OLYMPIC TEAM CHOSEN; UNPICKED CLARK STEAMED

    Players for Mexico's first-ever Olympic baseball team have been selected, with 24 athletes slated to make the trip to Tokyo later this month along with manager Benji Gil and his coaching staff. Twelve are pitchers on the roster along with two catchers, six infielders and four outfielders.

    The two most internationally-experienced members of the team are first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and relief pitcher Oliver Perez. The former major leaguers are the only two players to have represented Mexico in the first four editions of the World Baseball Classic. Both are currently in their first seasons playing in the Mexican League, with Gonzalez playing for Gil in Guadalajara and Perez coming out of the bullpen for Omar Vizquel in Tijuana.

    In all, the Mexican roster includes eight players of dual nationality while eleven belong to the Mexican Pacific League's Culiacan Tomateros, who've won two consecutive winterball pennants under Gil's management. That latter point has raised a few eyebrows among the country's baseball cognoscenti, many of whom have said that there were better choice available. That skepticism has extended into the playing ranks, with one ballplayer in particular being very vocal over being passed over by selectors from the Mexican Baseball Federation (FEMEBE).

    Leon Bravos first baseman Matt Clark represented the United States in the 2011 Baseball World Cup but homered for Mexico against the USA in the 2019 Premier12 tournament's third-place game to help the Verdes Grande win the contest, punching their ticket to Tokyo in the process. Clark was expecting to be rewarded for his contributions during the Qualifier and was outraged after Gonzalez and Efren Navarro, who has played the past two winters for Gil in Culiacan, were selected to play first instead. Taking to Twitter, Clark said, “What a joke. Without my homerun Mexico is not even in the Olympics. I wish the players the best but what an absolute sham by the LMB and the people that make the team.”

Leon Bravos 1B Matt Clark

    Clark hit .316 with 27 homers and 87 RBIs for Leon in 2019 but was traded to Monterrey in February as part of a five-player swap that netted the Bravos outfielders Felix Perex and Chris Roberson. Since returning to the Bravos from Monterrey on June 15 (when the Sultanes traded for outfielder Carlos Alvarez), the 34-year-old Clark has hit .337 for Leon with seven homers and 19 RBIs over 21 games. Gonzalez, 39, is sixth in the LMB with a .375 average to go with five homers and 38 RBIs (tied for third) in 35 games after not playing since 2018. Navarro, 35, was batting .339 with no homers and 16 ribbies for Tijuana after 37 games. Outfielders Joey Meneses and Sebastian Elizalde can also play first if needed.

    One of the players chosen to make the trip to Japan was unsurprisingly sanguine about the Olympics. Former Yankees infielder Ramiro Pena, who has also played in Japan and is currently toiling for Monterrey. Pena told Thomas Lopez of Septima Entrada that he thinks Mexico stands a good chance of earning a medal. “I think the team is going to be very good,” Pena said. “It is very well formed. I think that with the names that are there, we can do a very good job...I think there will be very good results.” Pena, who turns 36 on July 18 and has played in Culiacan the past 13 winters, also expressed confidence in manager Gil: “Obviously I know Benjamin and I know how he is. I think he's a very good manager and I think he'll help us focus on bringing in the gold."

    The Olympic baseball squad will begin gathering in Mexico City on Saturday, with a July 21 evening departure to Tokyo. The Mexican League office has announced that the nine LMB teams with a total of 16 players going to Japan will be allowed to bring in players of any nationality to replace them on their rosters while the Summer Games are going on. The other eight players representing Mexico have been playing in Japan, Taiwan and MLB-affiliated minor leagues. One of them, former Red Sox second-round draft pick Teddy Stankiewicz, earlier pitched in Taiwan for the Uni-President Lions this season (a 1.07 ERA over 50.1 innings) before being given his release July 1 so he could play in the Olympics. Stankiewicz signed with Tijuana one day later but has yet to pitch for the Toros.

    Mexico's first Olympic baseball game is scheduled for July 30, when they take on the Dominican Republic. Their second game will be one day later against host Japan, whose hoe-field advantage will not include a partisan crowd in the stands. It was announced last week that after a recent upsurge in Wuhan virus cases in the island nation, no spectators will be admitted to any Olympic event. Initially, limited audiences were to have been permitted, but with no cheering allowed from the seats.

STREAKING MARIACHIS CREATE BREATHING ROOM ATOP LMB NORTH

Guadalajara P Masaru Nakamura

    A week before he leads the Mexican Olympic baseball team to Tokyo for the Summer Games, manager Benji Gil and the Guadalajara Mariachis reeled off a seven-game winning streak to open a 3.5-game lead over Tijuana in the Mexican League's Northern Division standings. The first-year franchise posted a weekend road sweep in Mexico City and and won two games each against Puebla and the Toros to build their record up to an LMB-best 30-9 before dropping a 6-4 decision Sunday in the border city.

    The Guadalajara offense has been firing on all cylinders the entire season, leading the Liga with a .339 team batting average while scoring 7.77 runs per game. Infielder Niko Vasquez second behind Durango's Tito Polo with a .425 mark. The Mexican League isn't seeing the inflated averages this year that marked the 2019 campaign after switching back to a Rawlings baseball instead of the livelier Franklin ball used that season. Only three teams are averaging above .300 in 2021 compared with ten in 2019 (Yucatan averaged .299 while three more teams were .294 or better).

    Despite losing Sunday, Guadalajara's 30-10 mark leads Tijuana (29-16), defending champion Monclova (28-16) and Saltillo (26-18) in the LMB North standings while Union Laguna (19-22) and Aguascalientes (17-20) are in a virtual tie for fifth place. Despite being swept at home by the Mariachis early in the month, Mexico City (26-15) is ahead of Yucatan (23-19), Veracruz (23-21) and Puebla (21-21) in the LMB South, although the Pericos have stumbled to one win over their past ten games after starting July with a 20-12 record. Tabasco and Quintana Roo have identical 21-23 records to tie for fifth in the division.

 

Durango Generales CF Tito Polo

   Colombian centerfielder Polo of Durango took over the lead in the Mexican League batting race after going 3-for-5 with a double and his fifth homer of the season during Friday's 7-3 Generales win at Dos Laredos and finished the weekend at .426, one ahead of Vasquez. Henry Urrutia of Saltillo is third with a .414 average. Leon's Xavier Batista continues to lead the circuit with 14 homers, one more than the 13 of Rainel Rosario, a former teammate of Batista's on Japan's Hiroshima Carp. Three players have 12 dingers each and Urrutia is one of four players tied for sixth with 11 roundtrippers and is closing the gap on the LMB's RBI leader Leandro Castro of Tijuana, whose 50 ribbies are just three ahead of Urrutia's 47. Toros second sacker Isaac Rodriguez, who'll be playing in the Olympics later this month, now has 17 stolen bases. Alonzo Harris of Oaxaca trails Rodriguez with 15 swipes.

