OBREGON, NAVOJOA TIED AT TOP OF LMP STANDINGS

    At the halfway point of the Mexican Pacific League's first half schedule, two teams share the lead in the LMP standings with identical 11-6 records. The Obregon Yaquis and Navojoa Mayos find themselves in the driver's seat with three weeks remaining in the opening stanza of the 2021-22 season.

    Obregon did their part in breaking a three-way deadlock at the top Sunday by clobbering Mexicali, 8-2, in the border city. Jonathan Aranda broke a 1-1 tie with a solo homer off Aguilas starter Javier Solano in the top of the second inning, but it was a Reynaldo Rodriguez grand slam off Solano in the third that for all intent and purposes put the game away for the Yaquis. Obregon starter Hector Velazquez got the win with six solid innings, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts. Solano was tagged with the loss after giving up eight runs on five hits and four walks over four innings.

    Navojoa did Sunday's heavy lifting by topping Jalisco, 4-2, at home in Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria after both teams entered the game with 10-6 records. The contest was knotted up at two runs apiece until Mayos third baseman Samar Leyva launched a solo homer over the left-center field wall off Charros starter Alex Delgado in the bottom of the fourth. Navojoa added an insurance run when Omar Renteria led off the seventh with a doubled up the middle off reliever Fernando Cruz, moved to third on an Omar Meza sacrifice bunt down the third base line and scored on Jorge Flores' single to right. Navojoa starter Raul Carrillo allowed two runs in 5.2 innings and five relievers surrendered one hit the rest of the way as the Mayos completed a three-game weekend sweep.

    At the other end of the spectrum, the Los Mochis Caneros have won just four of their first 16 games to bring up the rear after a disastrous 2020-21 campaign in which they went an aggregate 19-39 over two halves, worst in the LMP under manager Victor Bojorquez. Robinson Cancel is the Los Mochis helmsman this winter but thus far nothing much has changed, although the Caneros did salvage a series in Monterrey Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Sultanes behind a solo homer by Josuan Hernandez and 6.2 innings of one-run pitching by starter Carlos Viera.

    Heading into Sunday's games, Jalisco's Christian Villanueva was batting an even .400 to lead all LMP batters. Tirso Ornelas of Navojoa is second at .390 while Hermosillo's Nick Torres' .386 is good enough for third. Torres also tops the tables with five homers, one more than the four roundtrippers of Danny Ortiz (Monterrey), Missael Rivera (Jalisco) and Maikel Serrano (Navojoa). Serrano is first in RBIs with 17, ahead of Ortiz' 14 and the 13 of Torrez. Culiacan has three of the top five base stealers in the Mex Pac: Dairon Blanco leads the list with six swipes, one more than the five of teammate Sebastian Elizalde and Mazatlan's Ramon Rios and two more than Tomateros infielder Ramiro Pena and Venados outfielder Randy Romero.

    Among pitchers, Navojoa's Carlos De Leon has been a major reason for the Mayos' strong burst out the gate by winning his first three starts, making him the only LMP pitcher with a trio of wins at this stage of the season. Thirteen other pitchers have two wins, with two starters (Jalisco's Orlando Lara and Elian Leyva of Hermosillo) tied for the lead with 0.00 ERAs to augment their respective 2-0 records. Obregon's Luis Escobar has 24 strikeouts in 22.1 innings to lead the loop while Hermosillo veteran Juan Pablo Oramas is second with 20 whiffs over 23 frames. Jake Sanchez of Mexicali has four saves (plus a win) in seven outings for the most in that category, with Jalisco's Roberto Osuna and Carlos Bustamante of Navojoa tied for second with three salvados apiece. Sanchez has 14 strikeouts in seven innings with a 1.29 ERA.

    Off the LMP playing field, the expected sale of the Jalisco Charros has been finalized. The team, which has been marred by internecine front office squabbling for at least the past year, was sold by prime combatants Salvador Quirarte and Armando Navarro (who brought the team to Guadalajara from Guasave in 2014) to a group led by Jose Luis Gonzalez, his son Inigo and brother Juan Carlos, who also own the Mexican League Guadalajara Mariachis. Navarro was present at the press conference announcing the sale and said, “I wish the new owners every success and I thank all the fans.” The State of Jalisco is allowing the Charros to make fifty percent of Estadio Panamericano's 16,500 seats available for home games.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Obregon, Sonora

    We’ll continue our virtual journey to all ten Mexican Pacific League franchise sites by driving south from Hermosillo on Highway 15 for three-and-a-half hours (155 miles) through former LMP city Guaymas to Ciudad Obregon, Sonora’s second largest city behind Hermosillo with a metropolitan population of 375,000 and home of the seven-time league champion Yaquis.

    While the city itself is less than 100 years old, the area it sits in had long been settled by the Yaqui Indian nation, after whom the baseball team was named. Originally known as Cajeme when it was given municipal status in 1927, the city was renamed in 1937 after Revolution hero General Alvaro Obregon, a Navojoa native who later became president of Mexico and initiated modern agricultural techniques to the Yaqui Valley that made the region one of the most prosperous in the country. In fact, the area is called “Mexico’s Grain Provider” thanks to wheat growing standards partly established by American Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Norman Bourlaug.

    Present-day Obregon is the agribusiness center of a region whose countryside is liberally dotted with grain elevators, storage silos and cotton mills. While it is a working city and not tourism-oriented, there are some points of interest for visitors to take in. Laguna Nainari just west of town is a popular lagoon with restaurants, picnic areas and boats for water-skiing, while the nearby San Jose Beach features a spa. South of Laguna Nainari is the Parque Ostimuri, a tree-lined park geared towards young people (and the young at heart) with an amusement park, several refreshment stands and a zoo with animals ranging from deer and boars to turtles and gila monsters.

    The Museo del Yaquis celebrates the history of the valley and is doing its part to keep the culture of the Yaqui people alive. Moreover, the Mexican government designated the Yaquis as the first recognized tribe in the country, allowing them to continue their traditions overseen by a tribal government. There are four institutes of higher education in Obregon while the local airport receives flight from 13 Mexican and four U.S. cities.

    Professional baseball in Obregon debuted in 1947 as a member of the old Pacific Coast League. The Yaquis have won seven MexPac pennants (including three in a row under manager Eddie Diaz between 2010-11 and 2012-13) since 1965-66, winning Caribbean Series championships in 2011 and 2013. Past Obregon players whose numbers have been retired include Vinny Castilla, Roberto Vizcarra, Carlos Valencia and brothers Vicente and Enrique Romo.

.    The Yaquis play their home games in the state of the art Estadio Yaquis, a 16,500-seat facility on the outskirts of town that opened in time for the 2016-17 season. Estadio Yaquis co-hosted games for the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup last month. Considered one of Mexico's finest ballparks, it's had a cool reception among local fans due to high ticket prices and a less-centralized location than Estadio Tomas Oroz Gaytan, which served the team for 36 years and (like Hermosillo's Estadio Hector Espino) has been purchased by the federal government to serve as a baseball academy.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Nelson Barrera, 3B/1B/DH

    One of the most beloved and admired figures in Mexican baseball history, Nelson Barrera Romellon was a mainstay at third base in the LMB for 26 seasons. Nicknamed El Almirante (“The Admiral”) by fans, Barrera was born October 17, 1957 in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche and grew up to be a six foot,180-pounder. Surprisingly, given his career power totals, Barrera was not considered a home run hitter for the first few years of his Liga career. In fact, he hit just 48 roundtrippers over his first seven campaigns between 1977 and 1983.

    Barrera posted his first big season as a 26-year-old in 1984 with Mexico City, cracking 23 homers while hitting .354 and driving in 101 runs. That led to an invitation to spring training by the Chicago White Sox in 1985. After batting just .176 with two homers for Class AAA Buffalo, Barrera was sent back to the Diablos Rojos and never played outside Mexico again.

