JALISCO TOPS CULIACAN IN 7, ON TO CARIBBEAN SERIES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AGUILAS’ SANCHEZ NAMED LMP MVP, RELIEVER OF THE YEAR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

LEANDRO CASTRO NAMED MEXICAN LEAGUE MVP

    Tijuana Toros outfielder Leandro Castro received 65% of the votes en route to winning the Mexican League's 2021 Most Valuable Player award last week. The 32-year-old Dominican easily beat out Henry Urrutia (Saltillo), Niko Vasquez (Guadalajara), Leo Heras (Guadalajara) and Alex Liddi (Yucatan) for top honors.

    Castro missed only one of the Toros' 65 regular season games and led the LMB with 93 hits and 72 runs batted in, finished second with 159 total bases, third with 36 extra-base hits and a .646 slugging percentage, sixth in batting (.378), tenth with a .433 on-base percentage and twelfth with 14 homers.

    Castro has a .311 Mexican League career batting average and has cranked it up a notch since coming to Tijuana from Saltillo in 2019. He batted .361 that summer, which was his Liga best before this year's .378 after the 2020 campaign was called off due to the pandemic.

    The 5'11” 175-pounder has an overall .288 average with 202 homers and 231 stolen bases over 1,612 games after 15 years of summer and winter action. Castro signed with Philadelphia in 2007 as an 18-year-old free agent and spent that summer with the Phillies' Dominican Summer League team, batting .278 with six homers in 59 games. 

    He went on to play eight seasons in the Phils' system, reaching AAA Lehigh Valley in 2013 and 2014, where he hit a combined .257 with 14 homers, 27 steals and 105 RBIs over two years with the IronPigs. Castro played independent ball in the Canadian-American Association and American Association in 2015 and 2016 before signing with Leon of the LMB for the 2017 season.

    Castro bounced between the Bravos, Dos Laredos and Saltillo before coming to Tijuana in the middle of a 2019 season during which he hit .361 with 27 homers for the Saraperos and Toros in 111 total games. He's currently in his sixth winterball season in the Mexican Pacific League, where he played five seasons with Los Mochis before being sent to Obregon last year and traded to Mexicali prior the current schedule (the Aguilas returned him to the Yaquis after three weeks). Castro was consistently a top batter for the Caneros but after 30 games in 2021-22, he was only hitting .193 with one homer and seven RBIs before being placed on the reserve list last week.

    In other Mexican League awards for 2021, Guadalajara's Benji Gil was named Manager of the Year, Mariachis hurler Masaru Nakamura was voted Pitcher of the Year, Fernando Rodney of Tijuana topped balloting for Reliever of the Year, Veracruz outfielder Yasiel Puig won the new Defensive Player of the Year award, Jesse Castillo of Guadalajara was named Comeback Player of the Year and Oaxaca catcher Juan Carlos Camacho won Rookie of the Year honors.

HERMOSILLO WINS 6 OF 9, TAKES LMP SECOND HALF LEAD

    After a tepid first half in which they went 16-16 to finish seventh in the Mexican Pacific League standings, the Hermosillo Naranjeros are off to a fast start in the second half of the regular season schedule. The Orangemen have won six of the their first nine games to take the lead in the LMP standings, one game ahead of five teams who share identical 5-4 records: Mexicali, Monterrey, Mazatlan, Obregon and first-half champion Navojoa.

    The Naranjeros are led by manager Juan Navarrete, a Salon de la Fama second baseman who defied the odds to reach a second season under impatient Hermosillo owners who've gone through dugout bosses like Elizabeth Taylor went through spouses in search of the team's first pennant since 2013-14. 

    Navarrete has enjoyed having one of the Mex Pac's best pitching staffs this season, including starters Elian Leyva, Wilmer Rios, Ryan Verdugo and Juan Pablo Oramas along with closer Fernando Salas and middleman Heriberto Ruelas. Hermosillo is allowing a league-low 3.60 runs per nine innings (compared to an LMP average of 4.30 R/9 average). Leyva, Rios and Oramas have combined for 12 of Hermosillo's 22 wins on the season.

    Offensively, the Naranjeros have been a middle of the pack team (.266 average with 26 homers and 4.46 runs per game), but they've had some batters who've stood out. Outfielder Nick Torres is sixth in the circuit with a .329 average and is tied for second with seven homers, veteran third baseman Luis Alfonso Cruz is tenth in the batting race at .312 and is tied for sixth in RBIs with 28 and centerfielder Jose Cardona leads the LMP with 34 runs scored amid a well-rounded season during which he's hitting .291 with five homers and nine steals. At this point of the campaign, Navarrete has Hermosillo looking good enough at the plate and on the mound to be a factor in the postseason if they play to their capabilities.

    Leaguewide, Navojoa's Tirso Ornelas (.386) has a clear lead over teammate Samar Leyva (.353) and Yadir Drake of Guasave (.351) in the batting derby. Another Mayos batter, Kyle Martin, isn't hitting homers at the same pace he started out at, but he socked a longball on Sunday to raise his season total to 10 over 29 games, three ahead of four other LMP batsmen. One of those four, Jalisco's Julian Ornelas, leads with 34 RBIs while four competitors are tied for second at 31 ribbies apiece. Dairon Blanco of Culiacan has reached 20 stolen bases after playing 29 games, eight more than Tomateros teammate Sebastian Elizalde and Ramon Rios of Mazatlan.