    Ageless wonder Bartolo Colon of Monclova and longtime NPB hurler Masaru Nakamura of Guadalajara both won games last week, while Aguascalientes reliever Anthony Vizcaya somehow won two despite a 6.64 ERA to tie for the lead among Mexican League pitchers with six win apiece. Nakamura's ERA is a solid (for this league) 3.10 while Colon is right behind at 3.14 as both rank among the top ten in that category behind Veracruz' Dylan Unsworth's 2.57. Unsworth has walked just four batters in 42 innings and tops the loop with an 0.98 WHIP. Puebla's Jose Valdez has overtaken Mexico City's Hector Hernandez for the Liga leadership in strikeouts, 52 to 50. Tijuana's former MLB All-Star Fernando Rodney heads the list with 13 saves, one more than closers Carlos Bustamante of Monclova and Union Laguna's Jenrry Mejia.

    Looking ahead, Mexico City will host defending champion Monclova from Tuesday through Thursday in an important matchup of two divisional contenders. Tijuana will play in Guadalajara for trio of games next weekend with the Toros minus infielders Efren Navarro and Isaac Rodriguez along with reliever Oliver Perez, who'll be heading to Tokyo for the Olympics along with first baseman Gonzalez and skipper Gil from the Mariachis.

PURO BEISBOL: CHARROS FOR SALE, PERICOS OWNER A BUYER?

Quirarte (L), Navarro (R) in happier times

    The ongoing battle between Jalisco Charros co-owners Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte has been well-chronicled in Baseball Mexico. The conflict between the two men, which led Quirarte being stripped of his duties as the Guadalajara team's president last winter, has gotten personal and nasty while seemingly destined to end up in a courtroom. And now there's another apparent twist in the saga: The Mexican Pacific League team may be up for sale to an outside owner.

    Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros has been one of Mexican baseball's best-connected columnists since starting the social media outlet in 2004. The Culiacan-based scribe reported in his Zona de Contaco column last week that Navarro and Quirarte may both be willing to sell their respective shares in the Charros.

    Jalisco has become one of the MexPac's flagship clubs since the two men bought the Guasave Algodoneros following the 2013-14 season and moved the team to Guadalajara's retrofitted Estadio Panamerica, which had housed both baseball and track & field events during the 2011 Pan American Games. The 16,000-seat ballpark, now named Estadio Charros, is located in the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan and has hosted games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic as well as the 2018 Caribbean Series.

    While the Charros have become one of the LMP's bright lights on the field and at the gate, the front office has degenerated into a proverbial dog's breakfast. Relations between Navarro and Quirarte have deteriorated over the past seven years, culminating in Quirarte being forced out of the team's day-to-day operations last year after allegations of financial irregularities surfaced. The two have held competing press conferences hurling accusations at each other since then, and the split appears as permanent as it does severe.

    Complicating matters is that there are two companies involved and potentially working at cross purposes. According to a Google translation of a January story in Milenio, “Quirarte explained that the Holding Deportiva de Jalisco, SA de CV company is the one that has shares in a series of operating companies, among which is Juegos y Espectáculos Beisbol Charros, SA de CV which operates the cash flow and has the concession of the stadium; Holding Deportiva is where the share percentages of the different team members are derived.

    “According to Quirarte, Juegos y Espectáculos is 99 percent owned by Holding Deportiva (in which Quirarte has 41.5 percent shares) while the other 1 percent belongs to Armando Navarro, who is the sole general administrator of Juegos y Espactaculos.” Quirarte was quoted later in the story that “All I want is to reach a fair agreement for the good of the team, the fans and the league.”

Puebla Pericos owner Pepe Miguel

    That “fair agreement” may be the sale of the Charros, something Quirarte says he's willing to do. Ballesteros writes that two sources from within the State of Jalisco government are saying that businessman Jose “Pepe” Miguel (aka The King of Beans) was interested in possibly purchasing the Charros, something that the owner of the Mexican League's Puebla Pericos denied in a letter to Puro Beisbol.

    Miguel bought the Pericos franchise in 2019 after it was one of four LMB franchises brought back from contraction on orders from newly-elected Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. While the other three revived franchises (Aguascalientes, Laguna and Leon) have all resumed bleeding red ink, Miguel's Pericos drew well at the gate in 2019 and their resuscitation has been a success thus far, with Miguel's proactive approach in reaching out to fans in the colonial city deserving much of the credit.

    The open conflict between the two men whose success in Guadalajara has been recognized by the international baseball community appears to be thankfully coming to an end. No matter how things play out, however, both Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte deserve much credit for bringing a tailender winterball franchise to a city that had never previously embraced baseball and making sure the team not only survives, but thrives.

MLB CANCELS APRIL PADRES-D'BACKS MEXICO SERIES

The outbreak of the coronavirus and the resulting panic that led to the delay of the Major League Baseball regular season has unsurprisingly meant the cancellation of a planned two-game series between the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City next month. The so-called Mexico Series would've pitted the two National League West rivals against each other on the weekend of April 18-19 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City.

Instead, the two contests will be rescheduled later in the season in Phoenix, as the Diamondbacks had relinquished two home dates to make room for the Mexico Series. "It breaks our heart we won't be playing in front of the incredible fans in Mexico," a statement from the Arizona front office reads, "but health and safety come first." A tweet from the Padres states, "Our series in Mexico City has been cancelled do to the delayed start of the 2020 season. We look forward to the next time we are playing in front of our beloved fans in Mexico." MLB also cancelled a planned three-game series between the New York Mets and Miami Marlins between April 28-30 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. No decision has been made yet regarding the fate of this June's London Series in England between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

Mexico City's Estadio Harp Helu

The Mexico Series would've marked the first MLB regular season games ever played in Mexico City, where the Diablos Rojos' 20,576-seat ballpark (named after their billionaire owner) opened a year ago this Monday when the Diablos hosted a team of Padres minor leaguers in front of a full house. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador became the first Mexico president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch since 1947 and Mexico City's Jesus Fabela scored the first run in the new facility, but the rest of the contest belonged to the Padres, who won 11-2 in a game that was overshadowed by the festivities surrounding it. The Diablos went on to draw 389,641 fans over 54 regular season games last year (an average of 7,216 per opening) to finish fourth in the LMB in attendance, trailing only Tijuana (11,291), Monterrey (9,770) and Yucatan (8,673). The Toros and Sultanes led all of Minor League Baseball in average attendance while the Leones finished fifth. Mexico City was 18th overall.

The cancellation of the Mexico City will cause a financial hit to the host Diablos Rojos. Ticket prices for the two games started at 450 pesos (US$18.41) for outfield seats and rose to 3,200 pesos (US$130.95) for VIP seats and 2,500 pesos (US$102.30) to sit behind home plate. Ticket refunds are being offered to those who already purchased their ducats.

MLB has previously held eleven regular season games in Mexico, all at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey, home of the Sultanes.  The first was a Padres-Colorado Rockies game on April 4, 1999, which brought in a ballpark record 27,104 spectators. A pair of two-game series last year (Cardinals-Red and Angels-Astros) drew in the 16,000-18,000 range per opening. 

MEX PAC NAMES 2019-20 GOLD GOVE AWARD WINNERS

Jalisco catcher Gabriel Gutierrez

The Mexican Pacific League has announced the winners of its 2019-20 season Rawlings Gold Glove awards, given annually to players considered the best fielder at their respective positions. Four of then ten players receiving honors were members of the LMP champion Culiacan Tomateros.