    He went on a three-year tear between 1986 and 1988 for Mexico City, belting 110 homers and driving in 383 runs while posting batting averages of .350, .349 and .372. Although he never approached those kinds of numbers the rest of his career, The Admiral remained one of the most respected and feared batters in Mexico through the rest of the 20th century.

    Barrera retired with 455 career homers, two more than all-time great Hector Espino’s 453. His 1,928 career RBIs is also the Liga’s all-time best, as are his 972 extra-base hits and six 100-plus RBI seasons. He finished with 2,938 career hits (second behind Jesus Sommers) and a lifetime batting average of .298. Along with Sommers, he had 19 seasons of 100 or more hits. Barrera hit three homers in a seven-inning game, and once had a streak of seven bombs over a five-game stretch.

    He was a fairly marginal batter in the winter Pacific League, hitting .254 over 15 seasons with Culiacan and Mexicali although he was the LMP’s MVP for the Tomateros in 1984-85 with 15 homers and 68 RBIs. Barrera made his hits count in the winter, however, and stands sixth in career homers with 131 and 9^th in RBIs with 479. His eight career grand slam homers are a MexPac record. He played in five Caribbean Series between 1983 and 1988, winning a title with Mexicali in 1986 in Venezuela.

    Barrera was respected as a manager, too, leading the Oaxaca Guerreros to the LMB crown in 1998 while turning in 15/110/.321 numbers as a player. He was managing the Campeche Piratas in his home state when he died tragically in 2002 after he was electrocuted by a live hanging wire while doing repairs on the roof of his home following a severe windstorm. The ballpark in Campeche was renamed in his honor.

YAQUIS WIN LMP FIRST HALF, EARN 10 PLAYOFF POINTS

Obregon players celebrate their 10-point first half

Despite dropping the final two games of a midweek series in Culiacan to wrap up the first half of the schedule, the Obregon Yaquis were able to hold on to first place in the Mexican Pacific League at the midway point of the season and pick up the ten playoff points accompanying their finish.  Obregon opened the set with a 4-3 win over the Tomateros last Tuesday as Carlos Sepulveda singled twice and drove in a pair of runs while starter Carlos De Leon allowed two runs on as many hits over five innings on the mound to go to 3-0 on the season.  Although Culiacan came back to win on Wednesday and Thursday, the visiting Yaquis finished the stanza with a 22-13 record to outlast second-place Hermosillo (21-13) by a half-game while Jalisco ended a game back in third at 21-14.

With two new franchises in the MexPac this season, the loops playoff points system has changed from past seasons.  Where first-place finishers used to earn eight points per half, now the top team is awarded ten points while the second-place club picks up nine points.  Eight points now go to the third-place team as the old points system is applied to the rest of the teams, with last-place Navojoa (11-23) coming away with just 3.5 points.  Points accrued over the two halves of the season determine seeding for January's LMP playoffs, which will now include the top eight teams (meaning the former "lucky loser" system, where the team with the most wins in a first-round loss still advanced to the semifinals,  has been shelved).

Speaking of Navojoa, the Mayos have named longtime MexPac manager Lorenzo Bundy as their new skipper.  Veteran catcher Adan Munoz was fired November 6 after leading the Mayos to a 6-14 record in his first season at the helm.  Pitching coach Hector Heredia filled in for the rest of the first half and fared a little better, turning in a 5-6 mark before Bundy's arrival last Monday.  Bundy is no stranger to Navojoa, having led the Mayos to their second (and most recent) LMP pennant in 1999-2000 when they swept Hermosillo in the title series.  Navojoa was swept in Mazatlan to start off their new era under the 60-year-old Philadelphia native, who has managed seven teams in the MexPac over his career, but the Mayos recently activated Red Sox hurler Hector Velazquez (the MexPac's 2016-17 Pitcher of the Year) and outfielder Juan Perez, who hit .335 with 11 homers and 12 steals for Monclova and Aguascalientes in the Mexican League last summer, so Bundy will have two more tools at his disposal along with outfielder Alonzo Harris, third baseman Christian Zazueta and infielder Jovan Rosa.  Harris, who had a banner summer with Quintana Roo, is expected to improve his current .242 batting average.

Lorenzo Bundy managed Navojoa's last title team

Los Mochis outfielder Noel Cuevas is leading the LMP in batting with a .371 average, twenty points ahead of Jalisco speedster Carlos Figueroa.  Monterrey's Michael Choice has 10 homers to top the circuit, one more than Stephen Cardullo of Jalisco and Culiacan's Sebastian Elizalde.  Choice's 27 RBIs ties him for second with two other players behind the 28 of Jalisco's Dariel Alvarez.  Rico Noel of Culiacan is 16-of-19 in stolen base attempts and leads the MexPac in swipes while teammate Elizalde is second with 12 steals.

Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis is 6-1 for the Caneros (who have a 16-20 overall record) to lead the league in wins, two more than five pitchers with four victories apiece.  Mexicali's Jon van Meter is only 1-2 after sevens starts for the Aguilas but his 1.86 ERA tops the loop ahead of the 1.91 of Navojoa's Raul Carrillo while Obregon's Arturo Lopez and Juan Pablo Oramas of Hermosillo are tied for the lead in strikeouts with 40 each.  Hermosillo's Trey McNutt tops the table with ten saves and the holds leader is Monterrey reliever Nick Struck with 10.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Final 2019-20 First Half Standings
Obregon 22-13 (10.0 points), Hermosillo 21-13 (9.0), Jalisco (21-14 (8.0), Culiacan (19-16 (7.0), Monterrey (18-17 (6.0), Mazatlan 17-18 (5.5), Los Mochis 15-20 (5.0), Guasave 15-20 (4.5), Mexicali 15-20 (4.0), Navojoa 11-23 (3.5).


CASTRO TO MANAGE MEXICO IN 2020 OLYMPICS

Sweeping Group A and then qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics by finishing third in this month's World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament was enough for Mexico manager Juan Gabriel Castro to keep his job for the Olympics in Tokyo nest summer.  It's been quite a month for the retired infielder, who spend 17 seasons playing in the majors.  While managing the Verdes Grande in the Premier12, he was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies as a coach for the 2020 campaign under new manager Joe Girardi.  Now it's on to Japan and managing Mexico's first Olympic baseball team, assuming the Phils allow him to leave the team for the Olympics, which will take place between July 24 and August 9 next year.

Although Mexico was defeated by Japan and South Korea in the Premier12 Super Round after winning all three of their Group A games in Guadalajara and topping Taiwan and Australia in the second stage, their win over the United States in the Bronze Medal game at the Tokyo Dome punched their ticket to the Olympics as the highest-placing team from the Americas in the Premier12.  "Our thought in this tournament was to be champions," Castro told Beatriz Pereyra of Proceso.  "We did not succeed and we are left with that little thorn, but I think that Mexico has the possibility of winning the gold medal in the Olympic Games.  I'm proud to have been present, to be part of the history of the Mexican National Team in the Olympics...I hope it is a big step for the Mexican baseball team to continue growing, keep improving."

Castro told Pereyra that he regretted questions about members of the national team who have dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States, an issue he said generated annoyance not only among the player but their families as well.  "I gave them a personal example," explained Castro, who was born in Los Mochis in 1952.  "My children were born in the United States.  They are American by birth, but they are also Mexican...My oldest son was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico bus I think he feels more Mexican than me. He even just had an Emiliano Zapata tattoo on his arm.  I think that was a reason for the boys to feel more proud and give extra for the team, and I'm very proud of them."  Castro stressed that he still down know what the process will be for putting together an Olympic team, noting that while he was able to carry 28 players for the Premier 12, he'll be limited to a 24-man roster in Tokyo.

