VERACRUZ TO RETURN TO MEXICAN LEAGUE IN 2021?

Will Mexican League baseball return to Veracruz?

Although nearly all the attention in the Mexican League's Mexico City office has been focused on when (or if) their 2020 season will get underway due to the indefinite delay because of the Wuhan virus, a group of businessmen in Veracruz are looking ahead to 2021 as their target for bringing the port city back into the LMB fold.

The El Fildeo website reports that Liga president Horacio de la Vega says that investors have approached him about the possibility of Veracruz returning to the circuit for the first time since the 2017 season, after which Rojos del Aguila owner Jose Antonio Mansur moved the franchise to the border cities of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and Laredo, Texas, renaming them the Dos Laredos Tecolotes. The Tecos are the only team in professional baseball shared between two countries.

“Veracruz is a large city,” de la Vega told El Fildeo. “We have had contact with businessmen there. The Aguilas have a great baseball tradition, not only in the city of Veracruz but from many other parts of the state.” He also said the effort comes from “businessmen and possibly the government who want to reactivate a team with the tradition that Veracruz has had.”

Media reports indicate that the person most interested in bringing the Mexican League back to Veracruz is Regina Vazquez, who (along with sister Fabiola) owns the Acayucan Tobis of the Veracruz Winter League, which the two sisters led in 2018-19 before it went silent last season due to lack of funds for meeting payroll, among other expenses. The Vazquez sisters reportedly asked Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for federal pesos last winter so they could operate the LIV, but the request was not granted. They are daughters of a prominent Veracruz politician and have both been active in local and state politics as well.

However, de la Vega insists his main concern is determining the future of the current Mexican League season. “The first thing is to play the 2020 season. Within this transitional time in many things, we can explore different possibilities for Veracruz, but it's not something the Liga will provoke.”

Josh Gibson in Veracruz, 1940

Veracruz has been represented by several teams over the 95-year history of the Mexican League, winning a total of six pennants between them. Baseball strongman Jorge Paquel owned his hometown Veracruz Azules prior to becoming the LMB president in 1946, by which time he had integrated modern pro baseball by signing various Negro League stars. Hall of Famers Josh Gibson, Monte Irvin, Roy Campanella, Cool Papa Bell, Ray Dandridge, Leon Day, Willie Wells and Martin Dihigo all suited up for the Azules at one time or other. Gibson, Irvin, Campanella, Dandridge and Dihigo are also members of the Salon de la Fama in Monterrey. The Azules won three championships between 1940 and 1944. The city's most recent LMB pennant came in 2012 under manager Pedro Mere, now the dugout boss in Tabasco.

Although baseball has a long history in Veracruz, which is also considered the best state in the country for producing players outside the western states of Sinaloa and Sonora, support in the stands has been tepid even in the best of times as Veracruz reflects Florida as a player-rich, fan-poor state. A revived Rojos del Aguila team would be the sixth club to use that name since the early 1950's. Veracruz' last LMB team finished 13th in the attendance derby with 2,661 turnstile clicks per game over 57 home opening for a total of 151,671. Mexican League teams have played at the 7,762-seat Estadio Universitario Beto Avila since 1992.

Where a new Veracruz team would come from would be a topic of conjecture, as several LMB teams have struggled financially in their present homes for years. Although the Campeche Piratas drew only 1,762 per home game in 2019, their ownership appears committed to remaining in the Walled City in the foreseeable future. A more likely target for a purchase and franchise shift may be the Aguascalientes Rieleros, for whom 2,001 fans per game turned out to watch the perpetually-underfunded Railroaders perform at Parque Alberto Romo Chavez in 2019.

MAZATLAN PULLS OFF TWO TRADES TO BRING IN IF PAREDES, C SOSA

Isaac Paredes in batting practice

Although the imbroglio with the City of Mazatlan regarding their eviction from Estadio Teodoro Mariscal has not been settled, the Mazatlan Venados have not stopped working to build their roster for the upcoming 2020-21 Mexican Pacific League season. The team swung a pair of trades last week that netted them a highly-touted infielder and a veteran catcher.

The Venados first traded veteran relief pitcher Adrian C. Ramirez to Monterrey for catcher Humberto Sosa. Although he'll only turn 32 this month, Ramirez will be entering his 15th season of professional baseball this summer when the Mexican League season gets underway. The Veracruz native was a starter early in his career before converting to middle relief in 2010. He's had some good seasons in both circuits but only pitched in eight games for Mazatlan last winter, with no record and a 9.00 ERA to show for seven innings.

Like Ramirez, Sosa saw little work for the Sultanes last winter, batting .042 with one RBI in 12 games. The 34-year-old Veracruzano spent four years in the Reds' system before making his LMB debut with Minatitlan in 2010. Although he was a three-year starter for Veracruz between 2012 and 2014 and a member of the city's last LMB championship team in 2012, Sosa has primarily been a backup catcher most of his career in both leagues. In five LMP seasons, he's batted .212 with five homers in 112 games.

With Sosa giving them an extra catcher on their roster, Mazatlan then shipped backstop Sebastian Valle to Obregon for the rights to infielder Isaac Paredes in a swap of higher-profile players. A 29-year-old Los Mochis product, Valle spent eight years in the Phillies system and showed some promise but had injury problems along the way. He also bounced between Pirates, Yankees and Mariners farm teams before making his Mexican League debut with Yucatan in 2017. He's no stranger to the LMP, however, having spent 12 winters in the loop and batting .236 with 62 homers and is considered a solid defender.