    Hermosillo's Leyva won his fifth game to tie Carlos De Leon of Hermosillo for the wins lead while ten other hurlers are tied for third with four wins each. Leyva's 1.17 ERA is tops for pitchers, ahead of moundmate Rios at 2.08 and Obregon's Arturo Lopez (2.11). There's a three-way deadlock for the strikeouts lead at 40 apiece between Obregon's Lopez and Luis Escobar along with Octavio Acosta of Navojoa. Mexicali's poor first half didn't appear to affect closer Jake Sanchez, whose 15 saves leads the LMP to augment his 1.93 ERA while Hermosillo's Salas is second with 11 and Carlos Bustamante of Navojoa has 10.

    Attendance is up across the Mex Pac after a disastrous pandemic-fueled season in 2020-21. While the numbers aren't at their usual pre-Covid levels, a total of 1,155,655 fans have clicked the turnstiles through 205 games thus far for an average of 5,637 per opening. That would be enough to lead every minor league north of the border in 2021 but is well below the typical 9-10,000 average in previous LMP seasons. 

    Hermosillo leads the ten-team loop with 187,323 fans over 22 home games for an average of 8,515 per game while Culiacan is right behind at 175,456 over 22 openings, or 7,975 per game. Guasave ranks last at 44,044 in attendance for a 2,318 average while Mazatlan (usually one of the better draws in the Mex Pac) has only had 54,375 visitors at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, an average of 2,862.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP (Stop #8): Culiacan, Sinaloa

    This week, we pay a visit to Culiacan, the eighth Mexican Pacific League site on our virtual ten-city road trip. Culiacan is a two-hour drive lasting just over 100 miles south from Guasave (our last stop) on Highway 15 and is set a few miles inland from the Gulf of California. While Mazatlan is better-known among North Americans, Culiacan is a thriving city and the state capital of Sinaloa. The name “Culican” is an old native word which means “place where they adore the God Coltzin.”

    A municipality of just over a million residents, Culiacan was a small village when Spanish conquistador Nuno Beltran de Guzman founded the villa of San Miguel de Culiacan on September 29, 1531. From the end of the sixteenth century and throughout much of the 1700’s, San Miguel de Culiacan served as an important staging area for the Spanish conquest of the Mexican West. However, independence from Spain was eventually won for Mexico in the early 1820’s, and Culiacan was granted the status of “city” in 1823. At that time, Sinaloa’s state capital was in Mazatlan, but was eventually shifted to Culiacan in 1873.

    As with most of the Mex Pac cities, Culiacan is an agricultural center, surrounded by some of the most arable land in Mexico of which the major crop is tomatoes. While Culiacan has a reputation as a tough town, it is also, in fact, a thriving and busy place with a fine State university in the city center, a lovely 19th Century cathedral sitting three blocks away from the ubiquitous Mexican mercado, there are beaches on the Gulf a few miles away in Atlata and El Tambor, and Ernesto Millan Escalante Park features gardens, pools, an open-air Hellenic theater and the longest water slide in northern Mexico. The Centro Cultural Genaro Estrada contains two theaters, several museums and a café, and is a centerpiece for the arts.

    Something else worth a try is catching an LMP game at Estadio Tomateros, which cost an estimated 305 million pesos (about US$20.8 million during construction) before opening in time for the 2015-16 season. At 20,000 seats, Estadio Tomateros is one of the largest ballparks in minor league baseball and rates among the best in Mexico. Culiacan has been a baseball hotbed for decades and the Tomateros are annually among the leaders in Mex Pac attendance, drawing 16,000 per game during pre-pandemic seasons. Unlike most baseball stadiums in Mexico, Estadio Tomateros is not owned by the government by by the team itself.

    The Tomateros have given their fans a lot to cheer about over the years, with 13 Mex Pac pennants since their 1965 formation: Six of those under manager Francisco “Paquin” Estrada, who also brought home two Caribbean Series titles, while ex-MLB infielder Benji Gil has managed the Guindas to four more titles since 2014-15, including the last two. Players who've wintered in Culiacan include Salome Barojas, Esteban Loaiza, Aurelio Lopez, Oliver Perez and Vicente Romo (all Major League Baseball pitchers).

CANIZALES TOUTS MONTERREY AS POTENTIAL CS SITE

    Although the next edition of the Caribbean Series is slated to take place next February in the relatively stable Dominican Republic, Septima Entrada writer Tomas Lopez says Mexican Pacific League president Omar Canizales is touting a Mexican city that has never hosted the event as a possible future site: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

    "It shouldn't be long before Monterrey can have a Serie del Caribe,” Canizales is quoted as saying. “Indeed, there's an agreement between the owners of the teams where there's a rotation to host this tournament.” Canizales added that Monterrey could be an ideal fill-in in case another scheduled country declines to host the event for some reason because the hometown Sultanes are co-owned by the Multimedios media company that can effectively get the word out on short notice. The Sultanes' 21,906-seat Estadio Monterrey is the largest ballpark in Mexico and third-largest in Latin America.

    Canizales alluded to past Caribbean Series that have had to move weeks before the tournament to alternate sites like Panama City and Guadalajara because of politicial and economic miseries occurring in Venezuela, the planned host site. “Let's remember that eventually eventually, our Caribbean brothers in some countries may have some instability and I think Monterrey can be a good 'pinch-hitter' for this event...I believe Monterrey and Multimedios can be tremendous hosts.”