Pitcher of the Year Yoanys Quiala of Los Mochis aided his own cause by handling 18 chances in the field without a miscue in 87.2 innings over 14 starts without to earn the Gold Glove for hurlers, his second in a row with the Caneros. As a Culiacan postseason addition, Quiala was perfect on four chances during his lone start in the Caribbean Series.

Two catchers also played errorless ball in 2019-20 to share the Gold Glove. Jalisco's Gabriel Gutierrez, already known as a top-notch receiver, burnished his reputation by not committing an error on 458 chances behind the plate. He also nailed 25 of 49 base-stealers for a 51% mark in that category. Another stalwart defensive backstop, Mexicali's Xorge Carrillo, was awarded after fielding 376 chances cleanly in 51 games. Carrillo threw out 17 of 46 base-stealers, a 37 percent rate.

Culiacan anchored the right side of the LMP's defensive dream team. First baseman Joey Meneses committed two errors on 454 opportunities to finish with a .996 fielding percentage. Meneses, who hit .332 during the regular season, was flawless in 35 chances in four games at the initial hassock during the Caribbean Series and hit .417 before signing with Boston after the tournament.

Tomateros second baseman Ramiro Pena, a favorite of manager Benji Gil, earned top honors at the keystone position by turning in a .988 fielding percentage after committing just three blunders over 256 chances. The former Yankees infielder, who also had MLB stints with Atlanta and San Francisco, handled 24 chances without error in the Caribbean Series and turned three double plays.

Culiacan second baseman Ramiro Pena

Jalisco veteran Agustin Murillo is not a newcomer when it comes to winning Gold Gloves at third base in the Mex Pac, and 2019-20 was no exception. Murillo turns 38 in May but showed no sign of slowing after augmenting his .314 batting average with a .993 fielding percentage, committing just one gaffe in 139 chances and taking part in nine twin-killings.

Daniel Castro's glovework is what led to MLB opportunities with both Atlanta and Colorado between 2015 and 2018, thus it's no surprise that his work at shortstop for Mexicali has been rewarded. Castro, who also plays second and third, was 261-for-266 in fielding chances for the Aguilas to finish with a .981 average after splitting the 2019 season between the Mariners and Dodgers systems.

Culiacan players also anchored two of three positions on the LMP's Gold Glove team. Speedy Rico Noel, who led the league in steals (30) and runs scored (47), earned the nod in centerfield with a .986 fielding percentage, committing five errors in 138 chances during the regular season. He handled 18 chances without sin during the Caribbean and started a double play from the outfield.

Tomateros teammate Sebastian Elizalde was named the Gold Glove rightfielder after recording a .983 fielding average, committing two errors in 115 chances over 54 regular season contests. A former Reds farmhand who played for Mexico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Elizalde played three games in the Serie del Caribe, fielding eight fly balls cleanly before signing with the New York Mets.

Navojoa's Alonzo Harris, the 2019 Mexican League MVP, was given a Gold Glove for his play in left field for the Mayos. Harris was 133-for-135 in chances for a .985 fielding percentage and threw out six baserunners. The Mississippi native broke into pro ball in 2008 as a second baseman before being converted into an outfielder as a Mets minor leaguer during the 2011 season.

MEXICO HOLDS FIFTH PLACE IN LATEST WBSC BASEBALL RANKINGS

The World Baseball Softball Confederation released its first set of global baseball rankings for 2020 last Friday. There were no changes among the top six teams, which means Mexico maintained its number five ranking from the previous rankings released on December 31, 2019. In all, 86 nations were listed.

Japan held on to the top spot with 6,167 total points, providing the Baseball Samurai a comfortable lead over the second-ranked United States, who came in with 4,676 points. South Korea is breathing down the USA's neck with 4,648 points while Taiwan held on to fourth place at 4,385. Mexico's 3,375 points was good enough to keep the fifth slot but Australia is not far behind in sixth at 3,249. Cuba and Venezuela leap-frogged past The Netherlands into seventh and eighth place, respectively, while the Dutchmen slipped from seventh to ninth. The Dominican Republic rounded out the Top Ten with Puerto Rico hanging on to its #11 ranking while Panama slipped past Canada into twelfth on the list as Latin American countries make up half of the dozen leading nations on the listing. At the other end of the spectrum, Bahrain, Haiti and Iraq were tied for 84th and last with five points apiece.

In other categories, Japan also led in the women's baseball rankings, ahead of Canada, Taiwan and Venezuela, who bypassed the USA into fourth place while the Americans dropped to fifth. Mexico moved past the Philippines into 14th place in women's baseball. In men's softball, Japan holds the top slot in those rankings as well after slipping past former #1 Argentina in the latest listing. New Zealand, Canada, Australia and the United States round out the top six while Mexico moved up one berth to eighth, trailing the seventh-place Czech Republic. In the WBSC women's softball rankings, the USA preventing Japan from sweeping all the top spots by holding the number one position on that table while Japan stayed in second. Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico complete the first five.

Mexico's 2018 U-23 World Cup champions

Global rankings from the WBSC are compiled on a points system based on how well respective national teams perform at various levels of competition. Baseball rankings are drawn from the World Baseball Classic and Premier12 events as well as Baseball World Cup tournaments at the U-23, U-18, U-15 and U-12 age groups. Continental events such as Europe's CEB Championships or the Pan-American Games are also included, albeit for fewer points in the ranking system, while co-called friendlies between national teams in non-tournament settings (such as last winter's Samurai Series between Japan and Mexico) round out the points system. Rankings are released on an irregular basis, although the WBSC usually compiles them at least once a year.

TOMATEROS FALL SHORT IN CARIBBEAN SERIES SEMIS

Tomateros arrive at Estadio Hiram Bithorn

After arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico on the heels of their seven-game Mexican Pacific League championship series win over Mazatlan, the Culiacan Tomateros hoped to keep their momentum going entering the first round of the 2020 Caribbean Series.  After narrowly dropping a 2-1 decision to the Dominican champion Este Toros in their February 1 opening game, the Tomateros reeled off four consecutive wins to advance to the semifinals before losing a 1-0 knucklebiter to Venezuela's Lara Cardenales on February 6 despite outhitting the Cardenales by a 9-2 margin.

The following is a recap of each Tomateros CS game at Estadio Hiram Bithorn: 

February 1: Este (DR) 2, Culiacan 1

The Toros got on the scoreboard when Abraham Almonte doubled off Culiacan's Manny Banuelos to bring Peter O'Brien and Diego Goris home, giving Este starter Yunesky Maya and two relievers all the support they'd need. The Tomateros averted the shutout in the ninth when Joey Meneses doubled and scored from second on a Juan Carlos Gamboa single before Este's Wirfin Obispo closed the door for the save.  Maya tossed five innings of two-hit ball for the win while Banuelos took the loss after allowing two runs on four hits and four walks over 3.2 frames. 