Mexican players after Olympics-clinching win

Mexico is one of four teams to clinch a berth in the Olympic field, which will consist of just six nations in 2020.  Japan automatically qualified as host team, South Korea earned their slot by reaching the Premier12 title game against the Baseball Samurai and Israel (like Mexico) will make their Olympic baseball debut after a surprise win in September's Europe/Asia qualifying tournament in Italy.  Israel and The Netherlands tied for the lead in the round-robin tourney with identical 4-1 records and earned the nod by virtue of their 8-1 win over the Dutchmen on September 19 in Parma.  The final two berths will be determined at an Americas qualifier in Arizona next March and a Final qualifying Tournament in Taiwan next April.  The Olympics will consist of a 16-game schedule with two round-robin pools followed by a rather convoluted double-elimination bracket.


2020 CARIBBEAN SERIES SCHEDULE IN PUERTO RICO SET

San Juan's Bithorn Stadium to host 2020 CS

The Caribbean Series will return to Puerto Rico next February and the schedule for the six-team field had been announced.  Panama returns to the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball after being a surprise winner last winter as a late entry, meaning the event will feature five days of round-robin tripleheaders between February 1 and 5, followed by a pair of semifinal games on February 6 and the championship game on February 7.  Colombia and Nicaragua were expected to join the competition this winter, bringing the number of nations involved to eight, but their entry will apparently be delayed at least one season.

Puerto Rico last hosted the Caribbean Series in 2015, when Cuba's first CS entry since 1960, the Pinar del Rio Vegueros, went 3-3 in the first round before winning the title.  San Juan's 18,264-seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium (home of the defending Roberto Clemente League champion Santurce Cangrejeros) will host the event.  The venue served as "home" field for the MLB Montreal Expos for 22 games in both 2003 and 2004 before the Expos were moved to Washington and renamed the Nationals in 2005 and has also hosted World Baseball Classic group play in 2006 and 2013.  A number of Major League exhibition games have been played at the facility, which was opened in 1963 and received a major overhaul prior to the Expos' two-year stint there.

The Serie del Caribe will mark the first large-scale baseball event to be staged in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in September 2017.  The storm resulted in over three thousand fatalities and over US$90 billion in damages, from which the country is still recovering in many areas.  The host Roberto Clemente League, which dates to 1938, was struggling financially for several years prior to Hurricane Maria, which exacerbated things to the point that the LBPRC was limited to a one-month schedule of daytime games in 2017-18 with only four teams.  The adverse conditions did not prevent the Caguas Criollos from repeating as league and Caribbean Series champions that winter.

Tickets for the 2020 Serie del Caribe range in price from US$7.50 to US$56.00 and are on sale at the Ticketpop.com website.

2020 CARIBBEAN SERIES SCHEDULE
Saturday, February 1:  Cuba vs. Venezuela (10:00AM), Mexico vs. Dominican Republic (2:30PM), Panama vs. Puerto Rico (8:00PM).
Sunday, February 2:  Cuba vs. Panama (11:00AM), Puerto Rico vs. Mexico (3:30PM), Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela (8:30PM).
Monday, February 3:  Panama vs. Mexico (10:00AM), Dominican Republic vs. Cuba (2:30PM), Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela (8:00PM).
Tuesday, February 4:  Dominican Republic vs. Panama (10:00AM), Mexico vs. Venezuela (3:30P), Cuba vs. Puerto Rico (8:00PM).
Wednesday, February 5:  Panama vs. Venezuela (8:00AM), Cuba vs. Mexico (2:30PM), Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico (8:00PM).
Thursday, February 6:  Semifinal 1 (2:30PM), Semifinal 2 (8:00PM).
Friday, February 7:  Championship Game (8:00PM).

All games played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico.  All times local.

MEXICO TOPS USA 3-2 IN 10 TO QUALIFY FOR OLYMPICS

Mexico's Efren Navarro and Matt Clark

Matt Clark's ninth-inning solo home run put the game into extra innings, but it was Efren Navarro's single in the bottom of the tenth that gave the Mexican National Team a hard-fought 3-2 win over the United States in Saturday's Premier12 Bronze Medal game at the Tokyo Dome.  More important, the Verdes Grande's second win over the USA in the tournament meant that Mexico will make their Olympic baseball debut next summer in Tokyo.

The Americans sprinted to a quick 1-0 lead when Angels prospect Jo Adell socked an opposite-field solo homer off Mexican starter Arturo Reyes in the top of the first, but Reyes settled down to toss two-hit shutout ball before giving way to reliever Brennan Bernardino with one out in the sixth frame with the score still at 1-0.  Mexico tied the contest up in the bottom of the sixth when Clark drilled a sharp bases-loaded single to right off reliever Daniel Tillo to plate Jonathan Jones from third base.  Tillo had replaced Cody Ponce, a Pirates farmhand who whitewashed the Mexicans on three hits with six strikeouts over the first five entradas.

The USA regained the lead in the top of the seventh when Andrew Vaughn led off with a single, moved to second on Eric Kratz' sacrifice hit and scored when Bobby Dalbec singled up the middle off Jesus Rios to make it a 2-1 contest, a score that held up until Clark belted a leadoff four-bagger deep to center off American closer Brandon Dickson to tie things up at 2-2.  Dickson got out of the inning without further damage and manager Scott Brosius decided to keep the former St. Louis pitcher (who's spent the past seven years with NPB's Orix Buffaloes) on the mound for the tenth after the USA failed to score on Mexican closer Carlos Bustamante in the top of that inning.

Using WBSC tiebreaker rules, Noah Perio was placed on second base and Jorge Flores on first to start the bottom of the tenth for Mexico.  Jones led off with a sacrifice bunt to Dickson on the mound, moving Perio to third and Flores to second.  Dickson then intentionally walked Esteban Quiroz to load the bases before being pulled for Caleb Thielbar to face Navarro, who blooped a broken-bat single to shallow center to bring Perio in from third for the walkoff game-winner.   Navarro, who was 0-for-4 for the game at that point, fouled off four consecutive Thielber deliveries before delivering the coup de grace for Mexico on the eighth pitch in the count.  Bustamante earned the win by hurling a scoreless tenth while Dickson was tagged with the loss.  Clark finished with a pair of hits and two RBIs for Mexico while Adell singled and doubled for the Americans while contributing defensively with a diving catch of a Navarro fly to left field in the eighth.

Verdes Grande: "We're going to Tokyo (again)!"

After sweeping all three of their Group A games in Guadalajara, Mexico won their first two Super Round contests in Japan, including a 2-0 shutout over Taiwan last Monday in Chiba as Reyes and five relievers combined on a three-hitter while Ali Solis contributed a solo homer.  The Verdes Grande followed that up with another shutout on Tuesday, this one a 3-0 blanking of Australia in Tokyo with Eduardo Vera and four relievers tossing a four-hitter while Jones and Clark went deep for the winners.  Mexico then lost for the first time in six games Wednesday, dropping a 3-1 decision to host Japan in the Tokyo Dome despite Jones' second homer in as many nights.  Then it was a second loss in a row on Thursday as manager Juan Castro's side fell, 7-3, to South Korea with Jones homering once again for Mexico, who finished third in the Super Round with a 3-2 record, including a Group A win over the USA (2-3) that counted in the second stage to set up the Bronze Medal contest.  Japan (4-1) and South Korea (3-2) squared off Saturday for the Gold Medal, with the Baseball Samurai emerging victorious by a 6-3 score.