    Mexico is one of four nations included in the CS rotation along with Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Venezuela is scheduled to host the Serie del Caribe in 2023 while Mexico, which held the event in Mazatlan last winter, is not slated to come up in the rotation until 2025. Mexicali is seen as the front-runner to serve as host that year.

    Meanwhile, on the playing field, only two games separate the top five teams in the Mex Pac standings after last weekend's games. When the dust settled Sunday night, Navojoa had sole possession of first place with a 15-8 record after the Mayos slipped past Obregon, 3-2, in ten innings. Maikel Serrano's bases-loaded walkoff single to left off reliever Alberto Leyva plated Jorge Sesma with the winning run as Obregon fell to a three-way tie for third with Jalisco and defending champion Culiacan.

    Guasave kept pace with Navojoa and remains a half-game out of first after clobbering Mexicali, 11-2, Sunday at Estadio Aguilas. Yadir Drake crushed a three-run homer for the Algodoneros while Jhoan Urena went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs to support starter Jordan Kipper's five shutout inings.

    Jalisco dropped a 5-4 decision Sunday to Los Mochis at home to remain in third a 13-10. Caneros' leadoff hitter Justin Dean and second batter Issac Rodriguez combined for five hits, three RBIs and two runs scored for the winners. Likewise, Culiacan remain tied for third Sunday after losing to Mazatlan, 3-2, at home. The Venados' Ramon Rios stroked a leadoff single, moved to second on a bunt, took third on a Derrick Loop wild pitch and scored the winning run on a Ricky Alvarez sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.

    Navojoa outfielder Tirso Ornelas is the LMP's only .400 hitter and leads the loop with a .417 average, ahead of Jalisco's Christian Villanueva (.394) and Nick Torres of Hermosillo (.370). Torres' six homers are tops, followed by the five apiece from Monterrey's Danny Ortiz and Kyle Martin of Navojoa (who's hit his longballs over just ten games). Guasave's Jesse Castillo leads Maikel Serrano of Navojoa in the RBI race, 21 to 20. Culiacan's Dairon Blanco heads the list in stolen bases with eight, one more than three other baserunners: Jose Cardona (Hermosillo), Sebastian Elizalde (Culiacan) and Roel Santos (Navojoa).

    On the mound, 2018-19 LMP Pitcher of the Year Elian Leyva is making the decision of the Jalisco Charros to release him last winter appear ill-considered. Now pitching for Hermosillo, the Cuban-born righty gave up one single over seven innings in Monterrey Saturday to run his string of shutout entradas at the start of the season to 32. Needless to say, Leyva's 0.00 ERA is best in the Mex Pac (Jalisco's Orlando Lara has allowed one earned run over 27 frames), his 4-0 record matches Navojoa's Carlos de Leon for most wins and his 0.63 WHIP is also first in the LMP. Leyva's 25 strikeouts are third on that list behind two Obregon hurlers, Luis Escobar (30) and Hector Velazquez (27). Jake Sanchez' strong work for Mexicali continues, with the Californian's seven saves leading Navojoa's Carlos Bustamante's five while striking out 17 batters in just ten innings to augment his 0.90 ERA.

    Looking forward, a pair of midweek series loom large when Jalisco visits Obregon and Navojoa opens a three-game series in Hermosillo on Tuesday. Next weekend, Navojoa will host Guasave while Hermosillo will be in Guadalajara for a trio of games against the Charros as all five teams seek to break up the relative logjam at the top.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE STANDINGS: Navojoa 15-8, Guasave 14-8, Culiacan 13-10, Jalisco 13-10, Obregon 13-10, Hermosillo 12-11, Mexicali 10-13, Mazatlan 9-14, Monterrey 9-14, Los Mochis 6-16.

LMB PLANS APRIL 2022 OPENER, NINETY-GAME SEASON

    The Mexican League has announced that its Assembly of Presidents recently approved a 90-game regular season for 2022 running from late April until early August, followed by an extended postseason in which 12 of the Liga's 18 teams will qualify for playoff berths.

    The anouncement came from the LMB office in Mexico City, in which league president Horacio de la Vega stated, “I appreciate the encouragement and collaboration of all the presidents to define the key dates for the 2022 season in order to have adequate planning that will benefit us all: fans, television stations and sponsors.”

    The Mexican League regular season is slated to open Thursday, April 21, at Estadio Nacional, home of the defending champion Tijuana Toros. The Bulls' opponent was not mentioned. The rest of the LMB will swing into action one night later on Friday, April 22. The regular season, which will consist of a total of 810 games, will conclude on Sunday, August 7, with the playoffs to commence shortly thereafter. The Liga's All-Star Weekend will take place between June 17 through 19 in Monclova. There was no All-Star Game last summer.

    The playoffs will be similar to this year's format, in which the top six teams from each division will advance to the first round, with the three series winners moving on to the Division Semifinals along with a fourth “wild card” club that fared the best among the three opening round losers. The LMB will use a single-season format and discard the two-half look it's had in past seasons and that the Mexican Pacific League still employs during the winter.