February 2: Culiacan 4, Santurce (PR) 2

Another Tomateros pitcher named Manny (Barreda) had a strong start and Sebastian Elizalde cranked a homer as Culiacan bounced back from their opening day defeat to top host Santuce, 4-2.  Barreda served up a Jan Hernandez homer in the second for the only run he allowed over five four-hit innings while Elizalde's three-run bomb off Cangrejeros starter Giovanni Soto in the fifth broke open a 1-1 contest.  From that point, five relievers held Santurce to one run the rest of the way for the win, with Alberto Baldonado earning the save for manager Benji Gil's team.

Culiacan second baseman Ramiro Pena

February 3: Culiacan 6, Chiriqui (PAN) 1

The LMP's Pitcher of the Year for 2019-20, Yoanys Quiala, showed how he earned the hardware by giving up just one run to the Panamanian titlists over seven innings in Culiacan's 6-1 win over the Astronautas. Joey Meneses led off the bottom of the second with a double, followed by Dariel Alvarez' RBI single up the middle.  Two outs later, Jose Guadalupe Chavez tripled in both Alvarez and Ramon Rios (who'd singled) for all the scoring the MexPac champs would need. Meneses, who also singled Ramiro Pena home in the fifth, finished with three hits while Chavez had three ribbies.  

February 4: Culiacan 7, Lara (VZ) 6

Joey Meneses drove in four runs in Culiacan's third consecutive win as the Tomateros built a 7-0 lead, then hung on for a one-run win over Lara to clinch a berth in the Caribbean Series semifinals.  Meneses went 2-for-4 with a homer while Rico "Nitroman" Noel contributed a pair of hits, including a two-run double. Anthony Vasquez got the win despite dishing up a three-run homer to the Cardenales' Carlos Rivero. Alberto Baldonado came in from the bullpen with a runner on second in the ninth and struck out the last Lara batter to save the victory.

February 5: Culiacan 4, Monteria (COL) 0

The Tomateros closed out the first round with their fourth straight triumph in a 4-0 win over Colombian CS debutant Monteria. Culiacan starter Edgar Torres put in 7.2 shutout innings on the mound, with a Brallan Perez single in the first being the Vaqueros' lone hit off the lefty. Torres didn't have a win or save as a middleman in 55 appearances for Durango in the Mexican League last summer.  Ramiro Pena, who didn't play in the Tomateros' first game after missing his flight to San Juan, swatted a two-run homer for the winners while Rico Noel and Juan Carlos Gamboa each had two hits. 

February 6:  Lara (VZ) 1, Culiacan 0 (semifinal)

The Cardenales earned revenge while punching their ticket to the title game by squeaking out a 1-0 win to knock Culiacan out.  The only run of the contest came in the bottom of the third when Lara's Welington Dotel, who has peviously played in both the LMP and LMB, stroked a double off lefthander Zack Dodson to drive in Gorkys Hernandez with what eventually proved to be the game-winner.  Dodson otherwise had a great six-inning performance but the Tomateros left 16 baserunners stranded while being whitewashed. Lara went on to lose to Este, 9-3, in the final game.

Celebrating a win over Panama

Despite falling short of winning the team's third Serie del Caribe championship (Culiacan won in 1996 and 2002, both times under late manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada), the Tomateros placed five players on this year's Dream Team: Starting pitcher Edgar Torres, catcher Ali Solis, first baseman Joey Meneses, second baseman Ramiro Pena and centerfielder Rico Noel.  Rounding out the Dream team were third baseman Emmanuel Rivera (Santurce), shortstop Ali Castillo (Lara), leftfielder Ruben Sosa (Este), rightfielder Henry Sosa (Santurce), designated hitter Jordany Valdespin (Este), relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez (Este) and manager Lino Rivera (Este).  Culiacan has the most players named to the Dream Team but both Chiriqui and Monteria were shut out.

The 2021 Caribbean Series will be held in Mazatlan and the refurbished Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, which now seats 16,000 spectators.  National champions from both Colombia and Panama will return to the competition on a provisional basis but, according to the Hitazo website, Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation president Juan Francisco Puello has issued a statement that Cuba is not being invited to Mazatlan next year.  The first-time Cuban National Series champion Matanzas Cocodrilos had been scheduled to participate in San Juan last week before backing out of the event in early January, citing "pressure" from the U.S. government and an inability to obtain visas for the trip to Puerto Rico.

MENESES SIGNS WITH BOSOX, ELIZALDE INKS PACT WITH METS

Although the Caribbean Series is still considered the Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball, its focus among players has shifted from being an opportunity for some Major League Baseball stars to play winterball representing their home nations into a showcase for younger players hoping to exhibit their talent to prospective MLB employers.  The tournament has lost some of its luster among baseball fans no longer likely to see legends like David Ortiz, Roberto Alomar, Miguel Cabrera or Juan Marichal, but a number of current players filling the void will catch the eye of big league scouts every February and sometimes that's enough to create a chance to move up in the baseball world.

New Boston Red Sox signee Joey Meneses

In that vein, no fewer than three members of the Culiacan Tomateros signed free agent contracts with MLB organizations last week while the Serie del Caribe was ongoing. Perhaps the most prominent among them was first baseman Joey Meneses, who signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox.  The 27-year-old Meneses spent seven years in the Atlanta system before signing a minor league deal with Phladelphia prior to the 2018 season.  The 6'3" Culiacan native was assigned to the Phillies' AAA Lehigh Valley affiliate and proceeded to tear up International League pitchers to the tune of a ..311 batting average with 23 homers and 82 RBIs over 130 games, being named the IL's Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player for his effort.  That led to a contract with Japan's Orix Buffaloes, for whom Meneses struggled mightily in a 2019 that ended with a .206 average and four homers in just 29 NPB games.  The Red Sox are expected to assign Meneses to their AAA Pawtucket.  His Mexican rights are currently held by the Monclova Acereros.

Sebastian Elizalde goes to the New York Mets

Another Tomateros player who made the most of his time in the Mexican Pacific League and Caribbean Series this winter is outfielder Sebastian Elizalde, who parlayed a strong regular season for the Tomateros (.308 with 10 homers and 21 stolen bases in 60 games) and appearance at the Caribbean Series into a minor league contract with the New York Mets. The Guaymas-born Elizalde spent four years as a Monterey Sultanes prospect prior to being sold to the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 as a 21-year-old.  He went on to spend five years in the Reds organization, earning a berth in the 2015 Florida State League All-Star Game, before being returned to the Sultanes in 2018.  Elizalde batted .319 in limited action for Monterrey last summer and may be ticketed for the Mets' AAA Syracuse team in the International League, although his rights in Mexico still belong to Monterrey.

Manny Banuelos signs pact with Seattle Mariners

Despite an often-rocky regular season and losing the first game of the Caribbean Series to eventual champion Este, pitcher Manny Banuelos did well enough to earn a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners for 2020 and will report to the team's Arizona training camp ths week.  Unlike either Meneses or Elizalde, the 5'10" lefty from Gomez Palacios has appeared in the majors for Atlanta in 2015 and the Chicago White Sox in 2019.  Banuelos went 3-4 with a 6.93 ERA for the Chisox, including an April 22, 2019 start at Baltimore during which he held the Orioles scoreless with four strikeouts over four innings of a 12-2 win.  A free agent signee with the Yankees at age 17 in 2008, Banuelos was a 2018 postseason All-Star in the AAA Pacific Coast League after pitching for the Dodgers' Oklahoma City affiliate that year, and is perhaps bound for the Mariners' AAA Tacoma farm team.  He was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts for Culiacan during the regular season.  He has never pitched in the Mexican League over 12 professional seasons, including a 2013 campaign he took off after having Tommy John surgery.