Humberto Sosa takes a swing

Paredes, a 21-year-old from Hermosillo, is currently on Detroit's 40-man roster after hitting .282 with 13 homers in the Eastern League for the Tigers AA Erie affiliate. He was hitless in six plate appearance for the big club during during training and expected to open the season with Detroit's longtime AAA affiliate Toledo of the International League. Primarily a shortstop but also a capable third baseman, Paredes has spent the past three winters with the Yaquis, batting .283 with seven homers in 105 games. He'll likely play second base for the Venados for manager Juan Jose Pacho.

The Venados staff was escorted out of Estadio Teodoro Mariscal in early April after the City claimed breach of contract by the team, specifically that the Venados denied the City ballpark access for Carnival or politically-related events while neither adequately supporting local basketball or boxing, maintaining the playing field nor delivering ballgame tickets to the elderly. According to Isac Chavez of El Sol de Mazatlan, the team filed an injunction against the City to allow them a return to the ballpark, but the injunction was denied. The City is also seeking the return of the facility's concessions business, the domain of Venados owner Jose Antonio Toledo and his family for 40 years.

CLEVELAND P OLIVER PEREZ DELIVERS 500 MEALS TO POOR IN CULIACAN

Oliver Perez handing out meals in Culiacan

Veteran major league pitcher Oliver Perez recently purchased 500 meals for people in the most marginalized neighborhoods of his hometown, Culiacan, Sinaloa. The Cleveland Indians reliever then literally went one step further by delivering the meals himself. Perez also sent several boxes of pizzas to medical personnel working the so-called “front lines” in response to the spread of the Wuhan virus in the city of 785,800 residents.

According to Puro Beisbol editor Francisco Ballesteros, Perez first bought the packaged meals and then traveled by car to various neighborhoods in Culiacan to personally deliver each of them to people who came up and requested one. He also made other contributions to the Iglesia del Carmen church in town. Ballesteros says this is not the first time the 38-year-old left-hander has made similar efforts. Other current or former MLB players from Mexico like Joakim Soria, Jose Urquidy, Jorge Cantu and Jaime Garcia have shown support for people affected by the Wuhan virus, which had been contracted by over 22,000 Mexicans as of last weekend, resulting in more than 2,000 deaths.

Perez is preparing for his 22nd season of professional baseball in a career that began after signing a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres in 1999. Then 17, Perez broke in that summer with the Padres' Arizona League team and posted a 1-2 record with three saves and a 5.08 ERA as a closer for the Rookie level team. He remained in San Diego's system (plus a short stint with Yucatan in the Mexican League in 2000) until he made his MLB debut at age 20 on June 16, 2002 when he made a home start against Seattle in an interleague contest. He had his rocky moments, allowing four hit and four walks in five innings, throwing a wild pitch and dishing up a two-run homer to Dan Wilson, but Perez also struck out seven Mariners and allowed just two runs to earn the 5-3 victory. He remained in San Diego for the rest of the season.

The 6'3” 225-pounder has certainly been well-traveled ever since, wearing the uniform of no fewer than eight teams over that time. He's had success as a starter, going 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA for Pittsburgh in 2004 and winning 25 games over two seasons (2007-08) for the New York Mets, leading the National League with 34 starts in the latter campaign. He signed a three-year, $36 million contact with the Mets after the 2008 campaign.

Perez delivers more than pitches

From that point, things went south for Perez, who was placed on the disabled list twice with tendinitis in his right leg in 2009 and refused minor league rehab assignments two times. When he did pitch for the Mets in 2009 and 2010, he only won three of 21 starts and allowed 85 earned runs in 110.1 innings. He was released following the 2010 season even though he had one year and $12 million remaining in his contract.

After spending the 2011 season with the Nationals' AA Harrisburg affiliate and going 3-5 with a 3.09 ERA in 15 starts, Perez returned to MLB with Seattle as a reliever in June 2012 after spending two months with AAA Tacoma. He spent two with the Mariners and did well as a setup man, posting a 3.16 ERA with four wins and two saves out of the bullpen in 93 trips from the bullpen. Perez moved to Arizona for the 20shington and Cleveland. Last year he made 67 appearances for the Indians, going 2-4 and earning a save while posting a 3.98 ERA for manager Terry Francona, striking out 48 batsmen and walking 12 in 40.2 homeinnings.

Following the shutdown of major league training camps and the delay of the regular season, Perez returned  to train with an eye on becoming the first Mexican to perform in 18 MLB seasons. He'll go into the 2020 campaign with a 72-91 career record and 4.38 ERA in 670 outings (including 197 starts). Perez has also pitched in six winterball seasons with the Culiacan Tomateros, with an overall 7-8 record and 3.54 ERA in 74 appearances, and took part in the 2014 and 2017 Caribbean Series (winning one game in each).

