Saturday, there were just 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (22 active) with one person listed in serious or critical condition, but no deaths thus far.

Mexico's total cases among its population of over 100,000,000 stands at 0.2 per million residents, one of the lowest rates in the world. Conversely, nine countries have over 100 cases per million (with Italy at 349.6), with South Korea leading nations with pro baseball leagues at 159.2 per million with 75 deaths. The United States is down the list at 9.0 per million total cases with 60 deaths, Japan is at 6.4 with 22 fatalities and Taiwan (whose Chinese Professional Baseball League is the most recent play-for-pay circuit to postpone their openers) shows 2.2 cases per million with two deaths. Besides Italy, Europe's other pro loop, Holland's Hoofdklasse, has suspended operations as The Netherlands shows 56 cases per million with 12 deaths.

All LMB teams ordered to close camps

With such relatively low numbers south of the border, the LMB was the last league standing, although some teams had adjusted their training camp venues and/or schedules as a precautionary measure. The Tijuana Toros, for instance abandoned their preseason work at South Mountain Community College in Tempe, Arizona last Friday in response to an alert from the state government ordering (among other things) the closure of all schools. The Toros arrived in Tempe on March 1 and planned to spend the entire month training in the Phoenix suburb. Instead, they broke camp after less than two weeks.

Even so, Mexican League teams were working their way toward their respective openers, with Monclova defeating Leon, 9-5, last Wednesday in the Liga's first exhibition game of the year at the LMB Academy near Monterrey as Jeremy Martinez homered for the defending champions. Ultimately, however, it appears that governmental pressure generated by coronavirus fears led the league office to issue a statement on Saturday morning that opened: The Mexican Baseball League (LMB) reports that the preseason of all the teams that make up our circuit is officially suspended and the start of the 2020 season is postponed to Monday, May 11, 2020; as long as there is no new notice, in accordance with the health authorities of the Federal Government.

The postponement comes at a difficult time for the Mexican League, which had already shortened its regular season schedule to 102 games and are facing the potential loss of 30 games during their five-week dark period. As outlined in last week's BBM post of Proceso's Beatriz Pereyra's interview with new LMB president Horacio de la Vega, the league office is already cash-strapped (as are many, if not most, of its teams), and the loss of up to 240 games' worth of revenue will not help matters. However, public safety concerns are taking precedence as Mexicans brace themselves for their country's first fatality from COVID-19.

LMB PLAYER UNREST BUBBLING DUE TO SALARY CAP, DQ LIST

OF Leo German is out of work for 2020

Labor relations between the Mexican League and its players has historically been tenuous at best, with a 1980 midseason strike leading to the creation of a six-team splinter league that finished out the year with an abbreviated schedule among the more obvious examples of tensions bubbling over. While things have been quieter over recent seasons, a pair of issues irritating the players have surfaced and led to renewed calls for a players union.

One such issue is the imposition of an LMB team salary cap of five million pesos per month, equal to approximately US$250,000. On the surface, that doesn't appear to be an unreasonable limit in a league with teams carrying 35 men (30 of them active) on their rosters, which would work out to an average of US$7,143 per player. That's competitive with Class AAA salaries north of the border, where first-year players earn a minimum of US$2,140 per month, and enough to live quite well south of it. However, as is often the case with Mexican baseball, it's not that simple.

In the first place, even though there's a monthly salary cap of 5,000,000 pesos in place, not all teams can afford to pay that much. Wealthier franchises like Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana and Monclova have no problem coming up with that kind of money for payroll, but less prosperous teams like Tabasco, Aguascalientes and Union Laguna simply don't generate enough revenue to pay their players as well as their richer Liga counterparts. The Durango Generales, for example, generated stories during their first LMB season in 2017 when they sometimes went weeks without paying players, leading some to force trades by either sitting out games or making similar threats; it's how Daniel Mayora ended up in Monterrey (winning the batting title) and MVP candidate Yadier Drake landed in Japan.

Secondly, not every player is going to be paid the same. While some players, especially extraneros with major league experience, can command salaries higher than US$10,000 per month (does anyone think Monclova is paying Bartolo Colon less?), many others will earn half that amount or less, particularly Mexican-born players with less experience and no option of signing with an MLB organization because their rights are owned by their LMB team. The divide between the haves and have-nots is creating friction among the latter, many of whom may be earning about 50,000 pesos (US$2,500) per month.