By defeating the second-ranked Americans, Mexico (rated sixth in the world by the WBSC prior to the Premier12) qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, marking the first time the Verdes Grande will play in the Games.  After Saturday's win, Navarro was humble. "You must credit all of the team for this accomplishment, " he said,  "including the pitchers and Matt Clark, who kept us in the game with his homer."  For his part, Clark said, "We're going to the Olympics.  You can't put it in words.  It's such a great achievement as a country, as players, as coaches...everyone that's involved back home, the fans.

"It's going to be an amazing experience for everybody to be able to go there and show the world what we have."


YAQUIS TAKE LMP LEAD INTO FINAL WEEK OF FIRST HALF SCHEDULE

Obregon lefty Arturo Lopez

With just six games remaining in the Mexican Pacific League's first-half schedule, the Obregon Yaquis have pulled into a two-game lead over Jalisco in a battle for first place and the eight accompanying playoff points.  The 21-11 Yaquis completed a three-game road series in Navojoa Sunday with a 4-0 shutout over the Mayos as Arturo Lopez and four relievers combined to hold the host team to three singles while number nine hitter Ricardo Valenzuela keyed a four-run seventh inning for Obregon with a two-run single.  Jesus "Cacao" Valdez contributed a pair of doubles and scored once for the winners while leadoff batter Taike Sekine, an import from Japan's Yokohama BayStars, chipped in with two singles, one of them scoring a run.

The Yaquis have been led offensively by outfielder Jose Aguilar, who leads the team with a .358 average and 25 runs scored.  Aguilar has had his share of misadventures on the basepaths thus far this season, however, and has been caught stealing seven times in eleven attempts.  Obregon's power has been supplied by the triumvirate of Valdez, Paulo Orlando and Art Charles, who have six homers each and a combined 68 RBIs through 31 games.  Orlando is second to Aguilar on the Yaquis with a .326 average.  Charles has otherwise struggled to a .216 mark but his 19 hits have produced six homers and 21 ribbies.  Sekine, a 24-year-old outfielder who bats left, has hit .282 since joining the Yaquis after the season started, but his most valuable asset may be his speed.  On a team where no other player has more than four stolen bases, Sekine has 10 swipes in 11 attempts over 23 games.  To put that into perspective, the rest of the Yaquis are a combined 10-for-27 in steals, which makes the 5'6" Sekine even more valuable to manager Sergio Gastelum.

Yaquis outfielder Taiki Sekine

The aforementioned Lopez has been the most consistent pitcher among a pretty good mound staff.  His win Sunday brought his record to 3-1, his 2.04 ERA ranks third in the MexPac behind Navojoa's Raul Carrillo and Jon van Meter of Mexicali and Lopez' 35 strikeouts leads the league.  While no other Obregon pitchers ranks in the top 20 of qualified hurlers in the ERA race, the Yaquis' team ERA of 3.42 is fifth in the circuit and their collective 242 strikeouts lead the LMP.  Former White Sox prospect Ryan Kussmaul has been the primary closer for the Yaquis and while his 2.37 ERA over 18 outings has been fairly impressive (as is his limiting opponents to a .222 batting average), he's only got a team-high five saves for the season thus far and none since November 1.  The Obregon roster generally doesn't stack up favorably compared to the likes of Culiacan or Jalisco, but Gastelum has shown over his short managerial career that he can figure out ways to win with limited resources and took an underpowered Oaxaca Mexican League team to the Fall 2018 Serie del Rey so the Yaquis shouldn't be summarily counted out either.

Los Mochis outfielder Noel Cuevas leads the MexPac in batting with a .371 average, just ahead of Navojoa veteran Christian Zazueta's .368.  Jalisco first baseman Stephen Cardullo's nine homers is tops in the LMP with four players tied at seven roundtrippers apiece, while Cardullo teammate Daniel Alvarez (one of that foursome) leads with 27 RBIs, one more than Monterrey's Felix Perez.  Rico Noel of Culiacan continues to pace base stealers with 15 SBs, while Tomateros teammate Sebastian Elizalde has 11.  Elizalde has reached double figures in steals once in his 10-year professional career.

Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis earned a win over Guasave Friday night to run his record to 6-0 in seven starts for the Caneros and still leads the LMP in wins.  As mentioned, Obregon's Lopez leads with 35 strikeouts while Navojoa's Carrillo leads in ERA at 1.71.  Ralph Garza of Monterrey and Trey McNutt of Hermosillo are tied at the top with nine saves apiece and Monterrey's Nick Struck's nine holds head that list as well.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE standings
Obregon 21-11, Jalisco 19-13, Hermosillo 18-13, Culiacan 17-15, Monterrey 16-16,  Los Mochis 15-17, Mazatlan 14-18, Mexicali 14-18, Guasave 14-18, Navojoa 11-20.



FERNANDO, 3 OTHERS INDUCTED INTO SALON DE LA FAMA

Rodriguez, Valenzuela, Fernandez and Saenz

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitching star Fernando Valenzuela was one of four new members who were inducted into the Mexican baseball hall of fame last week in Monterrey.  Valenzuela was joined by Daniel Fernandez, Ricardo Saenz and Cuauhtemoc "Chito" Rodriguez at ceremonies held at the new Salon de la Fama facility, which was completed earlier this year and largely bankrolled by Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros owner Alfredo Harp Helu.  The foursome were elected in 2014 and become the first actual inductees since a similar ceremony was held in 2011, after which the old Salon de la Fama on a brewery site was shut down by its owners and all plaques and other treasures were placed in storage until last spring.

Valenzuela, who now owns the Quintana Roo Tigres with his wife Linda Burgos, was the Mexican League Rookie of the Year with Yucatan in 1979 as an 18-year-old before being purchased by the Dodgers.  He made his MLB debut one year later, going 2-0 in ten relief appearances in 1980.  However, it was in 1981 when "Fernandomania" gripped southern California and baseball in general as the Navojoa native went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and a league-leading 180 strikeouts, winning the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year while making the first of six All-Star game appearances as the Dodgers won the World Series that Fall, all at the ripe age of 20.  Valenzuela went on to a 17-year MLB career and finished with a lifetime 173-153 record and a 3.54 record.  While he likely won't end up elected to the other Hall of Fame in upstate New York, "El Toro" was easily the most popular Mexican player in the big leagues and is still beloved by fans south of the border.

Fernandez is a Veracruz native who spent 26 seasons playing in the Mexican League, all but one with the Diablos Rojos, and hit .315 lifetime (including sixteen .300+ campaigns).  The 5'8" outfielder, who tipped the scales at 170 pounds, was never a slugger and hit fewer than 100 homers for his career.  However, Fernandez was a productive leadoff batter who had enough gap power to stroke 388 doubles while his 111 triples are tied for third all-time in the Liga.  He was also speedy enough to steal 479 bases (also third on the all-time list) and his 1,837 career runs are the most ever scored by an LMB player and nearly 200 more than his nearest competitor.  Fernandez also managed Mexico City to a pennant in 2008, his first year as a skipper, but has yet to duplicate that success since.

Saenz was another longtime veteran in the Mexican League, as the Coahuila product patrolled left field over 25 seasons for several teams during his playing career, primarily for Saltillo and Monclova.  Although he didn't hit for as high an average as Fernandez did (batting .296 for his career, although he did top .300 twelve times), Saenz had much more power and belted 296 career homers among his 2,453 career hits, topping 20 homers five times and once hit four longballs in a single nine-inning game.  He also drove in 1,318 runs and had enough speed to swipe 102 bases.  Saenz is the LMB's all-time leader with 496 doubles.  Saenz also spent 21 winters in the Mexican Pacific League, knocking out 102 homers in that time.