MEXICO WINS FIRST TWO PREMIER12 GAMES

Ali Solis in his Monterrey uniform

A two-run single by Efren Navarro and a three-run homer by Ali Solis in the eighth inning broke open a one-run game as Mexico went on to defeat the United States, 8-2, Sunday night in WBSC Premier12 play at Guadalajara's Estadio Charros.  The win gives Mexico a 2-0 record in Group A play with one game left to play against The Netherlands (0-2) Tuesday night at 7PM Central time.  Regardless of Tuesday's outcome, Mexico (who has outscored their opponents 14-3 over their first two games) will advance to the second round of the Premier12 in Chiba, Japan because they've defeated both the USA and the Dominican Republic, who'll take 1-1 records into their game Monday night.

The Verdes Grande, who were Sunday's visiting team, opened the scoring early when Christian Villanueva singled off American starter Tanner Houck to plate in Jonathan Jones and Juan Perez in the top of the first inning to go up 2-0.  The United States chipped away at their deficit via the longball, as Eric Kratz belted a solo homer off Mexican starter Horacio Ramirez in the top of the third and Bobby Dalback followed suit with a bases-empty blast off Ramirez one inning later to knot the score at 2-2.

Mexico went back ahead for good in the top of the fifth when Noah Perio hit a leadoff single, moved to third on a Javier Salazar safety and then scored the go-ahead run with two out when reliever Daniel Tillo's pitch to Esteban Quiroz got away from catcher Kratz.  From that point on, Felipe Gonzalez, Jesus Cruz, Brennan Bernardino and Carlos Bustamante held the Americans scoreless the rest of the way as Navarro and Solis put on their eighth frame fireworks show to cinch the win for the Mexicans.

Gonzalez earned the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless pitching for Mexico while Houck took the loss for the USA.  The Grandes Verde collected 10 hits to 6 for the Americans as Perez, Solis and Perio each had a pair of hits.  A crowd of 10,123 witnessed the contest at Estadio Charros, the largest gathering over the first two days of Group A action.  Going into the Premier12, the USA (managed by ex-Yankees infielder Scott Brosius) was ranked second in the world while Mexico was sixth.

Esteban Quiroz hit grand slam vs. Dominicans

Quiroz belted a fourth-inning grand slam homer to break open Mexico's Premier12 opening game against the Dominican Republic Saturday in Guadalajara as the hosts went on to top the Dominicans by a 6-1 score.  The contest was halted by rain after six innings, sending the reported 8,000 fans at Estadio Charros home or to their hotel rooms early.

The Dominicans took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when leadoff batter Geraldo Perdomo singled off Mexico starter Eduardo Vera, advanced to second base on an Otto Lopez groundout and later scored on a two-out single up the middle by former Mariners outfielder Carlos Peguero.  Peguero played three seasons with the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan before batting .286 with 9 homers and 44 RBIs in 52 games this summer for the Korea Baseball Organization's LG Twins (after spending a month with Tijuana in the Mexican League, hitting .259 with 5 homers in 22 contests).

The score held until the bottom of the third frame, when Salazar and Jones led off with singles and Christian Villanueva drew a one-out walk before Quiroz launched his bases-loaded blast over the center field wall off an Enny Romero delivery to give the Mexicans a 4-1 lead.  Two innings later, Navarro and Matt Clark hit back-to-back homers to right off reliever Luis Perez to make it a 6-1 contest.  Solis then struck out and Salazar grounded out to first before the game was called because of rain.  Reliever Humberto Castellanos got the win for Mexico after tossing two perfect innings while Romero absorbed the loss.

The Dominicans bounced back Sunday to even their Group A record at 1-1 with a 14-4 win over The Netherlands as Peguero, Charlie Valerio and Jeison Guzman each bopped solo homers after Holland had taken a 3-0 lead in the first.  The United States had swamped the Dutchmen, 9-0, in the Group A opener Saturday afternoon behind a two-hit shoutout from winner Cody Ponce (5 IP) and four relievers who were backed up by four homers, including a grand slam from Red Sox prospect Bobby Dalbac.  Venerable Rob Cordemans took the loss for The Netherlands.  Cordemans, who turned 45 on Halloween, has pitched internationally for Holland since 1995, including appearances in the World Baseball Classic, Olympic Games, Baseball World Cup and Intercontinental Cup (winning the 2011 Gold medal) while anchoring eight European Baseball Championship title teams.


LIFETIME SEATHOLDERS THREATEN SULTANES WITH LEGAL ACTION

Estadio Monterrey, Mexico's largest ballpark

Weeks into their inaugural Mexican Pacific League season, the Monterrey Sultanes are finding life a little tougher on the playing field as well as in the luxury suites and box seats.  The Sultanes are a perennial powerhouse during the spring and summer during the Mexican League season, but they currently have a 7-12 LMP record to tie fellow expansionists Guasave for sixth place, four games behind the 11-8 Obregon Yaquis.

Monterrey's winterball team is operated separately from their Liga brethren, with largely different players and coaches.  Former White Sox outfielder Alejandro de Aza leads the Sultanes with a .394 batting average while outfielders Michael Choice and Felix Perez have combined for four homers and 23 RBIs (although Perez is hitting just .209 thus far after batting .308 with 30 homers for Monterrey over the summer).  Sultanes manager Homar Rojas' pitching staff has struggled at times, although starting pitcher Edgar Gonzalez has pitched better than his 1-2 record indicates, with a 2.01 ERA and 19 strikeouts and just 2 walks over 22.1 innings.