    While the 90-game slate represents a 36 percent increase over this year's pandemic-shortened, 66-game schedule, it also marks a 25 percent reduction from 2019's 120-calendar and will be the circuit's shortest regular season since before it was officially brought into the National Association (now Minor League Baseball) as a Class AA league in 1955. The shaving of 30 games off the last full season is partly meant to limit financial losses for the vast majority of LMB teams who lose money every time they throw the gates open. The Liga will now play only 22 more regular games than the Mex Pac.

    The Mexican League is a member of Minor League Baseball but operates as an independent league devoid of any formal affiliations with Major League organizations. The Liga's classification was raised from AA to AAA in 1967 but the loop received no classification for 2021.

    There was also a 3-for-1 trade in the Mexican League last month that saw Monclova send infielder Jose Vargas plus pitchers Ryan Verdugo and reliever Andrew Morales to Saltillo for outfielder Juan Perez in what appears to be an Acereros payroll deduction. Vargas hit .302 with 8 homers and 28 RBIs in 46 games for Monclova last summer, Verdugo was 1-0 with a 14.49 ERA in 11 appearances (including two starts) while Morales went 1-2 and 4.81 in 23 relief outings. Perez hit .233 for the Saraperos in 2021, adding 10 homers and 26 ribbies in 65 games.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP (Stop #5): Navojoa, Sonora

    From Obregon, we’ll continue our virtual Mexican Pacific League road trip with a short 43-mile hop south on Highway 15 to the fifth of ten stops: Navojoa, Sonora, home of the Mayos and one of the LMP's smaller markets with a 2020 population of 164,387.

    The word “navojoa” comes from the Mayo Indian dialect root “navo” (or “prickly pear cactus”) and “jova” (or “house”), therefore meaning “the house of prickly pear cactus.” Even before the Spaniards arrived, the Mayo tribe had possession of the land including the Rio Mayo and the Mayo Valley. Although Spanish explorer Diego de Guzman arrived in the area in 1536 and Jesuit missionaries began settling locally in the 17th Century, Navojoa dates back to 1825, when it was part of the old State of the West formed after the Mexican Independence War starting in 1810.

    Due to its geographical location, Navojoa has been considered from the start as the center of productivity of this region, combining with Ciudad Obregon to form the Mayo Valley, one of Mexico’s most productive agricultural regions. The most important businesses are concentrated in Navojoa, with the main northbound and southbound state highways and railroads coming through the city as well as highways going to Alamos and Yavaros.

    Known as “The Pearl of the Mayo”, Navojoa is a city of contrasts. In spite of its modern features, the city has preserved an array of important historical monuments in the area well worth visiting, among them the Municipal Palace, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, sculpted monuments such as one erected in memory of General Alvaro Obregon, a plaza with obelisks in honor of the Talamante brothers.

    The Navojoa Mayos started in the Mexican Pacific League in the 1959-60 season and (after a two-year absence between 1960 and 1962) are playing their 60th consecutive season of winterball. After winning three titles in the old Pacific Coast League, the Mayos copped their first Mex Pac pennant in 1978-79 under manager Chuck Goggin and won their second (and last) flag in 1999-20 for skipper Lorenzo Bundy. They are now managed by Salon de la Fama member Matias Carrillo, who led Navojoa to the LMP finals against Hermosillo in 2013-14, one of ten times the Mayos have played the postseason bridesmaids. The team has retired two numbers: the 12 of Jose “Chico” Bojorquez and the 25 worn by Hector Heredia and

    “The Tribe” plays their home games at Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echevarria, an 11,500-seat ballpark named after a locally-born Salon de la Fama pitcher. The ballpark opened in time for the 1970-71 season and is owned by the Sonora state government. Navojoa is the only LMP city that hasn't built a new stadium or performed major renovations to its existing facility over the past decade.

MEX PAC TO OPEN 77TH WINTERBALL SEASON TUESDAY

Culiacan players readying for season

    The Mexican Pacific League is scheduled to begin its 2021-22 season with a trio pf games on Tuesday night. Jalisco will host Monterrey, Mazatlan will visit Culiacan and Hermosillo will be at home against Mexicali. In all, ten games will be played between Tuesday and Thursday as teams play home-and-away sets against league rivals, including Obregon against Navojoa as well as Los Mochis against Guasave. A full slate of five games is set for Saturday night.

    As in the past, the Mex Pac regular season will be split into two halves, with the 32-game first half closing on Thursday, November 11 and the 36-game second half commencing one day later and concluding Thursday, December 23, about a week earlier than in previous seasons. The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, which open on Christmas Day. After three stages of the postseason, the playoff champions will take a heavily-reinforced team to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the Caribbean Series between January 28 and February 3, 2022.

    The Culiacan Tomateros are shooting for a third consecutive pennant and trip to the Serie del Caribe under manager Benji Gil. Defending batting champion Yadiel Hernandez will be back in Hermosillo hoping to follow up on his .339 average while home run (15) and RBI (52) kingpin Japhet Amador will try to do the same with the Jalisco Charros, who were set to announce the sale of the team to the owners of the Mexican League's Guadalajara Mariachis after front office squabbles and legal threats decimated what has been one of the LMP's flagship franchises.