Another point of contention has been the existence of a list of Restricted Players who are disqualified for the 2020 season because they did not sign a contract with their LMB by a specified date. Here is the list of eight Restricted players (each of whom has at least three years of experience), released by the Mexican League last week:

Hector Ambriz, P, Saltillo Saraperos

Leo German, OF, Dos Laredos Tecolotes

Demetrio Gutierrez, P, Campeche Piratas

Carlos Mendivil, C, Saltillo Saraperos

Jorge Quinones, P, Aguascalientes Rieleros

Alex Sanabia, P, Aguascalientes Rieleros

Zack Segovia, P, Leon Bravos

Kenneth Sigman, P, Dos Laredos Tecolotes

C Carlos Mendivil wants a players union

None of the above are considered stars, although Ambriz, Sanabia and Segovia have pitched in the majors while German emerged with a .322 average and 10 homers for the Tecos in 2019 after several years as a substitute with Monterrey. However, baseball IS how they earn a living, they're now in effect blacklisted by the Mexican League for missing a signing deadline and some aren't taking it silently.

On Twitter, German called the Restricted List a "disgrace," adding that "Mexicans are the ones who get the worst treatment." Mendivil, a reserve catcher for the past seven years, decried the lack of a players union in Mexico, saying "there is no organization of players who fight for what is fair for each one as a professional baseball player." 

Outrage was not limited to the affected players.  Pitcher Hector Velazquez, an Obregon native recently picked up on waivers by Baltimore after going 11-7 over parts of three years with Boston, sent out three tweets blasting the listings, saying it was "outrageous and that it can't be possible that they (LMB) have left the Mexican players out of work."

Leon first baseman Jesse Castillo, a two-time Liga MVP, added his voice to Mendivil's in advocating for a players union and calling upon Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the nation's highest-ranking baseball fan, to step in. "If you want to set a precedent, Senor Presidente, the moment has arrived," said Castillo. "The players need to be protected by a union so this does not happen in our baseball."

FELIX PIE, EX-ROY ROMARIO GIL SIGN WITH CAMPECHE

Felix Pie poses for another Pirates team

Although the Mexican League season will be delayed until at least mid-May, the Campeche Piratas have made a couple of roster moves that figure to make the Walled City nine more competitive. The Buccaneers recently signed former Major League outfielder Felix Pie and 2018 Rookie of the Year Romario Gil as free agents under new manager Francisco Campos.

The 35-year-old Pie figures to make an immediate impact in the Campeche lineup once play begins. Once ranked by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Cubs' minor league system, Pie made his MLB debut with Chicago as a 22-year-old in 2007. Although the Dominican-born son of Haitian immigrants went on to play all or part of six MLB seasons with the Cubs, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, Pie never fulfilled his early promise although there were occasional flashes of brilliance along the way. After his final big league appearance in 2013, he spent the next year in South Korea and hit .326 with 17 homers and 92 RBIs for the Hanwha Eagles. He also spent time in Taiwan before coming to Mexico in 2018 with Leon.

Over the past two years as the Bravos' leftfielder, Pie hit a combined .356 with 38 homers and 141 RBIs over 192 games. He's expected to jumpstart a Piratas lineup that finished 15th in the LMB in scoring (5.38 runs per game), 14th in batting (.295) and 11th in homers (130). He'll round out an outfield that includes speedy CF Jay Austin (.329 with 15 homers and 31 steals) and well-traveled veteran RF Olmo Rosario (.321 with 12 homers), whose 18-year career has taken him to five countries, including a couple of .300+ seasons in Italy.

Romario Gil seeks a new start in Campeche

Expectations aren't quite as high for the 25-year-old Gil, a 6'1" lefty from Culiacan who made his Mexican League debut with five appearances for Monclova in 2017. One year later, he was selected as the Liga's top rookie after being loaned to Puebla and going a combined 6-2 in 17 starts over two short seasons, including a 4-0 ledger with a 2.47 ERA in the Fall campaign for the Pericos. Sensing that Gil might be ready to help his Acereros, Monclova owner Gerardo Benavides brought him back to "The Furnace." Although the 221-pounder did go 5-1 for the eventual league champions, his 5.86 ERA was less than impressive and after spending July on the disabled list, Gil was demoted to the bullpen for the rest of the season. Things went no better last winter with Gil's hometown Tomateros even though he pitched for the Mexican Pacific League champs, as he recorded a 1-5 record and a 5.92 ERA in six starts for Benji Gil's team.

The bar will be set far lower in Gil's new surroundings as he goes from pitching for two pennant-winning teams to one that last flew a title flag in 2004. He's presently on the Piratas reserve list and was starting out in the bullpen under pitching coach Isidro Marquez (the LMB's all-time saves leader) when training camp was suspended last weekend, and may be given a shot at a spot in the starting rotation when play resumes. He may be an improvement for a team with a collective 6.26 earned-run average last year, although Campeche pitchers miraculously combined for eight shutouts in 2019.