Even though the team is not performing up to the usual Monterrey standards, they ARE a new LMP entry and there are still nearly two months to turn things around in the won-lost column.  The front office may be wishing their team's on-field performance was their biggest concern, but that distinction may belong to the some of the Sultanes' most well-heeled fans.

According to Puro Beisbol, lifetime holders of seats and luxury boxes at Estadio Monterrey have sent a letter to the Sultanes threatening legal action after the team allegedly failed to honor terms of the agreement between the two sides dating back 30 years.  At that time, several prominent baseball fans in Monterrey made significant monetary contributions toward the construction of Estadio Monterrey, which opened July 12, 1990, when the city hosted the World Youth Baseball Champions for players 16 and under.  The Sultanes' first LMB home game there was played against Nuevo Laredo one week later.  The agreement between the franchise and benefactor fans was that in exchange for their contributions toward building Mexico's largest ballpark at present (capacity 21,906), the fans would receive "lifetime" access to their designated boxes and seats for up to 50 years, or until the year 2040.

Sultanes co-owner Jose "Pepe" Maiz

Now, those fans are claiming that Sultanes co-owners Grupo Multimedios, who bought half the team in 2017, have reneged on the agreement cobbled together by co-owner and team president Jose "Pepe" Maiz three decades ago.  "As many know," the letter states, "a new administration led by Multimedios entered two years ago and arbitrarily decided this year not to invalidate those rights granted to us nearly 30 years ago."

Making things more complicated for the Sultanes is another claim made in the letter: That the team cannot use Estadio Monterrey for Mex Pac games because the contract (presumably the one between the team and lifetime seatholders) needs to first be modified by the Nuevo Leon state government and has been suspended by order of a federal judge.  "We want to see the Pacific League and encourage teams in our state," the letter concludes, "But we will not let a company (Multimedios) make fun of us and our rights."

Back between the LMP foul lines, a first-half dogfight has developed at the top of the standings between Culican and Hermosillo.  The Tomateros have a 14-5 record to clutch a narrow half-game lead over the 13-5 Naranjeros.  Los Mochis and defending champion Jalisco are two games out of first with identical 12-7 records, one game ahead of Obregon.

Noel Cuevas of Los Mochis leads in batting with a .395 average while Culiacan's Sebastian Elizalde is second at 387.  Obregon outfielder Paulo Orlando is tops with 6 homers and tied with teammate Art Charles for third with 17 RBIs, one behind co-leaders Henry Urrutia of Jalisco and another Yaquis player, Jesus "Cacao" Valdez, who have 18 ribbies each.  Culiacan's Rico Noel is first in stolen bases with 9. 

Six pitchers have three wins apiece, one of them being Jalisco reliever Linder Castro.  A 28-year-old righty who represented Aguascalientes in the 2018 Mexican League All-Star Game, Castro is 3-0 with a save and has yet to be scored upon in eight appearances out of the bullpen, striking out 10 batsmen and walking one in 10.2 innings.  Among LMP starters, Los Mochis' Luke Heimlich has the lowest ERA at 0.77 after four starts, Arturo Lopez (Obregon) and Greg Mahle (Mexicali) are tied with 23 strikeouts and Hermosillo's Trey McNutt leads with 8 saves.


VERACRUZ WRITER: LIV OWNERS TO ASK AMLO FOR 2019-20 FUNDING

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador touted how much a baseball fan he is during his 2018 campaign, and has proven as good as his word since the 65-year-old Tabasco native took office for his 6-year term last December.  Lopez Obrador has ordered the Mexican League to reinstate four financially-troubled teams scheduled for a one-year hiatus in 2019 as well as demanding the Mexican Pacific League expand from eight to ten teams this winter to fulfill a campaign promise to voters in Guasave to bring the Mex Pac back to the agricultural city. AMLO has also taken an active role in building the sport by appointing ex-MLB infielder Edgar Gonzalez as head of the newly-created President's Office for Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico while envisioning a series of federally-funded baseball academies at school campuses across the country.  Whatever one thinks of his ideas, nobody can deny that Lopez Obrador has been very proactive on behalf of his favorite sport.

AMLO's love of baseball has led the summer Northern Mexico League to hold talks with Gonzalez seeking government subsidies to help the LNM operate last season and now, the Veracruz Winter League is apparently following suit.  Diario de Acayucan writer Enrique Reyes Grajales recently reported that several teams are interested in playing in the LIV this winter, but most lack the money to meet player payroll without government subsidies.  Reyes Grajales says sisters Regina and Fabiola Vasquez Saut, co-owners of the Acayucan Tobis who rebooted the LIV last year, are hoping for an audience with Lopez Obrador to ask for federal assistance to keep their league afloat for another season.

Taxpayer support used to not be a problem when the state of Veracruz was led by then-governor Javier Duarte, who was generous with both the LIV (formed in 2005) and the Mexican League Veracruz Rojos del Aguila.  However, state subsidies dried up after Duarte left office amid a corruption scandal that eventually led to his extradition from Guatemala and subsequent imprisonment, causing owner Jose Antonio Mansur to move his LMB franchise to Nuevo Laredo a year after the original LIV had shut down altogether in 2016.  Former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Narciso Elvira led a replacement circuit named the Veracruz State Baseball League for two winters, but the four-team loop relied on untested rookies playing a short weekend-only schedule and the LVEB never really caught on before folding after the 2017-18 season.