    Mexicali pitcher Miguel Pena has returned for another season in the border city after being awarded the LMP's ERA title last winter (2.08), as is veteran righty Javier Solano, who was second with a 2.60 figure. Strikeout champ Manny Barreda (64 K's) is expected back in Culiacan after making his MLB debut with Baltimore this summer while wins co-leaders Fernando Miranda and Juan Pablo Oramas (8 each) will both pitch another season of winterball in Guasave and Hermosillo, respectively.

    SKY Sports will stream all regular season and playoff games live for a second season in a row this winter. Full season packages through the LMP championship series are available for US$69.99 via the Extrabase.TV prompt in the top right corner of the league website.

    The following is a directory for the LMP and its ten member clubs in 2021-22, with most information taken from the Mex Pac website:

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Website: www.lmp.com
Facebook: @LigaARCO
Twitter: @Liga_Arco
Email: medios@lmp.mx
Phone: (33) 38 17 07 68
President: Omar Canizales
Sports Director: Christian Veliz

CULIACAN TOMATEROS
Website: www.tomateros.com.mx
Facebook: @clubtomateros
Twitter: @clubtomateros
Email: redessociales@tomateros.com.mx
Phone: (667) 758-3400
Sports Manager: Mario Valdez
Manager: Benji Gil
Home Stadium: Estadio Tomateros de Culiacan (21,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-410, RF-325
LMP Championships: Twelve

GUASAVE ALGODONEROS
Website: www.losalgodoneros.mx
Facebook: @AlgodonerosdeGuasavemx
Twitter: @AlgodonerosGsv
Email: contacto@losalgodoners.mx
Phone: (687) 138-4323
Sports Manager: Alejandro Ahumada
Manager: Oscar Robles
Home Stadium: Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon (10,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400 RF-325
LMP Championships: One

HERMOSILLO NARANJEROS
Website: www.naranjeros.com.mx
Facebook: @clubnaranjeros
Twitter: @clubnaranjeros
Email: contacto@naranjeros.com.mx
Phone: (662) 260-3932
Sports Director: Derek Bryant
Manager: Juan Navarrete
Home Stadium: Estadio Sonora (16,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400 RF-335
LMP Championships: Sixteen

JALISCO CHARROS
Website: www.charrosjalisco.com
Facebook: @CharrosBeisbolOficial
Twitter: @CharrosBeisbol
Email: comunicacion.charros@gmail.com
Phone: (331) 562-0485
Sports Manager: Raymundo Padilla
Manager: Roberto Vizcarra
Home Stadium: Estadio Panamericano (16,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-335, CF-415, RF-335
LMP Championships: One

LOS MOCHIS CANEROS
Website: www.caneros.net
Facebook: @verdesxsiempre
Twitter: @verdesxsiempre
Email: contacto@caneros.net
Phone: (668) 818-6323
Sports Manager: Carlos Soto
Manager: Robinson Cancel
Home Stadium: Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada (12,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP Championships: Three

MAZATLAN VENADOS
Website: www.venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Facebook: @VenadosBaseball
Twitter: @Venadosbase
Email: club@venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Phone: (669) 981-1710
Sports Manager: Jesus Valdez Rodriguez
Manager: Eddie Diaz
Home Stadium: Estadio Teodoro Mariscal (16,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-330
LMP Championships: Nine

MEXICALI AGUILAS
Website: www.aguilasdemexicali.mx
Facebook: @aguilasdemxli
Twitter: @aguilasdemxli
Email: info@aguilasdemexicali.mx
Phone: (686) 800-4000
Sports Manager: David Cardenas
Manager: Bronswell Patrick
Home Stadium: Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (17,000)
Field Dimensions: LF-330, CF-400, RF-330
LMP Championships: Four

MONTERREY SULTANES
Website: www.sultanes.com.mx
Facebook: @SultanesOficial
Twitter: @SultanesOficial
Email: info@sultanes.com.mx
Phone: (812) 270-2000
Sports Manager: Jesus Valdez Diaz
Manager: Gerardo Alvarez
Home Stadium: Estadio be Beisbol Monterrey (21,906)
Field Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP Championships: None

NAVOJOA MAYOS
Website: www.mayosbeisbol.com
Facebook: @OficialMayosBeisbol
Twitter: @OficialMayos
Email: clubmayos@hotmail.com
Phone: (642) 422-1433
Sports Manager: Lauro Villalobos
Manager: Lorenzo Bundy
Home Stadium: Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria (11,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-318, CF-378, RF-318
LMP Championships: Two

OBREGON YAQUIS
Website: www.yaquis.com.mx
Facebook: @YaquisDeObregon
Twitter:@Yaquis_oficial
Email: oficina@yaquis.com.mx
Phone: (644) 413-7766
Sports Manager: Manuel Velez
Manager: Sergio Gastelum
Home Stadium: Estadio Yaquis (16,500)
Field Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-325
LMP Championships: Seven

VENEZUELA BOOTS MEXICO FOR U-23 BASEBALL WORLD CUP TITLE

Mexican team takes field in Obregon

    Venezuela downed host Mexico, 4-0, on Saturday night at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo to capture a U-23 World Championship in Hermosillo. Venezuelan starter Wikelman Ramirez tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits on the night. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out four and baffled Mexico’s hitters all night long.