Rodriguez is a Sonora native who made his mark in Mexican baseball off the field, spending over four decades in the front office as a general manager with LMB teams, primarily the Tecolotes and Tigres.  He was in Nuevo Laredo from 1975 through 1994 before joining the then-Mexico City Tigres in 1995 and remaining with them through franchise shifts to Puebla and Cancun until his retirement in 2017, shortly after Carlos Peralta sold the Tigres to the Valenzuelas.  Between the two organizations, Rodriguez oversaw nine Mexican League pennant-winning teams.  He was also part of a player selection committee for Mexico in three World Baseball Classics (2006, 2009 and 2013) and represented the LMB for several years with Minor League Baseball, who named him "King of Baseball" in 2011.

New Salon de la Fama in Monterrey

Salon de la Fama director Francisco Padilla welcomed guests to last week's ceremony before turning things over to new Electoral Committee president Antonio de Valdes.  Also taking part were Harp and Nuevo Leon governor Jaime Rodriguez as the four Salon newcomers brought the total number of enshrinees to an even 200.  Mexican League co-founder Alejandro "Fray Nano" Aguilar, a sports writer by trade, introduced the Salon de la Fama in 1939, albeit on more of a conceptual basis.  Annual inductions began in 1973 in Monterrey at a building on the Cuahutemoc Brewery grounds and continued until the brewery decided to shut down the Salon in 2012.  There was an abortive attempt to resurrect the Salon in Culiacan a few years ago but it wasn't until the billionaire Harp stepped up to cover the cost of construction that a permanent home in Monterrey was opened this year.

SULTANES TO SERIE DEL REY; ALL-STAR ROSTERS OUT

Monterrey Sultanes outfielder Leo German

Leo German launched a two-run homer off Tijuana reliever Daniel Moskos in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Monterrey a 6-5 lead they'd hold until the end of Saturday's Mexican League North Division championship series Game Six to win the set, 4 games to 2.  Thus, the Sultanes advance to the Serie del Rey for the first time since 2013 by knocking off the defending champs in the third consecutive LMB North title showdown between the two teams.  Chris Roberson also homered for Monterrey while Corey Brown and Roberto Lopez went deep for the Toros as setup man Nick Struck won his third game of the series.  A full house of 21,909 were on hand for the third straight sellout at Estadio Monterrey in a well-attended LMB North finals, during which 113,732 aficionados attended the six encounters for an average of 18,955 per opening.

The Toros had taken a 2-games-to-1 LMB North title series lead last Tuesday with an 11-5 win at home as Rodriguez' bases-full triple keyed a six-run fourth inning for the (Pedro) Mere Men of Tijuana.  The Sultanes came back to take the next two contests at Estadio Gasmart: a 4-3 Wednesday win when Chris Roberson doubled and came in on Guty Murillo's single in the top of the eleventh followed by a 6-5 Thursday triumph in which Murillo came in from third on Yadir Drake's bases-loaded single in the top of the ninth to score the tiebreaker.

The LMB South championships will go to a seventh and deciding game on Monday night.  Quintana Roo took a 2-games-to-1 lead in the set last Tuesday by beating Yucatan, 6-1, in Cancun as Javier Solano gave up one run on five hits before being replaced by Derrick Loop with two out in the eighth.  The Leones responded Wednesday night with a 6-2 victory over the hosts as starter Yoanner Negrin went seven strong innings, allowing one run on three hits.

Then the rains came and washed out Game Five both Thursday and Friday nights and delaying Saturday's contest by nearly seven hours.  The Leones won that one, 8-6, in a game marked by two big innings as the Tigres scored five times in the bottom of the fifth to break a scoreless tie before Yucatan posted six runs in the seventh as Everth Cabrera doubled in two runners and later scored on Art Charles' two-bagger.

The Tigres roared back to take Sunday's Game Six, 5-2, thanks to a three-run homer by Alonzo Harris in the top of the sixth off Yucatan reliever Jose Manuel Lopez to break a 2-2 deadlock.  Harris, who hit .301 with eight homers for Quintana Roo in 48 games, is a former Mets prospect who spent two years playing indy ball with St. Paul before batting .315 with 23 homers for York in the Atlantic League last summer.  Venerable Pablo Ortega took the 2-2 tie into the fifth before he was replaced by Javier Solano with two out and the bases loaded.  Solano induced Leo Heras to ground out sharply to C.J. Retherford at first to end the threat and went on to hurl three more scoreless frames to take the win in relief.  Although it was Lopez who gave up Harris' homer, predecessor Carlos Frias was charged with the go-ahead run and thus the loss, his second in the series.

Game Seven is set for Monday night at 7PM Eastern in Merida's Parque Kukulcan.  Manager Roberto Vizcarra will send Yoanner Negrin to the mound for the Leones while TIgres skipper Tim Johnson counters with Jesse Estrada.  The contest will be streamed live at the LMB En Vivo page on Facebook.  En espanol, por supuesto.


LMB ALL-STAR GAME ROSTERS RELEASED

A total of 56 players will converge on Merida at the end of June for the annual Mexican League All-Star Game, set for June 29 at Parque Kukulcan, the 14,917-seat home of the Yucatan Leones.  The game had originally been scheduled for Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu but was shifted to Yucatan earlier this year when construction delays on the Diablos Rojos' new ballpark pushed the facility's opening back to the 2019 season.

Both the North (managed by first-place finisher Monterrey's skipper Roberto Kelly) and South (headed by Yucatan helmsman Roberto Vizcarra) division rosters will include 28 players apiece, half of them pitchers.  Kelly will have Monclova's wins and strikeouts champ Josh "The Mayor" Lowey, wins co-leader Carlos Hernandez of Tijuana and Jorge Reyes, who was the Liga's ERA leader for Kelly's Sultanes, to choose from for the North's starting pitcher.  Vizcarra has plenty of starting material on the South roster, including Quintana Roo's Henderson Alvarez, Yucatan ace Yoanner Negrin and Octavio Acosta of Mexico City.

There are even a  pair of sentimental choice in Campeche's Francisco Campos and Pablo Ortega of Quintana Roo.  Campos, 45, is in his 24th season pitching for the perennial also-ran Piratas, spending some time on loan with Monterrey in 2006.  While his 2-2 record and 5.16 ERA are so-so at best, an All-Star Game without the beloved Pancho Ponches would be almost unthinkable (this is his 14th).  The venerable Ortega (in his 20th LMB campaign at age 41) has shown he can still pitch by going 3-2 with a 3.13 ERA in seven regular season starts for the Tigres and turning in a complete game win over Mexico City in the LMB South semifinals earlier this month.

A day ahead of the All-Star Game, there'll be the ubiquitous Home Run Derby plus a new competition featuring double play combinations.  The Home Run Derby will feature three longballists from each division:  Aguascalientes' Francisco Perez, Ricky Alvarez of Monterrey and Monclova's MVP Jesse Castillo will represent the North against Puebla's Daric Barton, Luis Juarez of Yucatan and former MLB shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, now with Oaxaca.  The Double Play Derby will feature five keystone combinations being timed on turning two outs:  Moises Gutierrez and Javier Salazar (Durango), Ramiro Pena and Ramon Rios (Monterrey), Maxwell Leon and Isaac Rodriguez (Tijuana), Rolando Acosta and Carlos Gastelum (Quintana Roo) plus Walter Ibarra and Everth Cabrera (Yucatan).