LAGUNA TABS LONGTIME JAYS MiLB SKIPPER MALAVE AS MANAGER

Omar Malave to manage in Union Laguna

During the 2020 season, the Union Laguna Algodoneros will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the region's debut in the Mexican League. The original Union Laguna team needed just two years to cop their first LMB pennant under Hall of Famer Martin Dihigo in 1942.  A second Liga flag was won in 1950 with Memo Garibay at the helm and, seventy years later, it's the last pennant to have been raised at Estadio Revolucion, the team's 87-year-old home ballpark.  Laguna has been in and out of the LMB since that initial 1940 season, with the current incarnation of the Cottoneers (established in 1985) representing the fifth LMB go-round for Torreon, Coahuila and Gomez Palacio, Nuevo Leon, the two cities at the center of the agriculuture-based Laguna region of 1.3 million residents.

Into this scenario steps new Algodoneros manager Omar Malave, who spent nearly 40 consecutive years in the Toronto Blue Jays organization as a player, manager, coach and administrator before making his first foray into Mexican baseball.  The 57-year-old Malave will replace former Union Laguna manager Jonathan Aceves, who piloted the team to an LMB-worst 37-79 record in 2019 for his managerial debut after spending 22 seasons as a catcher on both sides of the border.

A native of Cumana, Venezuela, Malave made his professional baseball debut as a utility infielder for the Blue Jays' Gulf Coast League team in 1981 along with his older brother Benito, a pitcher (younger brother Jose spent time as an outfielder for Boston in 1996-97 and also had a stint in Japan with Yokohama).   Omar went on to spend the rest of the Eighties playing in the Toronto system, mostly at the Class A level, although he did play eight games with AAA Syracuse in 1989, his last season as an active player.  By 1991 he was back in the GCL, this time as manager the Jays' rookie league team.

Malave coached with Toronto in 2010

Malave worked his way up the minor league managerial ladder until he reached Syracuse in 2000, beginning a four-year run with the Chiefs.  Malave's teams posted winning records in each of his first ten years as a manager and while his on-field fortunes waxed and waned for most of the next 15 years, he had an overall record of 1,455-1,352 over 22 years as an MiLB skipper after spending the 2015 season as helmsman with Dunedin of the Class A Florida State League.  He was named to the FSL Hall of Fame that year.  In addition to his long career as a minor league manager, Malave coached in Toronto with the MLB club under Clarence "Cito" Gaston in 2010 and served as the franchise's minor league coordinator in 2013. 

Malave will have a handful of decent everyday players at his disposal with the Algodoneros.  Outfielder Michael Choice .(398 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs in just 51 games) may be the best of them, along with ex-MLB and Dutch National Team outfielder Roger Bernardina (.336 in 34 games) and another outfielder, Francisco Ferreira (.307), who appeared in the 2019 LMB All-Star Game.  Pitching is another story, however, as Union Laguna had only two regular hurlers with an ERA under 5.00 last year: Middleman Roman Pena (3-2/4.03 in 70 trips from the bullpen) and starter Frankie De La Cruz (6-6, 4.91), who started strongly and was picked for the All-Star Game before fading at the end of the long season.  With a Liga-worst 8.05 team ERA, it's little wonder how the Cottoneers finished more than 40 games below .500 in a 120-game season.

Estadio Revolucion has hosted games since 1932

While the Algodoneros will play in the Mexican League's oldest ballpark (and one of the most ancient in all of the minors), Estadio Revolucion is getting a makeover prior to the 2020 season. The 9,935-seat venue was first opened in 1932 and underwent a renovation in 2002.  Noted for its art deco facade and the widest foul territory in Mexican baseball, thanks to a since-removed running track, Estadio Revolucion has hosted LMB All-Star games in 1995 and 2004.

CULIACAN WINS LMP FINALS IN 7, ON TO PUERTO RICO

Ramiro Pena was named Finals MVP

Former Yankees infielder Ramiro Pena belted a pair of homers and drove in five runs while starter Anthony Vazquez combined with four relievers to toss a shutout as the Culiacan Tomateros blasted the Mazatlan Venados, 11-0, on January 30 in Game Seven of the Mexican Pacific League Championship Series.  An overflow crowd of 20,000 looked on at Estadio Tomateros as Culiacan ran away with the deciding game to win the set, 4 games to 3, to win their second pennant in three seasons and 12th LMP flag overall while punching their ticket to the Caribbean Series, which was scheduled to open February 1 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Tomateros finished the regular season with a 37-29 overall record, fourth-best in the MexPac, but put together a playoff run during which they eliminated Mexicali in five games in the first round and outlasted Los Mochis in seven games before meeting Mazatlan in the title series.  The Venados opened with a six-game win over Hermosillo and knocked out top seed Obregon in seven games to reach the championship series, which began January 22 in Culiacan.

The Tomateros drew first blood in the series opener by bopping the Venados, 6-2, thanks in part to fifth-inning homers from Pena, Dariel Alvarez (a two-run shot) and Efren Navarro, the first two coming off Mazatlan starter Irwin Delgado.  Delgado also served up a third-inning roundtripper to Joey Meneses but was deadlocked in a 1-1 game with Culiacan starter Manny Barreda until the roof fell in for the visitors with the Tomateros' four-run outburst in the fifth. Barreda earned the win while Delgado was tagged with the defeat.

Game Two on January 23 didn't go any better for the Venados, as Culiacan held on for a 4-3 win to go up 2 games to 0.  Meneses whacked his second homer in as many nights in the bottom of the second to put the Tomateros up, 1-0, but the two teams jousted all the way into the seventh frame, when Sebastian Valle socked a four-bagger for Mazatlan in the top of the inning to pull the Deer into a 3-3 tie.  However, in the bottom of the seventh, Pena ripped a two-out double to left off Venados reliever Mitch Lively, who was then replaced by Roman Pena. The next batter, Sebastian Elizalde, then lined a 1-1 pitch to right, scoring Ramiro Pena to give the Tomateros a 4-3 lead they would maintain the final two innings for the victory.

The series shifted to Mazatlan for the next trio of games, with Game Three on January 25 resulting in a 7-0 Venados win as Juan Pablo Oramas scattered five hits and striking out seven Culiacan batsmen in seven innings to earn the win.  The batting star for the home team was Ricky Alvarez, whose two-run homer in the bottom of the third gave the Venados a 3-0 lead and bases-loaded bloop single to left one frame later plated two more runs made it a 6-0 Mazatlan advantage, leaving it to Oramas and four relievers to carry the shutout to its conclusion.  Tomateros starter Anthony Vasquez, who dished up Alvarez' longball, was saddled with the defeat.