Acayucan Tobis celebrate 2018-19 LIV title

The second LIV featured six teams playing weekend series in the regular season and playoffs. The Vasquez Saut sisters' Acayucan team won the pennant for their second straight berth in the Latin American Series, where the Tobis reached the title game in Veracruz' Estadio Universitario Beto Avila, losing to Nicaragua's Leon Leones, 4-3, on February 1.

Since then, the LIV website has shut down and no posts have been made on their Facebook page since July 29 with a plug for a local restaurant and an appearance by Salon de la Fama pitcher Angel Moreno. the Mexican League's career wins leader among left-handers with a 263-171 record.  Only time will tell if Reyes Grajales was correct and whether the Vasquez Saut sisters were able to get AMLO to give federal help in keeping the LIV alive but now that November is underway, that time is running out.

JALISCO'S LEYVA NEARS LMP PITCHING TRIPLE CROWN

Jalisco Charros MVP candidate Elian Leyva

With six games to go in the Mexican Pacific League regular season, Jalisco Charros pitcher Elian Leyva has put himself in position to win the LMP's pitching Triple Crown (or even Quadruple Crown, if you want to add WHIP to W, ERA and SO) after turning in a standout performance in Culiacan Saturday night.

The 29-year-old Cuban has been primarily a reliever in a career that dates back to 2007-08 when he was an 18-year-old with La Habana of the Cuban National Series, but Leyva's first regular work as a starter has turned into a breakout performance after he blanked the defending champion Tomateros over 6.1 innings, striking out ten Culiacan batsmen in a 2-0 Charros win.  A Braves farmhand who split last summer between AA Mississippi and AAA Gwinnett, the 6'2" righty allowed just a Joey Terdoslavich double in the third and a walk to Jose Guadalupe Chavez in the bottom of the seventh before being taken out by manager Roberto Vizcarra after tossing 86 pitches.  MLB free agent Sergio Romo contributed a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his fourth save as Stephen Cardullo's second-inning groundout scored Henry Urrutia with the only run the Horsemen would need.

Leyva's win gives him a 6-2 record for the season, giving him sole possession of the MexPac lead for victories with ten other pitchers tied at five wins apiece.  By blanking Culiacan, he lowered his ERA to 2.05, well ahead of Culiacan's Manny Barreda (Saturday's losing pitcher) and his 2.63 mark as it'll take a miracle of Biblical proportions for Leyva to NOT win the ERA title.  As well, those ten whiffs bring Leyva's winter total to 66, six ahead of second-place David Reyes of Mexicali.  And, for good measure, Leyva's 1.07 WHIP figure is .08 up on Barreda's 2.15.  He also leads LMP pitchers in starts (13) and is tied with Mexicali vet Javier Solano for tops in innings pitched at 74.2 frames each.  That Leyva has toiled for one of the LMP's less-robust teams makes those numbers more impressive, although in fairness, the Charros are one of five teams three games apart on top the MexPac's second-half standings.  Pitchers don't often enter into MVP talks but when you have someone who could lead his league in six categories, including the Triple Crown, Leyva HAS to be in the conversation.

As mentioned, Jalisco is fighting desperately for a playoff berth after only collecting 3.5 points in the first half.  Hermosillo continues to top the second-half table at 15-8.  The Charros are second at 13-9 while Obregon (12-9) and Los Mochis (13-10) sit two games behind the leaders, one game ahead of fifth-place Culiacan (12-11).  Navojoa (9-14), Mazatlan (9-14) and Mexicali (7-15) round out the standings.  Culiacan and Mazatlan virtually assured themselves of playoff berths by finishing 1-2 in the first half and both Hermosillo and Obregon appear to be on their way to more games in January, leaving the two remaining postseason slots up for grabs among four teams.

Hermosillo infielder Jasson Atondo leads the LMP with a .357 batting average and is a virtual lock for Rookie of the Year.  Second at .351 is Atondo's teammate Francisco Peguero, the LMB's Fall MVP and bound for Japan after recently signing with the Chiba Lotte Marines for 2019.  Navojoa's Jovan Rosa leads the loop with 14 homers, one more than Jalisco's Manny Rodriguez, after going deep in Los Mochis Sunday night.  Rodriguez, another MVP candidate, is hitting .323 and has 50 RBIs, eight more than Rosa's 42.  Navojoa second baseman Alonzo Harris stole three bases in four games last week to go to 25 swipes on the winter and now leads Culiacan's Rico Noel by ten steals.

There IS an LMB pitching leader not named Elian Leyva.  Culiacan's Casey Coleman, grandson of Joe and son of Joe Junior (both former MLB All-Star pitchers), picked up just one save last week to bring his season total to 21, still good enough for a six-save bulge over his nearest competitor, Mexicali's Jake Sanchez.  Navojoa hometown boy Jose Isidro Marquez, son of longtime reliever Isidro Marquez, leads in the oft-forgotten category of holds with 13 despite getting lit up for two runs in a third of an inning Saturday in Los Mochis.  The younger Marquez' ERA is still a solid 2.08 because he'd only given up three earned runs over his previous 27 outings for the Mayos.


