NARANJEROS TAKE LMP LEAD, ELIZALDE HITTING .429

Hermosillo OF Jose Cardona

    The Hermosillo Naranjeros are one of the proudest teams in Mexico. Dating back to the 1940's (when the team was known as the Queliteros), Hermosillo has won a total of 19 pennants in four winter leagues, the most recent being in 2013-14 under manager Matias Carrillo, who also led that year's squad to their second Caribbean Series title. Since then, the team has gone through manager after manager seeking another flag for the Orangemen. The latest occupant of the perpetually-hot seat in Hermosillo is Juan Gabriel Castro, a former Dodgers infielder and Mexican National Team manager who has already become very well-aquainted with the vagaries of managing a baseball team south of the border.

    Castro inherited the reins of the Naranjeros from ex-skipper Juan Navarrete during the season last winter and led them to a 36-32 regular season record (21-18 under his command) before a first round playoff loss to Monterrey in seven games. He got the chance to start this season at the helm of the team and thus far has the Naranjeros at 8-3 out the gate to lead the LMP standings, good for a one-game lead over Guasave and two games up on four other teams. Defending champion Jalisco is tenth and last at 3-8.

    The Naranjeros are a veteran outfit with the likes of thirtysomethings Maxwell Leon, Luis Alfonso Cruz, Walter Ibarra and Fernando Salas along with relative youngsters Roberto Ramos, Nick Torres, Jasson Atondo and Jose Cardona. Thus far, Cardona (an eight-year Texas farmhand who hit .389 for Jalisco in last winter's Caribbean Series) is hitting .319 with three doubles, a triple and 11 runs scored in as many games while Ramos and Torres have seven homers and 19 RBIs between them.

    Hermosillo's pitching has been solid, if unspectacular, as Salas has two saves in five appearances and has yet to be scored upon while another vet hurler, Juan Pablo Oramas, is 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 11 strikeouts in two starts. While it's far too early to think about the postseason with 58 games and two-plus months left in the regular season, Castro is hoping to be a rarity with the Naranjeros: A manager who lasts two full seasons in orange and black.

    One player who's off to a hot start is veteran outfielder-first baseman Sebastian Elizalde of Culiacan. Now in his 12th Mex Pac season (starting at the tender age of 18 with Hermosillo in 2010-11), Elizalde is the only .400 hitter in the early LMP going with a .429 average, 35 points ahead of Mexicali's Leo Heras at .394. Hermosillo's Torres is tied with Felix Perez of Monterrey with four homers each while Perez, who's also hitting .366, is leading with 14 RBIs, three up on Torres and Navojoa's Ian Sagdal. Justin Dean (Los Mochis) and Jared Oliva (Obregon) are tied at the top of the stolen base charts with six apiece.

    At least eight pitchers are tied with two wins each, among them Guasave's Jeff Kinley, Braulio Torres-Perez of Mazatlan and Navojoa righty Luis Payan (who are all sporting 0.00 ERAs less than two weeks into the schedule). Fabian Cota of Los Mochis had four strikeouts in his last start to raise his total to 14, one more than Kinley. Brandon Koch has been a standout as Guasave's new closer, saving each of the Algodoneros' seven wins to lead the loop, while Mazatlan's Elkin Alcala has five salvados for the Venados.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Standings: Hermosillo 8-3, Guasave 7-4, Los Mochis 6-5, Mazatlan 6-5, Mexicali 6-5, Navojoa 6-5, Culiacan 5-6, Monterrey 4-7, Obregon 4-7, Jalisco 3-8.

MEXICO FALLS SHORT IN U-23 GOLD CUP BRONZE GAME

Angel Camacho at 13 in 2017

    Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Angel Camacho motored home from third base on a Lee Chen-hsun wild pitch, Mexico went scoreless the rest of the way in a 3-1 loss to host Taiwan in Sunday's Bronze medal game at the World Baseball Softball Confederation's U-23 Baseball Gold Cup tournament in Taipei.

    After surprise starter Nestor Anguamea (who'd been Mexico's closer) pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first, Camacho hit a leadoff single off Lee, took second on an Aldo Nunez bunt and moved to third on a bunt by Jose Zepeda before scampering home when Lee uncorked a wild pitch to Brandon Valenzuela. Lee settled down to end the inning without any further damage and went on to limit the Mexicans to two more singles through the fifth frame, retiring the last eight batters he faced before giving way to reliever Chuang Hsin-yen in the sixth.

    By then, Taiwan had taken the lead after tying the score on Chen Sheng-ping's RBI double in the top of the second and then going up 3-1 one inning later on Chen's two-run single up the middle off reliever Erubiel Armenta, who had just replaced Anguemea with the bases loaded. Armenta and three relievers held Taiwan scoreless for the next four innings while Chuang pitched two perfect entradas for the hosts as 481 onlookers watched at Tianmu Stadium. Besides Camacho, Zepeda and Hugo Sanchez singled for Mexico but no runner reached base after the third inning. Later in the Gold medal game, Japan shut out South Korea, 3-0, as Asian teams took all three medals home.