Here are the rosters for both All-Star squads:

NORTH DIVISION
Pitchers (14) - Anthony Carter (AGS), Linder Castro (AGS), Maikel Cleto (LAG), Tiago Da Silva (DUR), Carlos Hernandez (TIJ), Josh Lowey (MVA), Josh Lueke (MVA), Rafael Martin (SAL), Nestor Molina (LAR), Wirfin Obispo (MTY), Roman Pena (LAG), Jorge Reyes (MTY), Marco Tovar (MTY), Raul Valdes (MTY).
Catchers (2) - Jose Felix (MVA), Isidro Pena (DUR).
Infielders (7) - Jorge Cantu (TIJ), Jesse Castillo (MVA), Dustin Geiger (DUR), Agustin Murillo (MTY), Ramiro Pena (MTY), Isaac Rodriguez (TIJ), Saul Soto (AGS).
Outfielders (5) - Yadir Drake (MTY), Desmond Jennings (MVA), Maxwell Leon (TIJ), Enrique Osorio (LAR), Chris Roberson (MTY).
Manager - Roberto Kelly (MTY).

SOUTH DIVISION
Pitchers (14) - Octavio Acosta (MXC), Henderson Alvarez (QR), Francisco Campos (CAM), Dustin Crenshaw (LEON), Barry Enright (QR), Adrian Garza (TAB), Chad Gaudin (YUC), Arcenio Leon (OAX), Dallas Martinez (LEON), Yoanner Negrin (YUC), Juan Pablo Oramas (TAB), Pablo Ortega (QR), Pedro Rodriguez (CAM), Jose Samayoa (YUC).
Catchers (2) - Sebastian Valle (YUC), Hans Wilson (TAB).
Infielders (6) - Emmanuel Avila (MXC), Daric Barton (PUE), Yuniesky Betancourt (OAX), Alberto Carreon (PUE), Carlos Gastelum (QR), Alexei Ramirez (MXC).
Outfielders (6) - Carlos Figueroa (MXC), Leo Heras (YUC), Luis Juarez (YUC), Junior Lake (LEON), Ivan Terrazas (MXC), Jesus Valdez (YUC).
Manager - Roberto Vizcarra (YUC).

LOS MOCHIS DEALS VALLE TO MAZATLAN FOR QUIROZ

New Mazatlan catcher Sebastian Valle

The Los Mochis Caneros and Mazatlan Venados have swung a major Mexican Pacific League offseason trade, with the Caneros sending catcher Sebastian Valle to the Mazatlan Venados for second baseman Esteban Quiroz.  In the 26-year-old Quiroz, Los Mochis brings in one of the top second sackers in a country with several good ones (including Manny Rodriguez, Isaac Rodriguez and Ramon Rios), a nice blend of batting with extra-base power and good range afield.  In the 28-year-old Valle, Mazatlan gets one of Mexico's top catchers, a one-time Phillies prospect featuring solid defensive skills and some pop at the plate, if not necessarily a high average.

New Los Mochis second baseman Esteban Quiroz

Both are members of the Mexican National Team who've had their careers harmed by injuries.  Quiroz was placed on the 7-day DL April 30 by the Boston Red Sox with a leg injury suffered when the 5'7" sparkplug nicknamed "El Pony" was hitting .302 with 4 homers and 13 ribbies over 15 games for AA Portland.  He had .264/0/21 numbers in 59 games for Mazatlan last winter.  Valle hit just .203 with 6 homers in 36 games for Yucatan of the Mexican League this Spring (he's currently batting .381 after six games against Quintana Roo for the LMB South championship) after a .184/6/12 LMP season with Los Mochis in 2017-18

Veteran second baseman Paul Leon is expected to take Quiroz' place in new Venados manager Joe Alvarez' everyday lineup while former Padres farmhand Ricardo Valenzuela will battle 32-year-old Humberto Sosa (a current teammate of Valle in Yucatan) for the Yaquis catching job next winter.

South playoffs uncertain as final LMB Spring week arrives

Tijuana Toros second baseman Isaac Rodriguez

The final week of the Mexican League's abbreviated Spring 2018 season is upon us and while most participants for next month's eight-team playoffs have been determined, the fourth and final positions in the South Division remain up in the air with six games left on the schedule.

In the LMB North, the Monterrey Sultanes have a 33-18 record to continue their season-long leadership in that division, although Aguascalientes (30-21) has won three straight to pass Tijuana (29-21) for second place.  Monclova (26-24) is in fourth, three games behind Tijuana and four-and-a-half games in front of Durango (22-29), setting up a first-round series with Monterrey while the Rieleros and defending champ Toros are jockeying for home field advantage in their likely division semi set.

Things are much more unsettled in the South, where three teams have a chance for first place while another three are vying for the final playoff berth.  Yucatan holds the best record in the league at 35-16 and have a three-game lead over Mexico City (31-18) while Quintana Roo (30-18) is on the Diablos' heels.  The Tigres visit Cancun next week in what may be the most important series of the 57-game season for both teams.  

Likewise, things are tight in a three-way duel for fourth place.  Leon (24-26) had a solid grip on fourth before dropping eight of their last ten games, allowing Puebla (23-26) to sneak to within a half-game.  Lurking behind the Bravos and Pericos is Tabasco (23-28), a team given no chance to make the postseason when the season opened but winners of seven of their last ten contests to creep to within a game-and-a-half of Leon.  It seems almost certain that the standings will be close enough at season's end to force a single play-in game between the fourth- and fifth-place teams.

Isaac Rodriguez of Tijuana is bouncing back from a mediocre 2017 season in a big way, topping the Liga with a .405 batting average, 83 hits and 46 runs scored while tying Mexico City's Carlos Figueroa for the stolen bases lead at 19 apiece.  The LMB's Rookie of the Year in 2016, the 27-year-old second baseman has to be in the mix for Most Valuable Player honors. There's now a three-way tie for the lead in homers as Monterrey's Ricky Alvarez is knotted up with Monclova's Jesse Castillo and Luis Juarez of Yucatan with 13 longballs each.  Castillo, who joined the Acereros after a big 2017 season with Aguascalientes, is tops with 54 RBIs.

Tijuana starter Carlos Hernandez is making it harder to consider anyone else for Pitcher of the Season.  The Californian leads circuit hurlers with eight wins and a 2.21 earned-run average, with his lone loss coming to Tabasco on April 11.  The two-time Texas League All-Star has allowed just four walks in 53 innings over ten starts for the Toros. Josh Lowey of Monclova has the strikeout trophy ready for engraving with 74 whiffs over 65.1 frames, 21 K's ahead of Raul Valdes of Saltillo.  Aguascalientes closer Anthony Carter's first year in Mexico has gone well, with 13 saves in 14 opportunities to lead the Liga while registering a 2.12 ERA in 27 trips from the Rieleros bullpen.

Yaquis pick ex-MLB infielder Oscar Robles as new manager

New Obregon Yaquis manager Oscar Robles

One year after his retirement as a player, former Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Oscar Robles has been picked to manage the Obregon Yaquis next winter in the Mexican Pacific League.  Robles went out a winner after playing for the 2017 Mexican League champion Tijuana Toros, for whom he is serving this year as a coach under manager Pedro Mere. The Obregon job will be Robles' first full-time managerial gig, although he won all three games he served as a fill-in for the Navojoa Mayos in 2007-08.

The 42-year-old Robles is a Tijuana native who played high school ball in San Diego before beginning his playing career at 18 as a third round draft pick of the Houston organization in 1994, spending five seasons in the Astros system before returning south of the border to play for Oaxaca and Mexico City between 1999 and 2004.  Robles used some of his signing bonus money from the Astros to buy a new scoreboard for his high school's baseball field. The Diablos sold Robles to Los Angeles for the 2005 season and he rewarded the Dodgers by hitting .272 with 44 runs in 110 games primarily at shortstop and third base.  