ACAYUCAN WINS LIV REGULAR SEASON CROWN, PLAYOFFS BEGIN

Past LIV bat champ Rigoberto Armenta

The Acayucan Tobis won 18 of their 21 regular season games to finish first in the reborn Veracruz Winter League's regular season, earning the top berth in the LIV's four-team playoff.  The 18-3 Tobis came in three-and-a-half games ahead of 14-6 Cordoba.  The Xalapa Chileros finished 13-7 to place one game behind the Cafeteleros in third place while the 8-12 Jaltex Astros outlasted the 8-13 Veracruz Rojos for the fourth and final postseason berth.  Bringing up the rear of the six-team LIV, considered a Class AA winter circuit within Mexico's baseball framework, were the hapless Ursula Galvan Caneros, who lost all 20 of their games after batting .191 as a team in support of a pitching staff that turned in a collective 7.12 ERA.  The Caneros were outscored 175 runs to 41 for the season, or an average score of 8.75-2.05 per contest.

The Tobis were champions last winter of the Veracruz State Baseball League and represented Mexico at the Latin American Series in Managua, Nicaragua, falling to the host Chinandega Tigres in the title game.  After the original LIV suspended operations following the 2015-16 season, ex-Brewers pitcher Narciso Elvira formed the LBEV to fill the void by stocking its teams with young prospects from within Veracruz playing weekends (10 games the first season, 12 games last season).  The LBEV struggled through two winters before giving way to the newly-reconstituted LIV this season.  Many Mexican League veterans (including ex-Pirates prospect Rogelio Noris, Yancarlo Angulo and Marco Quevedo) are presently wintering in Veracruz, where the weekend-only schedule was carried over, but youngsters still dominate the rosters.

Cordoba's Jose Luis Felix had a standout year at the plate, batting .478 over 19 games to easily win the batting title while Acayucan's Rigoberto Armenta was tops with eight homers and 21 RBIs.  The Obregon-born Armenta was the LIV's 2014-15 batting champion with the Santa Rosa Gallos.  Angel Araiza of Acayucan led all pitchers with six wins and Tobis moundmate Ivan Zavala was given the LIV's ERA title with a flawless 0.00 ERA despite starting once and pitching 17 innings over Acayucan's 21 games.  Xalapa hurler Eduard Reyes' 32 strikeouts in 29.2 innings led the circuit.  One interesting player is outfielder Yusuke Inoguchi, who hit .333 over eight games for luckless Ursula Galvan before being traded to Veracruz (.417 in six contests for the Rojos) and finally landing in Acayucan (.333 in six games) for a season average of .365 to finish fourth in the LIV.  The 33-year-old Inoguchi, who's played ten years of independent ball in Japan and two more the USA with the American Association's Sioux Falls Canaries in 2012 and 2013 (batting .287 and .281), has said he'd consider playing next year in the Mexican League if offered a contract.

Acayucan team president Regina Vazquez Saut began the current season as league president before stepping down and being replaced at the helm by older sister Fabiola Vazquez Saut.  Both are prominent politicians with the Industrial Revolution Party (or PRI) who have represented Veracruz in the Mexican Congress.  The best-of-three LIV semifinals were slated to open last weekend as Acayucan was matched up against Jaltex and Cordoba took on Xalapa.  The winners will meet January 5 for the first game of a best-of-five championship series.  The Latin American Series is set for Parque "Beto" Avila in Veracruz, beginning January 26.  Champions from the four traditional LAS winterball pennant-winners from Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua and Panama are being joined by Curacao Winter League champions Santa Maria Piratas and Argentine Baseball League title-winners Cordoba Condores.


MONTERREY COPS ACADEMY ROOKIE LEAGUE PENNANT

Monterrey's Academy Rookie League champs

A team of Monterrey Sultanes prospects won the Academy Rookie League championships this fall at the Mexican League Baseball Academy in El Carmen, Nuevo Leon, a suburb of Monterrey.  The Sultanes were one of six teams in the circuit and the only member to not have players provided by two LMB clubs.  Statistics were only provided through games of November 27, when the Sultanes were 19-2-9 (ties are declared after nine innings) to stand two-and-a-half games in front of second-place Yucatan-Laguna, who were 17-13-1 at the time.

According to the LMB Academy's website, Monterrey clinched the title on December 3 after topping Yucatan-Laguna, 3-1, as Alejandro Delgado tripled and later scored on a Jimmy Chavez sacrifice fly to break a 1-all tie in the sixth inning. Delgado stroked another triple and went on to score the game's final run on a Kevin Herrera single late in the match.  After an on-field celebration, Sultanes manager Ruben Estrada credited his first-year players with turning their season around after losing the first five games of the season.

The Sultanes rookies had marked another landmark event the previous week when starting pitcher Luis Martinez and four relievers combined on a 1-0 no-hit win over Mexico City-Oaxaca on November 28 in a contest during which Hector Delgado's fourth-inning solo homer provided the only score all afternoon.

The academy was the brainchild of the late former Mexico City Tigres owner and Salon de la Fama member Alejo Peralta and was officially opened March 25, 1996.  Since then, the facility has served as both home and training ground for thousands of young Mexican ballplayers seeking to play Major League Baseball or in the LMB.  Among the future big leaguers to cut their teeth at the Academia are Houston closer Roberto Osuna, Oakland reliever Joakim Soria, former Yankees infielder Ramiro Pena.  Longtime Sultanes shortstop Heber Gomez (retired from the LMB but sixth in the Veracruz Winter League this winter with a .338 batting average for Acayucan) was a member of the first group of players gathered in El Carmen while star slugger Japhet Amador started his pro career as a teen at the Academia.