MEXICAN LEAGUE CHOOSES NEW PRESIDENT

Mexican League president Horacio de la Vega

The Mexican League has named Horacio de la Vega as their new president.  The 44-year-old de la Vegas is a Mexico City native and two-time Olympic pentathlete for Mexico (1996 and 2000) with a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas and has an extensive background in sports.  He'll replace Javier Salinas, a former Liga MX pro soccer marketing executive who served as LMB president for two years before leaving office following the 2019 season.

De la Vega was the Commercial and Marketing Director for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara prior to serving as General Director of Sports in Mexico City, helping coordinate events involving the NFL, MLB, NBA, PGA, UFC and Formula One organizations, among others.  During his time in Mexico City, according to an LMB press release, de la Vega oversaw more than 35 international sporting events per year along with about 400 local or national events. 

LMB Home Run Derby in Mexico City Zocalo

He was Mexico City Commissioner for the Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico, general coordinator for the 2016 MLB Mexico Series between the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros and Fray Nano Stadium, one of the main drivers of the 2015 Mexican League Home Run Derby in Mexico City's Zocalo (the first time a public square was converted into a ballpark) and helped stage NFL and NBA games in Mexico City.  De la Vega was also president of the organizing committee for the 50th Anniversary celebration of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.  He most recently was a senior advisor for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

De la Vega will take the Mexican League reins from longtime Liga executive Gabriel Medina, who served as interim president after the LMB and Salinas parted ways.  He'll inherit a 16-team circuit in which many franchises are bleeding red ink with teams playing in front of sparse crowds, although the league did top five million in attendance for the first time since before the turn of the 21st Century.  The vote to name the former National Sports Award winner as a pentathlete reportedly involved all teams, a change from Salinas' 2017 selection originating from just three owners.


CHARROS WIN 7 OF FIRST 8 GAMES TO OPEN LMP SECOND HALF

Jalisco Charros outfielder Dariel Alvarez

The Jalisco Charros had a good first half to their Mexican Pacific League season, finishing one game behind first place Obregon with a 21-14 to come in third, garnering eight playoff points in the bargain.  Now the Guadalajara side has broken out the second-half gate in a big way by winning seven of their first eight games to take a two-game lead over the 5-2 Mexicali Aguilas, who are trying to rebound from an 18-24 showing in a first half that saw manager Bobby Dickerson fired and replaced by Pedro Mere (whose coaching staff includes former skippers Eddy Castro, Bronswell Patrick and Adan Munoz, who was canned as Navojoa helmsman in the first half).

Back to Jalisco, the defending champions have shown well under manager Roberto Vizcarra.  The Charros have a veteran roster that includes catcher Bruce Maxwell, infielders Stephen Cardullo, Manny Rodriguez, Amadeo Zazueta and Agustin Murillo plus outfielders Carlos Figueroa, Henry Urrutia and Dariel Alvarez.  Four Jalisco everyday starters are batting over .300, led by Zazueta's .350 average and Figueroa at .333.  Much of the power has been supplied by Alvarez, whose team-leading eight homers and 33 RBIs supplement his .295 average.  The Cuban-born rightfielder played six winters in that country's National Series before signing with Baltimore in 2013 (and eventually had two cups of coffee with the Orioles).  Alvarez is not regarded as a power hitter, per se, but he's found his groove in Guadalajara after belting 14 roundtrippers for the Charros last season to finish second in the MexPac behind the 15 of Navojoa's Joan Rosa.

Jalisco left-handed pitcher Marco Tovar

Jalisco's pitching staff isn't as star-studded as their daily lineup, with a team ERA of 3.88 in the bottom half among the LMP's ten teams, but Guadalajara is not the easiest place to pitch with its high altitude so those numbers can be a little deceiving at first glance.  The best starter thus far this season has been lefty veteran Marco Tovar, whose 3-2 record hides an ERA of 2.19 that ranks fourth among qualifying MexPac hurlers.  Tovar is a 30-year-old Tijuana product who's pitched in five Mexican League All-Star Games and was named the LMB's Pitcher of the Year in 2011 after going 12-4 for Reynosa that summer.  Among other Jarros starters, import Mitch Atkins, who pitched in several minor league All-Star Games and had two short stints with the Chicago Cubs in 2010 and 2011, is 4-3 with a 2.80 ERA (8th in the LMP) while Octavio Acosta has a perfect 4-0 record and a 4.03 ERA (12th in the loop).  If the Charros have a weak spot, it's in the bullpen.  Although closer Grant Sides is sixth in the league with seven saves, the former Indians farmhand isn't likely writing home about his 12.75 ERA or opponents' batting average of .373.  Even so, you have to outscore your opponents to win a baseball game and the Charros have shown the offense to continue doing just that and are in good position to repeat as LMP champions.