Mazatlan evened things up at two games apiece on January 26 with their second whitewash in as many nights (and the third such game of the series), 3-0, behind a strong Game Four outing by Edgar Torres.  The 23-year-old Puebla native was a middleman for Durango during the 2019 Mexican League season before going 4-6 as a starter with the Venados. He went 6.1 scoreless innings and allowed just three hits while walking none before giving way to Daniel Guerrero and two other relievers as Tiago da Silva nailed down the save in the ninth.  The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth, when Mazatlan cobbled together three runs on two singles, three walks and two wild pitches off Culiacan starter Manny Banuelos (who took the loss) and two relievers.

The Tomateros bounced back on January 27 to pick up the first win by a visiting team in a 3-2 Game Five win over the Venados in ten innings.  Mazatlan's Jorge Flores led off the bottom of the first with a walk and later came around to score on a Carlos Munoz single to give the Deer an early 1-0 lead. The score held until a sloppy top of the eighth, when Culiacan tied the game on an RBI single by Rico Noel, who advanced to second on the play.  Noel subsequently stole third and then scored the go-ahead run on a Ramiro Pena sacrifice fly. The Venados knotted the game at 2-2 when Alberto Baldonado gave up a bases-loaded walk that pushed Anthony Giansanti in from third, but Culiacan went ahead for good in the top of the tenth when another Noel single (this one off da Silva) brought in Christian Zazueta with the eventual game-winner. Derrick Loop tossed a scoreless tenth to save the win for Baldonado.

Culiacan's Rico Noel was clutch in the LMP finals

The series resumed with a January 29 Game Six in Culiacan.  Mazatlan earned THEIR first road win by topping the Tomateros, 6-2, tying the finals in a game that was closer than the score indicated.  The Venados went up 1-0 in the top of the first when Edson Garcia scored on Ricky Alvarez' bases-loaded dribbler off Culiacan starter Zack Dodson to third, where Zazueta chose to throw to Pena at second to force Carlos Munoz.  A Ramon Rios homer off reliever Loop in the top of the seventh gave the Deer a 2-0 lead but the game was blown open in the top of the eighth, when the visitors scored four more times (with veteran Chris Roberson clubbing a three-run homer) to make it 6-0.  A two-run Efren Navarro double in the bottom of the ninth put the Tomateros on the board but it was too little, too late. Mitch Lively got the win after pitching eight shutout innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven. Dodson took the loss despite giving up only one run on four hits in five entradas.

That led to a deciding Game Seven on January 30, a contest that was basically over by the end of the first inning when Culiacan scored four runs and never looked back.  The damage was done when Meneses and Alvarez poked back-to-back RBI doubles, followed by an Elizade homer that scored Alvarez. All came off Mazatlan starter Oramas, who showed none of his Game Three magic (although he did last into the third.  The Venados did not lack for baserunners, gathering eleven hits and three walks off Tomateros starter Vasquez. However, they went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position en route to leaving 13 runners stranded on bases in what was a less-than-artistic shutout for Culiacan manager Benji Gil's team (but one they gladly took as a pennant-clincher).

The Tomateros had precious little time to celebrate their win and Ramiro Pena's selection as Finals MVP.  The team immediately packed their gear and headed out to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Caribbean Series.  Culiacan's first Serie del Caribe game was scheduled less than two day days after clinching the LMP pennant with a Saturday afternoon game against the Dominican League champion Este Toros at 2:30PM in Estadio Hiram Bithorn.

CUBA NO, COLOMBIA SI IN SIX-TEAM CARIBBEAN SERIES FIELD

The Caribbean Series will feature a six-team field for the second year in a row, but there will be a first-time entrant in Puerto Rico after another country bowed out of the competition.

Cuba, a charter member of the original Caribbean Series from 1949 until it was halted after the 1960 tournament, when Cuban dictator Fidel Castro (ironically a lifelong baseball fan and former player) ended professionalism in his county and withdrew seven-time CS winners Cuba from the competition.  The tournament was resumed in 1970, with Mexico and the Dominican Republic replacing Cuba and Panama in the four-nation lineup that also included Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Panama returned on an emergency basis last winter, hosting the event in the nation's capital and stunning the baseball world by winning it.

Cuba had returned to the CS lineup on a conditional basis in 2014 and their National Series champions Pinar de Rio winning the event one year later in San Juan.  The island nation even altered their National Series schedule so their champion could participate in the Serie del Caribe (the 2019-20 CNS championship was won by Matanzas), but the Cuban Baseball Federation pulled out of the Caribbean Series for this year, citing difficulty in obtaining travel visas to Puerto Rico in time for the event, leaving the tournament with only five national winterball champions.

Enter Colombia.

Pro baseball in the South American nation dates back to at least 1948.  Since 2013, the champion of the Colombia Professional Baseball League has taken part in the Latin American Series, a lower-tier competition similar to the CS won by LCBP champions twice (in 2014 and 2015) that had been scheduled to take place in Panama City last month but ended up being cancelled due to CS "call-ups" to Panama and Colombia plus the apparent demise of the Veracruz Winter League in Mexico, leaving Nicaragua as the only nation able to send a team to the competition.

Like Panama, Colombia is playing in the CS on a provisional basis until it can prove capable of competing with existing Serie del Caribe nations both on the field and in the ability to host the event in the future.  The LCBP is headed by former MLB shortstop Edgar Renteria, who has a 12,000-seat ballpark named after him in Barranquilla.  While the LCBP pennant-winning Monteria Vaqueros are not expected to contend for a Caribbean Series title this year, expectations were similarly low for the Panamanian champion Herrera Toros last February and all they did was win the tournament.  This year, the Panamanian Professional Baseball League (Probeis) will send the expansion Chiriqui Astronautas to San Juan hoping the Cinderella slipper still fits.

While the CS will feature relative newcomers from Panama and Colombia, four mainstays will be back in the lineup.  The Lara Cardenales will represent Venezuela for the second year in a row and sixth time overall. The Cardenales began playing in 1942 and have at times featured players like Cecil Fielder, Shawn Green, Felix Hernandez and late Hall of Famer Roy Halladay.  The Lara roster this winter included some players familiar to fans of Mexican baseball: 2017 LMB Pitcher of the Year Nestor Molina, Leon Bravos third baseman Carlos Rivero and outfielder Yordanys Linares, who has played in both the LMB and LMP. Lara is managed by former infielder Luis Ugueto, who spent parts of two seasons with the Seattle Mariners.

The Dominican champion Este Toros, formerly known as the Este Azucareros, are one of the younger teams in the Caribbean Series, having only played since 1983.  Based in La Romana, the Toros are playing in their third CS (and first since 2011). Este has a distinctly Mexican flavor to their roster, starting with manager Lino Rivera, who pitched for Monclova in the early 2000's before taking over as Acereros manager in 2004.  He went on to manage in Yucatan for several years, including the 2006 Mexican League champion Leones. Among Rivera's Toros players are current Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo, Aguascalientes reliever Anthony Carter, Unon Lagna starter Frankie de la Cruz and a quartet of outfielders who've played in Mexico: Felix Pie, Junior Lake, Jordany Valdespin and Ruben Sosa.