MEXICO SHOCKS JAPAN, 2-1, TO WIN U-23 GOLD CUP

Mexico: 2018 WBSC U-23 World Cup champions

Fabricio Macias' two-run single in the top of the tenth inning broke a scoreless tie and Erick Casillas got Kenji Nishimaki to fly out to right field to close a shaky bottom of the tenth to give Mexico a surprising 2-1 win over Japan in Sunday's championship game at the WBSC Under-23 Gold Cup in Barranquilla, Colombia.  A capacity crowd of 6,500 at Estadio Edgar Renteria looked on as the Verdes Grande won their country's first-ever title in international pro baseball competition.

As one might expect from a game with a 0-0 score after nine innings, pitching was the name of this game as Mexico starter Carlos Morales limited Japan to a sixth-inning Taiga Matsuo single over his eight innings of work.  The 21-year-old Morales, who spent both Mexican League seasons this year with Oaxaca (with a one-week stint in Mexico City during the Fall schedule), struck out six and walked none as he traded zeroes with Japanese starter Hiroki Kondo through the first eight frames before both were replaced.  Ex-Yankee minor leaguer Rafael Ordaz, who now pitches for Monterrey, held Japan hitless in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.

With WBSC tiebreaker rules in effect, pinch-runner Walter Higuera (Yucatan) was placed on second base and Orlando Pina (Oaxaca) was stationed on first to start the top of the tenth.  Both runners advanced one base on a Bernardo Heras (Puebla) groundout before Macias, a Pirates farmhand, stepped to the plate and sent a Kakeru Narita pitch up the middle to plate both Higuera and Pina with the go-ahead runs.  A Marco Jaime (Leon) single then put runners at the corners but the side was retired without any further damage. 

Japan came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the tenth.  Matsuo was placed on second while Ryosuke Kishisato on first for the Baseball Samurai before Ordaz' first pitch.  Yasuhito Uchida's sacrifice bunt moved Matsuo to third and a Hisanori groundout to second scored Matsuo to make it a one-run game, with Kishisato moving to third.  Ordaz then walked Kento Harasawa before being pulled by Mexican manager Che Reyes for Sergio Alvarado (Leon), who walked Kengo Horiuchi to load the bases with two out.  Enter Casillas (Oaxaca), who worked Kenji Hishimaki to a 2-2 count before Nishimaki sent a fly ball to Jose Carlos Urena (Oaxaca) in right for the final out of the game and tournament.

Mexico finished the first round of the World Cup with a 4-1 record in Group A round-robin play, one game behind 5-0 Japan (who beat Mexico, 7-2, on October 18).  The top three teams from Groups A and B advanced to the Super Round, where Mexico came in tied for second with Venezuela at 3-2 but earned the tiebreaker by topping the Venezuelans, 10-4, on October 25.  Japan entered the Gold Medal contest with a perfect 10-0 record over the first two rounds of competition.

The Mexican batting order was led by Norberto Obeso (Toronto A) with his .500 average on 13-of-26 work at the plate.  Roberto Valenzuela  (Monterrey) belted three homers and drove in nine runs to head the team list in both categories.  Francisco Haro (Campeche) and Luis Ivan Rodriguez (Quintana Roo) won both their World Cup starts, with Haro recording 18 strikeouts in 14 innings en route to a 1.93 ERA.  Haro, catcher Pina and leftfielder Obeso were named to the post-tournament All World Team.


LARA SPINS NO-NO IN JALISCO ROMP OVER MEXICALI 

Jalisco Charros pitcher Orlando Lara

Veteran pitcher Orlando Lara has largely been regarded as a quintessential Mexican mound journeyman.  The 33-year-old lefty was the Mexican League's Rookie of the Year in 2007 after going 6-2 with a 4.43 ERA for Mexico City (guess you had to be there) and also represented Aguascalientes in the 2014 and 2015 LMB All-Star Games in the midst of identical 5-5 campaigns, so the Cosamaloapan, Veracruz product is not without his bonafides.  His career record of 55-47 over 12 years in the Liga is not bad, although his career ERA of 5.02 is not awe-inspiring.

In other words, little in Lara's resume pointed toward his Mexican Pacific League no-hitter for Jalisco last Friday over a Mexicali squad with notable hitters like Ricky Alvarez, C.J. Retherford, Jason Bourgeault and Daniel Castro.  And the thing is, his gem wasn't really needed as Lara blanked the Aguilas on a night where his Charros lineup exploded for 17 runs on 21 hits in a 17-0 laugher before 10,521 aficionados at Guadalajara's Estadio Charros.  Lara threw 105 pitches (71 for strikes) over nine frames, allowing one walk and plunking Retherford while striking out six Aguilas batsmen.  In his prior two starts for Jalisco, Lara was knocked around by Mazatlan for four runs on seven his in four innings on October 14 and pounded at Los Mochis for eight hits and six runs (five earned) over 3.2 entradas on October 20.  Friday's outing lowered the 6'2" southpaw's ERA from 10.57 to 4.86.  It was the first no-hitter in the Charros' LMP history.