    Two runs in bottom of the first inning gave Venezuela an early lead. With two out and Carlos Rodriguez (whose leadoff single to center barely eluded a diving Fabricio Macias) standing on second base, a high pop fly to the right side of the infield by Romer Cuadrado ate Mexico second baseman Reivaj Garcia alive, clanking off Garcia's mitt into shallow right and allowing Rodriguez to score as Cuadrado carried his gift safely to second. Juan Fernandez then sliced a ground ball that handcuffed third baseman Keven Lamas to put runners at the corners for Justin Lopez, whose 3-and-2 single to right on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Mexico's Saul Castellanos brought Cuadrado in with the second unearned run of the inning.

    Venezuela's next two runs came in more straightforward fashion in the bottom of the third. Jesus Lujano led off with a double down the left-field line, moved to third on a Robert Perez groundout to Mexican shortstop Javier Salazar and scored on Cuadrado's sacrifice fly to Macias in center to bring the score to 3-0. The next batter, Fernandez, drilled Castellanos' second pitch for a homer that barely stayed fair as it passed the foul pole in left. A Lopez double ended the night for Castellanos but for all intent and purposes, the game was pretty much over by then. Ramirez only needed 86 pitches (60 of them strikes) to complete the shutout, scattering a double to Eric Meza and singles by Tirso Ornelas and Roque Salinas.

    "The fact of playing in Mexico put too much pressure on these players," commented Mexico's manager Enrique “Che” Reyes after the loss. "It's a fact we didn't play well enough to beat Venezuela." Venezuela’s last international World Championship came in 2012 when its team finished first at the 15U Baseball World Championship. "It is really easy to work with these players," commented Venezuelan manager Carlos Garcia. "They came together, worked hard, stayed focused on our goal. And more than that, they enjoyed playing the game."

 

Lining up for Silver Medal presentation

   Mexico topped the first-round Group A standings with a 4-1 record after beating Germany, 3-1, last Monday to advance to the Super Round. Agustin Ruiz contributed a two-run double in the bottom of the first and starter Jorge Leo tossed four scoreless frames. After losing a 2-0 shutout to Panama and being thumped 7-1 by Venezuela, Mexico salvaged their Super Round stint with a 3-2 win over Colombia as Tirso Ornelas socked a homer in the bottom of the sixth and Robles Rabago tossed a scoreless seventh to seal the victory. Mexico advanced to the Gold Medal game by virtue of their aggregate 3-2 record against teams in the Super Round over the two stages of the tournament.

    In the first game of Saturday's medal-round doubleheader, Colombia topped Cuba, 5-3, for the Bronze as Angel Angulo belted two homers and drove in three runs. Saturday night’s game during the first U-23 World Cup with the new seven inning format was played in just one hour and forty minutes.

    One Mexican, shortstop Salazar, was named to the All-World team after batting .320 over eight games in the tournament. Colombia's leftfielder, Gustavo Camprero, was chosen as MVP for his .519 average and 11 runs scored during the event. Ornelas led Mexico by batting .370 (10-for-27) while hitting one of the host country's three World Cup homers (the other two were swatted by Macias and Lamas. Reliever Juan Robles won two of the five games Mexico won playing in Hermosillo and Obregon and was unscored upon in 6.1 innings over four appearances. Alejandro Chavez allowed no runs in two starts and 9.1 frames as the entire staff turned in a 1.92 ERA in nine games, but the batters (a collective .245) couldn't put anything together in the Gold Medal contest with Venezuela.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP: Mexicali, Baja California Norte

Mexicali's Chinatown is Mexico's largest

    Heading northwest from Monterrey, we’ll make the second stop on our Mexican Pacific League Road Trip in the the border city of Mexicali, home of the LMP Aguilas and 936,826 metropolitan residents on Mexico’s northwestern border with California.

    Historically, Mexicali is a fairly “recent” city, developed as a center for area farmers just over 100 years ago. After becoming the capital of Baja California Norte in 1915, it grew (like many Mexican border towns) as a place for North Americans to engage in illicit activity over the course of the 20th Century. The economy expanded in more legitimate directions as foreign companies established maquiladora factories in and around Mexicali. 

    Maquiladoras are common in Mexican cities along the USA border, built primarily by North American companies who seek to take advantage of Mexico’s lower labor costs while having close access to the USA market. Maquiladoras have accounted for much of Mexicali’s burgeoning population. Across the border lies the twin city of Calexico, California. Both share a 24-hour border crossing.

    While Mexicali is not the tourist draw Tijuana has become to the west, there are still some local points of interest. It has the Mexico’s largest Chinatown (La Chinesca) and there are a large number of shops and restaurants in a triangular area near the border. In the former state governor’s mansion (on Avenida Alvaro Obregon) lies the Galeria de la Ciudad, which displays works by many leading Mexican artists. Mexicali is also home to the University of Baja California, where a regional museum features exhibits of paleontology, archaeology, ethnography, landscape photography and missions of Baja California. The annual Fiesta del Sol in October is one of the year’s highlights.

Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali

    Still, Mexicali is not a textbook example of a traveler’s paradise. It is very hot during the summer, gets temperatures below freezing level during the night in winter and in general is not tourist-oriented despite being one of the most prominent border crossings between the USA and Mexico. Millions of people have passed through Calexico to Mexicali, but few of them stay overnight.