The host Santurce Cangrejeros need no introduction to Latin baseball fans.  The team goes back to 1939 and has over the years featured Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willard Brown, Roberto Clemente, Satchel Paige, Monte Irvin, Orlando Cepeda, Tony Perez and Reggie Jackson. Santurce has won 16 league championships over the years and copped five Serie del Caribe titles.  While the current incarnation of the Cangrejeros don't have any Cooperstown-bound players on their roster, manager Jose Valentin does have a solid crew of ballplayers including 2017 Caribbean Series MVP David Vidal (who plays for the Mexico City Diablos in the summer), former Cleveland pitcher and two-time WBC hurler Giovanni Soto, ex-MLB infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr. and onetime MLB outfielder Ray Fuentes.  Playing in their home ballpark, Santurce should be one of the favorites going into the CS.

The Culiacan Tomateros arrived in San Juan on the heels of their 12th Mexican Pacific League pennants, eight of them under the late Francisco "Paquin" Estrada and three more under current skipper Benji Gil.  Estrada led Culiacan to two Caribbean Series titles. While pro baseball in the Sinaloa city dates as far back as 1945, the current Tomateros franchise was founded in 1975 and has consistently contended tor championships ever since.  Although Culiacan hasn't had the list of Hall of Fame players Santurce has, they've had contributions over the years from such Mexican baseball stalwarts as Nelson Barrera, Francisco Campos, Karim Garcia, Luis Alfonso Cruz, Cy Acosta, Sid Monge, Luis Ayala and Salome Barojas.  This winter's edition has been led offensively by Joey Meneses, Christian Zazueta, Rico Noel, Sebastian Elizalde and MexPac MVP Dariel Alvarez while the pitching has been paced by closer Alberto Baldonado, starters Manny Barreda and J.C. Ramirez and swingman Aldo Montes.

This year's Caribbean Series will consist of five tripleheaders between February 1-5 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium for the first round of games in which teams will meet each other once, followed by a semifinal doubleheader on February 6 and the championship game on February 7 at 8:00PM.

2020 CARIBBEAN SERIES SCHEDULE

First Round

Saturday, February 1: Monteria (COL) at Lara (VEN) 10AM, Culiacan (MEX) at Este (DOM) 2:30PM, Chiriqui (PAN) at Santurce (PR) 8PM.

Sunday, February 2: Monteria (COL) at Chiriqui (PAN) 10AM, Santurce (PR) at Culiacan (MEX) 2:30PM, Lara (VEN) at Este (DOM) 8PM.

Monday, February 3: Chiriqui (PAN) at Culiacan (MEX) 10AM, Este (DOM) at Monteria (COL) 2:30PM, Santurce (PR) at Lara (VEN) 8PM.

Tuesday, February 4: Chiriqui (PAN) at Este (DOM) 10AM, Culiacan (MEX) at Lara (VEN) 2:30PM, Monteria (COL) at Santurce (PR) 8:00PM.

Wednesday,  February 5: Lara (VEN) at Chiriqui (PAN) 10AM, Monteria (COL) at Culiacan (MEX) 2:30PM, Este (DOM) at Santurce (PR) 8PM.

Semifinals

Thursday, February 6: Fourth Place at First Place 2:30PM, Third Place at Second Place 8PM.

Championship Game

Friday, February 7: Winner Semi One vs. Winner Semi Two 8PM.

DARIEL ALVAREZ NAMED MEXPAC MVP FOR 2019-20

Jalisco Charros OF Dariel Alvarez

Jalisco Charros outfielder Dariel Alvarez has been named the Most Valuable Player of the Mexican Pacific League for the 2019-20 season.  The native of Camaguey, Cuba received 71.1 percent of ballots cast for the award, beating out Jesus "Cacao" Valdez of Obregon, Culiacan's Sebastian Elizalde and Yadiel Hernandez of Hermosillo.

Alvarez, who is a reinforcement with Culiacan in Puerto Rico for the Caribbean Series, had a banner year with the Charros.  He led the MexPac with 16 homers (the most for a single LMP season since Obregon's Jesse Gutierrez whacked 20 longballs in 2011-12) and 56 RBIs while compiling a .301 batting average.  Alvarez also led the Mex Pac in total bases (135) and slugging percentage (.527) while striking out just 35 times in 281 plate appearances. His MVP season comes on the heels of a Mexican League campaign split in which he hit .288 with 18 homers and 80 RBIs in 117 games for Tijuana and Saltillo.

The 31-year-old Alvarez had quite a journey before coming to Mexico.  He debuted at 17 with his hometown Camaguey Ganaderos of the Cuban National Series in 2006-07 and went on to play six winters with the Ranchers, including a huge 2010-11 campaign that saw him bat .363 with 20 homers and 81 ribbies in 90 games.  One year later, Alvarez defected to Mexico and played one season in the Veracruz Winter League, batting .354 for the Tuxpan Tigres in 2012-13. Scouts from seven MLB organizations attended a 2013 workout in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but it was the Baltimore Orioles (who did not have a representative at the Florida workout) who outbid everyone to sign him.

Dariel Alvarez during his Camaguey days in Cuba

That began a quick rise for Alvarez through the Baltimore system, beginning with the Orioles' Gulf Coast League Rookie team for three games in August 2013 (he hit .444) and two weeks at Class A Frederick of the Carolina League (.436 in ten games), nine games at Bowie of the Class AA Eastern League (a wall-hitting .194) and a month with Surprise of the Arizona Fall League (.239 in 19 games) before presumably collapsing from exhaustion.  Alvarez spent the next three seasons bouncing between Bowie and Norfolk of the AAA International League, generally batting between .275 with occasional power and earning midsummer call-ups to Baltimore in 2015 and 2016 (hitting a combined .250 with a solo homer off Kansas City's Danny Duffy over 14 games).

However, things went south in 2017 when the Orioles attempted to convert Alvarez into a pitcher.  He'd tossed a few innings in relief for Camaguey before defecting, but the experiment resulted in Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2017 season and his 2018 release after struggling in two appearances out of the bullpen for the O's GCL affiliate.  Alvarez spent last winter in Guadalajara with the Charros, returning to the outfield and hitting .315 with 14 homers (second to Navojoa's Jovan Rosa) before signing with Tijuana prior to the 2019 LMB season.

Other postseason award-winners in the LMP are Los Mochis righthander Yoanys Quiala as Pitcher of the Year, Obregon skipper Sergio Gastelum copped his second consecutive Manager of the Year trophy, Hermosillo infielder Alex Robles was tabbed Rookie of the Year, Obregon pitcher Samuel Zazueta for Reliever of the Year,

EX-MLB P, VERACRUZ STATE LEAGUE FOUNDER ELVIRA MURDERED

Narciso Elvira pitching for Mexico's National Team

A former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher and the only Mexican to pitch a no-hitter in Japan before founding a winter league in his home state of Veracruz after his retirement has been murdered, along with his 20-year-old son.  Narcisco Elvira and his son were reportedly driving on a road outside the town of Paso del Toro on January 28 when armed men ambushed their car. Eyewitnesses to the attack said the two victims tried to flee the scene on foot but were gunned down after the assailants opened fire. The elder Elvira was 52 years old while son Gustavo was 20.