The aforementioned Zazueta (he of the .350 average) now leads the MexPac in hitting, twelve points ahead of Christian Zazueta's .338 for Navojoa.  Culiacan's Seastian Elizalde, Leandro Castro of Los Mochis and Monterrey's Michael Choice are all tied for the lead in homers with 10 each while Jalisco's Alvarez and Jesus Valdez of Obregon both top the RBI table with 33.  Rico Noel of Culiacan recently stole five bases in a seven-game stretch to bring his season total to 20 swipes in 24 attempts, well ahead of the 13 apiece for Elizalde and Obregon's Taiki Sekine.

Los Mochis starting pitcher Yoanys Quiales picked up his first win since November 15 last Wednesday in Mazatlan to go to 7-1 for the season, comfortably ahead of eleven pitchers who have four wins each.  One of them, Mike Kickham of Hermosillo, is tops in ERA at 1.96, with Mexicali's Greg Mahle in second at 2.01.  Another four-win pitcher, Obregon's Brazilian starter Andre Rienzo, heads the strikeouts table with 51 ponches, six more than Quiales and Juan Pablos Oramas of Hermosillo.  An Oramas teammate, Trey McNutt, is tied with Jose Rosario of Guasave with an LMP-best 11 saves while Obregon's Samuel Zazueta is best with 11 holds.  It does not appear that any of the three Zazuetas are related.


LIGA NORTE EXPANDS TO SIX TEAMS; TWO MORE ON WAY?

The Northern Mexico League has added an expansion franchise with the Otay Industriales set to join the Class AA circuit in time for the 2020 season.  At a recent LNM presidents meeting in Tijuana, five existing teams confirmed their participation next year, including the San Quintin Freseros, Caborca Rojos, Ensenada Marineros, La Paz Delfines and the defending champion San Luis Algodoneros.  However, the main topic moving forward was expansion, with Otay brought into the fold and talk of two more new franchises to turn the LNM into an eight-team loop next season.

Mesa de Otay is not an independent city but rather a section of Tijuana, Baja California Norte.  The Industriales will not play in Tijuana's Mexican League ballpark currently used by the Toros during the spring and summer.  Instead, they'll play in Estadio Angel Camarena, a smaller facility where former MLB All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez cut his teeth as a young player, according to El Titan's father David.  The elder Gonzalez is now general director of B.C. Norte's Institute of Sports and Physical Culture, and will help coordinate what is being called "a significant investment" in  the ballpark's remodeling, to be completed by next April, prior to the 2020 LNM schedule.

B.C. Norte governor Jaime Bonilla's first pitch

Gonzalez was joined by Baja California Norte governor Jaime Bonilla, who tossed a ceremonial first pitch before the inaugural game of the Tijuana Amateur Baseball League in late October.  The renovations were announced weeks before the new Liga Norte franchise was granted to Otay, but the two are undoubtedly linked to each other.

Representatives of a second possible team in Baja California Sur were on hand at the meeting.  The LNM made its debut in that state last season when the La Paz Delfines took the field.  No word on where a second team there would be located; the Los Cabos region is the only area with the population to support a franchise but the Mexican League Quintana Roo Tigres could probably testify that selling tickets to baseball games in a tourist center is not the easiest thing to do.  Another potential expansion site was termed "an old acquaintance in the league" in a story posted on Puro Beisbol, but no further details could be given for now.

The Liga Norte also gave Tuesday, April 14 as their 2020 season inaugural date.  If eight teams indeed play next year, each would play an 84-game schedule with the season wrapping up the second week of August.  The LNM is still searching for an executive president, but that topic was tabled at the recent meeting.  The president of the league's Board of Directors, San Luis Algodoneros owner Francisco Montano, has sat behind the big desk the past two years.


Notice to Readers: BBM to go monthly on interim basis

This will be the only Baseball Mexico scheduled to be posted in December.  I'm moving from the U.S. Pacific Northwest to the Philippines this week and will need some time to somehow get settled during the holiday season.  I'm moving to Baguio, a city of 370,000 with ten universities nestled nearly 5,000 feet above sea level in the Cordillera Mountains.  Baguio is noted for its relatively cool temperatures and is nicknamed "The Summer Capital of the Philippines" for that reason.  

Jose Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, Manila

They do play baseball in the Philippines, by the way, but only at the amateur or scholastic level. There IS a great old 12,000-seat ballpark in Manila named Jose Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium, where the first homers hit after its 1934 opening were by guys named Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth (you may have heard of them), and I would like to catch at least a couple ballgames there while it's still standing.

Anyway, Baseball Mexico will hopefully be back to a weekly basis by February 2020, just in time for the Caribbean Series.  I'll try to post unscheduled updates between now and February when I can, but I expect to be a little preoccupied until then.