    Mexicali’s baseball team is called the Aguilas, or “Eagles.” The Aguilas were formed in 1976 and are in their 45th winter in the MexPac, having won four LMP pennants and a Caribbean Series championship in 1986 under legendary manager Ben “Cananea” Reyes. Their home stadium, known officially as Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (and informally as El Nido, or “The Nest”), seats 17,000 fans around a symmetrical field measuring 330 feet down the foul lines and 400 feet to straightaway center. Mexicali hosted the 2009 Caribbean Series, becoming the northernmost city in which the tournament has ever been held.

GUASAVE PLAYER HITS 3 HOMERS IN SINGLE GAME

Guasave outfielder Leo German

    After a self-imposed shutdown of eleven days due to increasing cases of the Wuhan virus among players and coaches, the Mexican Pacific League swung back into action last Tuesday night with four games. A fifth scheduled contest, in which Los Mochis was to play in Guasave, was moved to Monday, November 23 in Los Mochis due to logistical issues, according to an Algodoneros press release.

    The extra day off didn't do anything to throw off Guasave outfielder Leo German's timing. The 5'9” veteran had never hit more than three home runs in a season (summer or winter) until he launched 10 longballs for Dos Laredos in a 2019 Mexican League campaign that saw numbers inflated by a very lively Franklin ball that was discarded after one year. Even so, it was the 27-year-old German who became the 39th player in Mex Pac history to hit three homers in a nine-inning game, two of them “panoramic” blasts, according to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, in Guasave's 5-3 win over the Caneros.

    A three-run homer by Felix Perez keyed a four-run top of the seventh inning that lifted Obregon into a 9-8 comeback win at Mexicali Saturday night, completing a Yaquis doubleheader sweep of the Aguilas that helped keep the visitors in first place, although Sunday's closing game was forfeited to Mexicali, 9-0, by the LMP office after three Yaquis tested positive for the Wuhan virus. The forfeit drops Obregon's record to 19-7, two games ahead of Hermosillo in second at 15-7.

 Monterrey first baseman Dustin Peterson had a night to remember in Thursday's 11-4 win in Navojoa. During a ten-run outburst in the top of the seventh in which 13 Sultanes went to the plate, Peterson socked a solo homer off Marco Carrillo and a two-run roundtripper off Francisco Moreno to become only the third batter in LMP history to hit two homers in the same frame. The first was Hermosillo's Altar Greene against Navojoa in 1979 while Roberto Saucedo of Mazatlan did the double in 2001, also against the Mayos. Older brother D.J. Peterson, playing the initial hassock for Navojoa, had earlier launched a longball in the bottom of the third inning as the Petersons set a league record with three homers while playing for opposite teams.

    It was a tough week for the Mayos, who are 9-16 and a half-game ahead of 8-16 basement-dwelling Los Mochis. Navojoa lost 20-year-old Padres outfield prospect Tirso Ornelas for the season with a serious arm injury. Ornelas, one of four players sent by Obregon in exchange for first baseman Victor Mendoza early this month, was batting .286 with a double and two runs scored in five games for his new team.

New Venados manager Pablo Ortega

    Although the trade looked like a potential bonanza for Navojoa at the time, it's not working out that way. Besides Ornelas' injury, then-league ERA leader Octavio Acosta was unenthusiatic about the move and was shelled in his first start against Monterrey for five runs on six hits in 1.2 innings. Likewise, reliever Moreno (already pitching for his third team this winter) has been hit hard in two outings and, like Acosta, has a 27.00 ERA for the Mayos while second baseman Moises Gutierrez is batting just .214 after for games with Navojoa. If there's any consolation for the Mayos, Mendoza is rehabbing a leg injury and has yet to play for the Yaquis.

    It was also a tough week for veteran manager Juan Jose Pacho, who was fired by Mazatlan Thursday after the Venados ended a three-game series in Culiacan with an 8-14 record. Even a 9-7 victory over the Tomateros in the finale wasn't enough to save Pacho, who led Mazatlan to three LMP pennants and a pair of Caribbean Series wins in two previous terms at the helm of the team, from being the second manager canned this season (Mexicali parted ways with Pedro Mere after an 0-8 start and has since gone 11-6 under Bronswell Patrick).

    Pacho has been replaced by pitching coach Pablo Ortega, a longtime star hurler in both Mexican leagues (including a 76-71 record and 3.27 ERA over 18 LMP seasons, 15 with Mazatlan) who had been named manager of Dos Laredos for 2020 but never managed a game for the Tecolotes after the Mexican League canceled the season. He won his managerial debut at home Friday night as the Deer topped Los Mochis, 7-4, and followed that up with a 6-5 Saturday win as Isaac Paredes scored from second in the bottom of the ninth when a Carlos Munoz grounder that Caneros second baseman Esteban Quiroz had to dive to stop drew an errant Quiroz throw to the plate that brought in Paredes with the winning run.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE STANDINGS (as of 11/22/20)
Obregon 19-6, Hermosillo 15-7, Culiacan 14-12, Monterrey 12-10, Guasave 11-12, Jalisco 11-14, Mexicali 11-14, Mazatlan 10-14, Navojoa 10-16, Los Mochis 8-16.

JALISCO TO JOIN VERACRUZ AS LMB EXPANSION TEAMS?

Salvador Quirarte of Guadalajara

    The Mexican League's announcement that an acceptable proposal from Veracruz for an expansion team has been received (and that the port city will likely be given a franchise in the near future) created speculation as to who would be the second new club. It now appears that the Jalisco Charros may become the 18th LMB team, joining the Monterrey Sultanes in operating ballclubs in both the LMB and Mexican Pacific League.