However, he only hit .152 in 29 games for the Dodgers in 2006 and ended up spending time in the Padres and Phillies systems before returning a final time to the Mexican League in 2009 for stints in Mexico City and Tijuana over the last nine seasons of his career.  While his major league batting average was a less-than-awe-inspiring .260 for 163 games in three seasons with the Dodgers and Padres, Robles was a very effective .339 hitter in 15 seasons in the LMB (topping the .350 mark five times. He also spent 21 winters playing for four teams in the MexPac.

Robles will replace Miguel Ojeda in Obregon after the Yaquis failed to qualify for the LMP playoffs for the second winter in a row.  His coaching staff will include bench coach Rafael Castaneda, first base coach Leo Valenzuela, third base coach Gerardo Sanchez, batting coach Sergio Gastelum and pitching coach Tavo Alvarez.

The Trouble with Toros

The image of the Tijuana Toros as the Mexican League's model franchise has taken a bit of a hit in 2018.  The first crack in the facade came during training camp, when former Los Angeles Dodgers coach Juan Castro left the franchise after first being hired in the winter as the Toros' director of baseball operations, let go without warning by team owner Alberto Uribe and then brought back as a coach, a job Castro left behind in MLB for when ended up as a disastrous two-month stint in Tijuana before he left in frustration and returned to his home in Phoenix.

Now there's an American fan expressing his own frustration with the Toros organization.  The fan, who wishes to remain anonymous for now, grew up in New York and saw Mickey Mantle play for the Yankees as a youth but now works as a photographer in San Diego, where he's become a Toros fan over the past two years...until now.  The following is the text from an email sent to Baseball Mexico after attempts to address a financial discrepancy that left the fan with no funds in his bank account left him as frustrated as Castro was:

I have been a big fan of this team for 2 years. I have Toros stickers on my car.  I have a Toros jersey and a Toros hat. And whenever I get a chance, no matter where I am (US or MX), I gloat about how great it is to be at a Toros game.  I have been to both Serie del Reys.

So I want to go to last Saturday's game (April 21).  The website would not allow me to buy a ticket so I went to MacroPlaza, which is where I bought tickets last year.  After dealing with Friday afternoon traffic, I walk into the Toros shop and they tell me they no longer sell tickets and I must go to the stadium.  So I drive to Gasmart Stadium. I go to the ticket booth and request 2 tickets, $469 pesos. I like to sit right about 3rd base and close. By the way, I am a big baseball fan...my Dad took me to games at Yankee Stadium when I was a kid. I am old enough to have seen Mickey Mantle play his last 2 seasons.  I have no cash on me (my first mistake), so I use my debit card. The kid doing the transaction seemed new but I did not interfere with his job. His manager was nearby but was not very interested in what this kid was doing. Again it is not my business, so I leave and I go to Soriana's to go food shopping because my fridge is empty.  

I go to the cashier to check out  and my card is denied. But I know that I have money in that account so after contacting Soriana's management to see if it was a problem with their system, I decided to contact my bank.  And guess what? The kid had charged me $469 DOLLARS instead of pesos, so now I am overdrawn, and the overdraft fees roll in. I start a claim with my bank to work on getting my money back.  Mind you, I do not have a dime to my name now and the bank said the investigation can take up to 10 days.

So I take a deep breath and brave the Friday evening traffic in Tijuana.  I get home and start trying to contact the Toros organization. First I send a message through the Toros website.  I have not seen a reply to that yet after 7 days. Then I try the Facebook page and the response is dismal at best.  It was basically (paraphrase from memory), “We are sorry that you had this experience, and I hope it works out with your bank.”   I send a message that I will be at the game that night if they wanted to contact me.

At the game I walked into an "office" of sorts. I meet a kid that works for the organization. He seems very confused and said to meet him after the game.  The game begins and I start to feel sick, like the flu. I leave after the 4th inning and go home. I send the kid a message telling him that I am sorry but I felt sick.  That was Saturday and I have not had a response yet. In the meantime I have rice and beans in my cabinet so until today, when my bank released some of the funds, it had been that for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  

By Sunday my illness is not getting better so I drive to my hospital and they prescribe antibiotics.  Only problem is that I have no money to buy them. I finally bought them today. In the meantime my automatic payment for my cell phone bill is denied with a $35 charge, my YMCA payment denied with a $10 charge, etc. etc.  

Now I must say this.  The fact that they have "stonewalled" me up to now is not a surprise (relating to their complete and utter lack of empathy).  I have had 2 other very specific incidents with them in the past relating to their lack of empathy so this surprised me, and yet it did not surprise me.

By the way, I have had several other "encounters" with the Toros organization.  One was re: a promo they made 2 yrs ago. It was a video with actors portraying Nazis, including Hitler ( it appeared that the Nazis were the Toros).  The were standing over a large map and making a strategy to "wipe out" their opponents. Being a Jew that has lost family to the Holocaust, I was offended and I let them know this.  They responded with sort of a "what's the big deal?" attitude. I tried to explain why it’s a big deal but they did not see my point. I then sent an image, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, of a male forearm with "6,000,000" written on it. They answered, "What is the point of this?” and I told them what the point was, and is.

Another issue was the use of the word "puto" in the stadium, especially against the opposing team.  I asked if they knew anything about good sportsmanship. They did not answer that. And I mentioned the fine by FIFA against the Mexican National Team for the use of this word.  No response on this. And children, in the stadium, are chanting it with the adults. This is a family gathering at the games..so why???

The last issue was with their #1 mascot named Chango.  Chango does a lot of interacting with the crowd but the one thing that he constantly does (that I think is inappropriate) is his very sexual "pelvic thrust.”  He does it a lot and the young kids try to copy him. They never answered me on this issue.

It sounds like there are a few answers for the Toros to come up with.  Regarding the ticket charge issue, to quote Judge Marilyn Milian from TV's People's Court program, "PAY the man!"  Concerning the Nazi references, where to begin? The fan says he's considering contacting the Anti-Defamation League about it.

LMB wrestles with internal issues (again) at Winter Meetings

You have to hand it to Javier Salinas.  His transition to Mexican League president has gone smoothly enough that little appears to have changed with the circuit since former LMB leader Plinio Escalante stepped down at the conclusion of the 2017 season.  Evidence?  One year after Escalante and the Assembly of Presidents were dealing with a myriad of issues within the league at the 2016 Baseball Winter Meetings, Salinas and his employers have gathered in Orlando this week for the current winter meetings with yet another myriad of problems sitting on their plates, many of them new but one polarizing item last year may be broached again this time.  This is what Salinas & Co. may or may not deal with in Florida this week:

*A wrestling match between the LMB and the Durango Generales franchise, a basket case under owner Virgilio Ruiz this year after the team relocated from Carmen last winter.  The LMB first announced that the Generales would take 2018 off to get their financial house in order, then reversed their position to state Durango WOULD play after all while new owners would be sought and now Ruiz has stated in no uncertain terms that the league does not have the right to revoke his franchise and that HE will operate the Generales next year.

*Quintana Roo Tigres owners Fernando Valenzuela and his wife Linda have reportedly been told by Salinas that their protest over five Tigres prospects on a master roster they were given before buying the Cancun team, only to have those prospects mysteriously pop up in the employ of the Mexico City Diablos Rojos after the February sale was completed.  Two of those prospects were sold last summer to the Texas Rangers for a combined US$2.7 million, money the cash-strapped Valenzuelas say should be theirs.  Unwilling to anger the league's richest owner, Alfredo Harp Helu, Salinas has in effect closed whatever investigation he conducted and told the Valenzuelas to move on, which they say they will: straight to Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Connor and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

*The Diablos are on the receiving end of another complaint, this time a lawsuit brought by former bullpen coach Braulio Neri, who was injured last spring in Leon when a light tower in hastily-readied Estadio Domingo Santana collapsed during the Bravos delayed home opener and caused Neri a knee injury.  A ten-year Diablos coach, Neri was fired by Mexico City GM Francisco Minjarez (who appears to be very involved with the Tigres-Diablos imbroglio) a month after his knee was operated on.