Lara's performance was the sole bright spot of the weekend for the Charros, who lost to Mexicali Saturday and Sunday to fall into a four-way tie for fourth place in the MexPac with Los Mochis, Culiacan and Oregon at 7-7.  The 7-6 Aguilas moved into a share of second with Navojoa, one game behind 8-6 first-half leaders Mazatlan.  League offices usually prefer pennant races with many teams involved and it's hard to beat a one-game separation between first place and seventh two weeks into the schedule.  Hermosillo has struggled out the gate at 5-9 but even then, the Naranjeros are only two games out of fourth.

Navojoa second baseman Alonzo Harris (an ex-Mets farmhand) leads the LMP with a .438 batting average, 30 points ahead of Mazatlan's Brian Hernandez' .408 mark, and his seven stolen bases heads that list as well.  Another Harris, Mexicali outfielder David, is tops with four homers and 13 RBIs over 14 games.  David Harris played four years in the Toronto system before hitting .331 with 23 homers and 15 steals for New Jersey in the independent Atlantic League this summer.

Obregon middle reliever Jesus Anguamea only needed to work a total of five innings to pick up wins in three consecutive appearances between October 18-24, but those three wins are the most in the LMP.  Anguamea pitched 1.2 hitless (and winless) innings against Jalisco and Hermosillo last week to stretch his season-opening scoreless streak to seven appearances spanning 8.2 innings.  Among starters, Jalisco's Elian Leyva (1-0) has the lowest ERA at 1.59 after tossing 17 frames over three starts.  The 29-year-old Cuban expat gave up no earned runs in six innings last Thursday in a 2-1 Charros loss at Obregon that took 11 innings to decide.  Mexicali's Vinny Nittoli struck out eight Jalisco batters one night later to take the LMP lead with 20 K's in 16.2 innings.  Los Mochis closer Andres Avila has earned saves in four straight trips from the bullpen between last Tuesday through Sunday to go to five saves on the season, most in the loop.


VERACRUZ WINTER LEAGUE REBOOTS FOR 2018-19 SEASON

LIV president Regina Vazquez Saut

After an absence of two seasons, Veracruz Winter League (Liga Invernal Veracruzana, or LIV) has been resurrected for 2018-19 with six teams playing 21-game schedules over seven weekends between early November and mid-December, followed by two best-of-3 playoff semifinals over two late December weekends and a best-of-5 finals over three weekends in January.  The LIV pennant winner will represent Mexico in late January's Latin American Series (more on that to come).

The rebooted LIV is headed by sisters Regina and Fabiola Vazquez Saut.  Regina, an attorney, is the league president while Fabiola is vice president.  The two are members of a family prominent in Veracruz' rough-and-tumble state political scene and to underestimate them may be at one's own peril.  The six teams under their watch are the Acayucan Tobis (managed by Felix Tejeda), Cordoba Cafeteros (Alberto Joaquin), Jaltex Astros (Miguel Garcia Rodriguez), Ursulo Galvan Caneros (Angel Utrera), Veracruz Rojos (Ramon Esquer) and the Xalapa Chileros (Pedro Mere).  Yes, THAT Pedro Mere, who led several LIV pennant-winners before hopping on the LMB and LMP managerial merry-go-round.

Acayucan won last winter's Veracruz State Baseball League title and went on to place second in the Latin American Series.  The Tobis and Xalapa are the two holdovers from last season's four-team lineup in the LVEB, which was the brainchild of former Brewers pitcher (and Veracruz native) Narciso Elvira.  The league ran on a shoestring for two winters and focused on young players from baseball-rich Veracruz state while trying to survive without government largesse covering payroll and other expenses.  The new LIV will allow four foreign players per team while requiring that each club has at least one first-year pro ballplayer under 20 years of age on the field at all times.  Women will be allowed on playing rosters as well.

The 2018-19 season actually started last weekend with a home-and-home series between Xalapa and Cordoba.  The visiting Chileros romped to an 11-1 win at Cordoba on Saturday in front of a crowd of 4,300 as Xalapa shortstop Hector Hernandez singled twice and drove in three runs.  The Cafeteros returned the favor on Sunday, taking a 9-5 win Sunday as 2,377 looked on in Xalapa as Cordoba's Efren Espinoza cracked a grand slam in the top of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie.

After the LIV's regular season and playoffs conclude, the Latin American Series will come to Veracruz' 7,782-seat Parque Deportivo Universitario Beto Avila, former home of the LMB Rojos del Aguila near the end of January.  Begun in 2013 as a competition between Class AA winterball champions of the LIV and similar leagues in Nicaragua, Panama and Colombia, the Latin American Series is undergoing changes in relation to the larger Caribbean Series.  Curacao was added as a conditional fifth member last winter while Argentina's champion is expected to join the fray in Veracruz for 2019.

The rebirth of the Veracruz Winter League comes at a time when the Mexican League has decided to not operate its own AA loop, the Mexican Winter League, after three seasons.  The Mexico City Diablos Rojos' affiliate team won all three pennants, the last two under manager Victor Bojorquez.  The Diablos topped the Oaxaca Guerreros, 4 games to 1, in last winter's finals.  The LMB has not even mentioned that the six-team LIM has gone dark this winter on their website.