    Guadalajara is Mexico's second-largest city and while previous attempts by operators of Mexican League teams have ended in failure, baseball's profile in a metropolis where soccer is king has risen considerably over the past several years, beginning with the purchase and shifting of the Mexican Pacific League's team in Guasave in 2014 couple with the renamed Jalisco Charros buying Guadalajara's existing Estadio Panamericano ballpark (built for the 2011 Pan-American Games) and renovating it. Since then, the Charros have become one of the best-drawing clubs in the Mex Pac during their six years of existence and won their first LMP championship and Caribbean Series berth last winter.

    On a broader scale, Charros co-owners Armando Navarro and Salvador Quirarte have been very proactive in bringing outside baseball events into renamed Estadio Charros, which can now seat up to 16,000 spectators, including the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Caribbean Series. Now it looks as though Guadalajara is poised to host professional baseball on a year-round basis.

    However, it appears that they may be be doing it without Quirarte in the fold. Jose Carlos Campos, a former LMP media relations director who now oversee the El Rincon Beisbolero website, says that Quirarte is coming up short in an internal struggle within the front office and “was forced by the members to leave the office (and club) for reasons of lack of clarity regarding the basketball club that he also managed.”

Jorge y Bernardo Pasquel

    Campos speculates that the two new LMB teams would not be the product of expansion to 18 teams, but rather a “recomposition” involving two current Liga members, adding that “growing in numbers in times of severe crisis is not exactly a good idea.” There had been rumors that the Aguascalientes Rieleros would be sold and moved to Veracruz in 2021, but the LMB office quashed them.

    A familiar name is apparently heading the effort to bring a Mexican League team back to Veracruz. According to Jose Antonio Otero of El Fildeo, local businessman Bernardo Pasquel is son of former Veracruz Azules co-owner Bernardo Senior and nephew of former LMB president Jorge Pasquel, whose strong will and deep pockets turned the circuit into a threat to Major League Baseball's hegemony over the game in the 1940's. After bringing a number of top Negro League players to Mexico, the elder Pasquel turned his attention and resources to MLB players. 

    Stan Musial and Ted Williams both turned down his offers, but he was able to get Vern Stephens, Max Lanier, Sal Maglie and Danny Gardella to agree to play south of the border, resulting in baseball commissioner Happy Chandler slapping a lifetime ban on players who stayed in Mexico (it was later reduced to a five-year ban after Gardella's antitrust lawsuit was allowed by a federal appeals court to move forward). The Pasquels eventually left the game in 1952 and Jorge died in a plane crash three years later.

AMEZCUA, MAZON ELECTED TO CARIBBEAN SERIES HALL OF FAME

Former Culiacan catcher Adan Amezcua

    Longtime Culiacan catcher Adan Amezcua and Hermosillo Naranjeros team president Enrique Mazon have been selected as new members of the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame. The two are scheduled to be be inducted during a ceremony held at the 2021 Serie del Caribe in Mazatlan.

    Amezcua, who played 21 consecutive seasons with the Tomateros in the Mexican Pacific League, was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2002 CS in Caracas after batting .455 with three homers as Culiacan became the first team in Mexico to win two championships in that event. The man nicknamed “El General” had already been a champion with the Tomateros in Santo Domingo in 1996 and later obtained a third in Mazatlan 2005 as a reinforcement for the Venados in their first Caribbean Series crown, earning kudos for his work with a pitching staff that included Francisco Campos, Pablo Ortega and Jorge Campillo.

    Now 46, the 6'3” 200-pounder had an LMP career batting average of .267 with 68 homers and 299 RBIs in 794 games when he retired in 2014. After spending time playing in the Astros, Orioles and Padres systems between 1993 and 2002, Amezcua played the final 13 summers of his pro career in the Mexican League and played on pennant winners with Monterrey in 2007 and Quintana Roo in 2013 and 2015. He had unofficial LMB career totals of 60 homers and 409 RBIs to augment a .293 average in 872 contests.

Hermosillo president Enrique Mazon

    Amezcua, who is an analyst on a podcast for Puro Beisbol, will have a special motivation because the tribute will be in his hometown of Mazatlan. He'll be adding another achievement to his brilliant career after the Tomateros retired his number 31 in December 2017.

    Mazon has been with the Hermosillo organization since 1987 and a fundamental piece in the Naranjeros' past success as part of eight of the sixteen titles that the Hermosillo team has won in the Mex Pac: 1989-1990, 1991-1992, 1993-1994, 1994-1995, 2000-2001, 2006-2007, 2009-2010 and 2013-2014. Under Mazon, the Orangemen also were champions in the 2014 Caribbean Series in Margarita, Venezuela while organizing the Caribbean classic's 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2013 in Hermosillo.

    Mazon also helped oversee the construction of Estadio Sonora, a 16,000-seat ballpark that opened in February 2013 to replace Estadio Hector Espino (the Naranjeros' longtime home) and is considered by many to be the nicest baseball facility in Mexico. Hermosillo annually ranks among the LMP's attendance leaders with well over 10,000 seats filled nighty. Last winter, the team finished second in the loop with an average of 14,324 per opening in the regular season. This winter, he's celebrating 33 years as the Naranjeros team president.