*Another lawsuit, this one from pitcher Sergio Mora, was filed against the Oaxaca Guerreros, who (like the Diablos) are owned by the billionaire Harp.  This grievance centers on payment for treatment Mora received after suffering an injury while playing for the Guerreros.  In what appears to be typical fashion, the team has not responded to past entreaties from Mora to pay bills incurred on their watch.  

*Finally, Monterrey Sultanes co-owner Jose "Pepe" Maiz, who sold half the team to the Grupo Multimedios corporation at the same time the Tigres sale went through last winter, is rattling sabers about bringing up the use of Mexican-American players in the LMB again.  Maiz carried his snit over losing the 2016 Northern Division championship series to a Tijuana team loaded with such players to the winter meetings last year and the issue threatened to split the league in two or cause the cancellation of the 2017 season altogether before O'Connor convened an emergency meeting in Houston and essentially read the owners the riot act, ruling that there would be no limit on the number of Mexican-American players, partly because a limit would violate Mexican labor laws.  Maiz, who runs Mexico's Little League organization and was a member of Monterrey's 1957 LL World Series title team, remained under wrap during the season but appears to be spoiling to pick his fight up where he left off.

Other than that, it should be business as usual for the LMB in Orlando, including the announcement of 2018's two schedules.  Then again, it may be "business as usual" that has caused these problems in the first place. Ojeda fired in Obregon, replaced by Juan Navarrete

With 15 games remaining in the Mexican Pacific League's regular season, former major league catcher Miguel Ojeda became the fourth manager in the eight-team loop to lose his job since play opened in mid-October.  Ojeda, who was hired last month to manage the Mexican League's Monterrey Sultanes next year, had managed Obregon to a last-place finish in the first half with a 13-22 record.  He had the Yaquis in fifth place with a second-half record of 6-8 when he was let go last Wednesday following a 4-2 loss to Mazatlan.

It's been an interesting past few months for Ojeda, who was hired by Obregon last January after the Yaquis missed the playoffs.  Since the conclusion of the Mexican League regular season, when his Mexico City Diablos Rojos missed THAT league's postseason after his team was riddled by injuries while other longtime veterans showed their age and failed to deliver as expected, the Sonora native (who led the Red Devils to the 2014 pennant) was not re-hired for the 2018 season.  He then began his first year in Obregon with a roster that many Mexican baseball columnists say was poorly-assembled by the Yaquis front office during the offseason.  Entering this week's play, Obregon's offense is last in the LMP in batting (.243) and runs per game (3.25) while the pitching staff has been mediocre despite the strong work of starter David Reyes, who is 5-0 with a 1.92 ERA in ten starts.

Former star second baseman Juan Navarrete has replaced Ojeda in the Yaquis dugout.  A product of Gomez Palacio and former Expos farmhand, Navarrete hit .327 over 16 LMB seasons, collecting 2,396 hits and scoring 1,005 runs in 1,607 games (mostly for Saltillo) before retiring as a player following the 1990 season.  Navarrete was selected to the Salon de la Fama in 1998.  Since his playing days ended, Navarrete has spent the past 20 years working for the Oakland Athletics, for whom he is currently their minor league coordinator.  As a manager, he led Tabasco to their lone Mexican League pennant in 1993 and was named the MexPac's Manager of the Year in 2014-15 while piloting the Jalisco Charros during their first winter in Guadalajara after moving east from Guasave.

Things have been going a little better in Mexicali, where new manager Pedro Mere (who replaced Roberto Vizcarra, who replaced Tony Tarasco in Jalisco) has the defending champion Aguilas in the lead with a 13-5 record, but Navojoa has won four in a row and nine of their past ten games to pull within one game of the leaders at 12-6.   The Mayos have been led by utilityman Randy Arozarena, a Cuban-born Cardinals minor leaguer who's hitting .299 with an LMP-best 12 homers while scoring 40 runs (also a league high) while Mexican League MVP 1B Jesse Castillo (.302/8/34) and 3B Jovan Rosa (.293/9/25) have also been prime contributors, but it's the Mayos' pitching staff that has really shone for combustible manager Willie Romero.  Navojoa leads the MexPac with a 2.96 team ERA, with knuckleballing vet Eddie Gamboa (5-0/2.72) leading a staff that should get an expected boost later this month from Red Sox hurler Hector Velazquez, last winter's Pitcher of the Year.

Speaking of the aforementioned Vizcarra, he hasn't had any more luck getting wins out of the Jalisco Charros than Tarasco did.  The front office is almost desperate to win the pennant so their team will represent Mexico in February's Caribbean Series (which the Charros will host), but Jalisco had lost seven of eight games before beating Los Mochis twice over the weekend to pull into a seventh-place tie with the Caneros at 6-12.  The Charros axed former MLB catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia last week after he hit just .189 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 27 games, going 1-for-14 over his final four games.  You can't blame second sacker Manny Rodriguez for Jalisco's poor showing, though.  The 35-year-old is hitting .340 with 9 homers and 47 ribbies, the latter ranking tops in the LMP.  Rodriguez has an outside shot at a Triple Crown and appears to be in the lead among potential MVP candidates.

LMP STANDINGS (as of 12/11/17)

Mexicali 13-5 (4.0), Navojoa 12-6 (4.5), Mazatlan 10-8 (6.0), Culiacan 9-9 (7.0), Hermosillo 8-10 (8.0), Obregon 8-10 (3.0), Los Mochis 6-12 (3.5), Jalisco 6-12 (5.0).

LMP HITTING LEADERS

Batting-Sebastian Elizalde (CUL) .369, Runs-Randy Arozarena (NAV) 40, Homers-Randy Arozarena (NAV) 12, RBIs-Manny Rodriguez (JAL) 47, Stolen Bases-Jeremias Pineda (MAZ) 27.

LMP PITCHING LEADERS

Wins-Mitch Lively (MAZ) 8, ERA-Rolando Valdez (MXI) 1.75, Strikeouts-Sergio Mitre (MXI) 52, Saves-Manny Acosta (OBR) 15, Holds-Carlos Bustamante (NAV) and Edgar Gomez (MXI) 13, WHIP-Mitch Lively (MAZ) 0.90.

Tijuana wins Academy Rookie League title

The Tijuana Toros claimed their second pennant of 2017 when their Academy Rookie League squad posted a 22-11-2 record to finish three games ahead of Veracruz-Leon, who came in second at 20-15 in the six-team circuit.  There will be no playoffs.

Under manager Jorge Luis Loredo (who is Monclova's helmsman during the LMB season), the Toros broke a two-year grip on the Academy League crown that Mexico City-Oaxaca had held, with the Diablos-Guerreros coming in fourth at 17-16-2, one game behind third-place Yucatan-Laguna, who went 18-15-2 (games are allowed to end in ties).  Quintana Roo's rookie team ended up in fifth with a 14-18-3 mark while Monterrey brought up the rear at 9-25-1.

Tijuana was led by the 1-2 pitching punch of youngsters.  Fernando Gallegos went 5-2 and struck out 37 batters while walking 6, somehow losing twice despite a 1.38 ERA.  Fernando Olguin was a perfect 6-0 with a not-as-otherworldly 2.87 ERA.  The Toros had four .300+ batters in their everyday lineup: Martin Gonzalez (.333), Victor Navarro (.331), Alejandro Gutierrez (.330) and Oscar Romero (.324).

However, it was Tigres rookie Efren Nieves who was selected Most Valuable Player.  Nieves batted .354 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 35 game with a .468 OBP aided by 26 walks in 158 plate appearances.