The incident marks a tragic end to what had been a fascinating life inside and outside baseball for Elvira, who was born October 29, 1967 in Tlalixcoyan, Veracruz.  As a 19-year-old lefthander, his rights were sold by Mexican League Leon Bravos to the Milwaukee Brewers in December 1986. The Brewers assigned Elvira to Beloit of the Class A Midwest League in 1987 and he went 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts for the Snappers that year.  Elvira was called up to the big club late in the 1990 season and made his debut on September 9, giving up a run on two hits with a strikeout pitching the ninth inning of a home loss to Detroit. Elvira made three more relief appearances that month, including 2.1 scoreless innings against the Yankees in what would be his last MLB game on September 28, finishing his abbreviated major league career with an 0-0 record and a 5.40 ERA over five innings with six strikeouts and five walks.

After spending the 1990's bouncing between MiLB and the Mexican League (mostly with Monterrey), Elvira was signed by the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Japan's Pacific League in 2000 at age 32.  In two years with the Osaka club, primarily as a starter, he was a combined 7-8 with a 4.79 ERA but made history as the first Latin American pitcher to toss a no-hitter when he banked the Seibu Lions on June 20, 2000.  Elvira was no stranger to no-nos, having hurled TWO of them for Monterrey in 1999. He later pitched two years in South Korea with the Samsung Lions, going 13-6 with a 2.50 ERA in 2002, before returning to Mexico for good to pitch for Campeche.  Elvira's last full season with the Piratas was in 2006, although he did come out of retirement at 41 to make two appearances (one of them a start) for Minatitlan in 2009 before hanging up his spikes for good.

Elvira celebrating his no-hitter in Japan

After his playing career concluded, Elvira went into ranching at home in Veracruz, employing about 100 people.  He made headlines in 2015 when he was kidnapped by men who claimed they were with the Gulf drug cartel, and was held captive for 23 days until police found him chained to a tree.  He said that the time that he had given up hope when his captors told him the ransom hadn't been paid. Despite that incident, Elvira stayed in Veracruz. "I like it here," he once said, "to be with my people, those who saw me grow up.  I wanted to be back here with them."

Even though he was no longer a pitcher, Elvira was never far from baseball.  When the original Veracruz Winter League folded after the 2015-16 season, he stepped up and organized the four-team Veracruz State Baseball League for the 2016-17 winterball campaign.  The LBEV did not operate at the same level as its predecessors, relying on homegrown prospects playing a weekend-only schedule in front of sparse crowds, but Elvira was able to bankroll them through two seasons with the Xalapa Chileros and Acayucan Tobis, respectively, winning pennants and competing in the Latin American Series.  The LBEV shut down after sisters Regina and Fabiola Vazquez Saut, co-owners of the Acayucan team and politicians affiliated with the PRI, restarted the LIV in 2018 for one season before that circuit apparently closed down this winter due to financial instability.

FERMIN COMMISSIONED AS NEW FIELD GENERAL IN DURANGO

Felix Fermin managed Aguascalientes in 2019

While most North American baseball fans remember Felix Fermin as a smooth-fielding shortstop who was once traded for a future Hall of Fame shortstop, their counterparts in Mexico think of Fermin as a former big leaguer who's gone on to be a pretty good manager capable of putting together winning teams under sometimes less then ideal conditions.  The 56-year-old Dominican well get another chance to spin silk out of a cow's ear after being picked as the Durango Generales' new helmsman.

Durango will be Fermin's sixth managerial stop in the Mexican League since he began as Monterrey's dugout boss in 2007.  That would turn out to be El Gato's longest tenure leading an LMB team, as he spent four mostly-successful seasons directing the Sultanes' on-field fortunes.  His first season was his best as Fermin managed Monterrey to a Liga-best 69-39 record and the Liga pennant. Fermin had a solid second year in 2008 as the Sultanes won their second consecutive LMB North title (after coming in third at 64-46) and reaching the Serie del Rey, where they lost to the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in five games,  but the team struggled to a 51-56 season in 2009 and missed the postseason altogether. Despite a 2010 rebound that saw Monterrey finish second in the North at 58-49 and winning their first round playoff series before falling to Saltillo in the division championship series, Fermin was fired after the season. Despite that setback, managers with 242-188 records and one pennant at their last stop usually find work in Mexico and it only took Fermin a year to land his next job.  

Instead of working for an established team with a storied past in a city that has historically supported its team, however, he took the reins of the Carmen Delfines, a 2012 LMB expansion team in a resort city with no history of baseball beyond four years in the late 1960's when the Cameroneros played in the long-forgotten Class A Mexican Southeast League.  Although Fermin had a handful of decent players like ex-Rangers outfielder Ruben Mateo and former Rays starting pitcher Tim Corcoran, the Delfines stumbled to a 51-60 record and a fifth-place finish in the LMB South. Things went much better in Carmen's second year as the Delfines finished first in the LMB South at 63-46, thanks in part to Mateo's .322/37/119 season and the addition of ex-Yankee outfielder Ruben Rivera (.313/22/80 with 23 steals), but lost to fourth-place Veracruz in the first playoff round.  Carmen reached the playoffs again in 2014 with a 57-54 regular season and a play-in win over Oaxaca, but the Delfines were bounced in the first round by Quintana Roo and after a 51-59 season in 2015, Fermin was bounced to the unemployment line. Ironically, the Delfines lasted one more season in Carmen until the team itself was bounced to (wait for it) Durango, where they became the Generales in 2017.

Fermin's 1991 Upper Deck card

Fermin has since managed in Monterrey (again) in 2016 and 2017, leading the Sultanes to an aggregate record of 140-80 but losing to archrival Tijuana in the MLB North finals both years, which led to owner Jose Maiz firing him a second time.  El Gato then led Dos Laredos to a 33-24 record in the Fall 2018 season before losing to Monclova in five games in their first-round series. Despite a respectable 21-15 record six weeks into the 2019 season, Tecos owner Jose Antonio Mansur replaced Fermin with Alfonso "Houston" Jimenez, yet another former MLB shortstop who led Dos Laredos to a 39-45 mark the rest of the way.  Fermin didn't stay jobless long, however. Two days later, he was brought to Aguascalientes to take over for the deposed Joe Alvarez, who left the Rieleros at 17-22. Despite toiling for one of the LMB's most perpetually-underfunded franchises, Fermin was able to coax the Railroaders to a 17-8 record in August (best in the Liga that month), including a six-game winning streak to salvage an otherwise lost 54-64 season, with a 37-42 register under Fermin.

And now it's on to Durango for the peripatetic Fermin, who will be replaced in the Aguascalientes dugout by former Baltimore pitcher Luis Carlos Rivera. Oh, that shortstop that the Seattle Mariners traded to Cleveland (along with designated hitter Reggie Jefferson) so they could install El Gato at the same position in the Kingdome?  A 26-year-old career .252 hitter named Omar Vizquel, Tijuana's new manager and someone who'll likely be selected to Cooperstown before his ten years of BBWA eligibility are over.