    It was somewhat miraculous that Mexico got as far as they did. They advanced to the Super Round with five other teams despite being shut out in both of their last two First Round games: a 2-0 loss to Cuba last Tuesday in what had been a scoreless contest until the Cubans pushed two runs across in the top of the seventh, followed by a 1-0 defeat to South Korea in Wednesday's make-up of an earlier rainout. That one was likewise scoreless until the Koreans scored the game's lone run in the top of the eighth on a throwing error by Mexican catcher Valenzeula, who was trying to nail tiebreak lead runner Kim Tae-yun at third after Kim had first advanced from second on a throwing error by reliever Manuel Castro.

    Despite failing to score over their last 15 innings and collecting eight hits over the two shutouts, Mexico was one of five Group B teams to finish 2-3 behind 5-0 South Korea, and was waved to the Super Round along with Australia due to tiebreaker arcana we won't go into here (life is short enough already).

    Mexico then went 2-1 in the Super Round, starting with a 4-3 win over Colombia last Thursday in which they overcame a 3-1 deficit with three fifth-inning runs thanks to a pair of walks and a wild pitch (all with the bases loaded). Camacho and Valenzuela each had two of Mexico's eight hits in the game.

    That was followed by 2-1 Friday shocker over host Taiwan in eight innings. Mexico recorded ten singles for the night, none more important than Ruben Salinas' poke to left field that allowed Zepeda to score from third with the go-ahead run. After getting the last two outs of the seventh, Castro held the Formosans hitless in the bottom of the eighth to nail down the victory.

    Mexico suffered their first loss of the Super Round Sunday in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of 2016 Gold Cup champion Japan. The game wasn't that close, with the Japanese scoring a run in the second inning and three more in the third as Kanta Aiba and Kaido Saida had RBI singles. Mexico finally got on the scoreboard via Salinas' bases-loaded walk in the sixth and Zepeda's double in the seventh bringing in Christopher Escarrega, but manager Che Reyes' team had just three hits overallas Japan's Raiku Katayama tossed five no-hit innings in another Mexican offensive meltdown after two solid games at the plate. Japan advanced to the title game against South Korea with the win while Mexico was sent to the third-place game against Taiwan. Sunday's loss dropped the Mexicans' overall record to 4-5 for a fourth-place finish in the 12-team tournament.

    Mexico hit .203 as a team for the Gold Cup. Camacho's .333 average the only one above .250 among individual players. A California native, Camacho's nine hits led the team, as did his one triple. Valenzuela and Javier Sanchez had three RBIs each while 2021 Mexican Winter League batting champion Oliver Carrillo's four runs scored were tops.

    The pitching was much better, as the squad turned in a collective 1.59 ERA. Castro was 2-1 in relief and one of four hurlers with a 0.00 ERA. Fernando Sanchez had no decisions in two starts but he had a 1.50 ERA while his 15 strikeouts in 9.1 innings led Mexico. Anguamea's ERA went from 0.00 to 3.32 with his rocky start against Taiwan in the Bronze medal game and he finished 0-2, but he also had both saves at the World Cup.

WHERE DO THIS YEAR'S LMP PLAYERS COME FROM?

    

While most of the the 300 players on the Mexican Pacific League's opening night rosters overwhelmingly hail from Mexico, to the surprise of nobody, there are many countries that contribute talent to the Mex Pac's ten teams. Writer Christan Vernet of Mexico's ScoreDeportes website recently took a deep dive into the numbers to find out exactly where these guys DO come from. Here are translated and edited excerpts from his column on the matter (thanks to Carlos Fragoso of Mexico City for forwarding the story):

    Two Mexican locales with a rich history and baseball tradition, Sonora and Sinaloa, top the list of States in Mexico with the largest number of players represented, according to birthplaces listed on the Mexican Pacific league's opening rosters.

    This article shows the distribution of the origin of the 300 baseball players who started in the rosters of the 10 teams for their respective opening games of the 2022-2023 season of the Mexican Pacific League. The players and places of birth were listed by the 10 teams on their respective rosters, which were distributed to representatives of the media.

    There are 234 players born in Mexican territory, or 78 percent of the total of players. In addition, there are 7 other nations represented, led by the United States, which has 52 (17.3%), including players who are regarded as Mexican “nationals.” The overall percentage of foreigners born outside of Mexico is 66 playrs, or 22 percent. Cuba is the second foreign country with the most players with seven (2.3%), followed by Colombia with three (1%) and the rest are Germany, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico with one each (0.3%).

    Now it's time to distribute them by states: Sinaloa is unsurprisingly number one in that category, since of the 234 Mexicans, 67 (28.6%) were born in Sinaloan territory. Sonora is number two with 62 players, or 26.5 percent.

    In total there are 22 states of the Mexican Republic represented. Third place is occupied by Baja California Norte with 31 (13.2%), followed by Jalisco with 12 (5.1%), then Coahuila and Nuevo León with 9 apiece (3.8%). The “Top Ten” is completed by Veracruz with 6 (2.6%), Baja California Sur, Chihuahua and Yucatan with 5 each (2.1%).

    Regarding the distribution by municipalities, Ahome, a suburb of Los Mochis, is the leader of all with a total of 30 players, or 12.8% of the 234 Mexican baseball players. Hermosillo and Cajeme are tied for second place with 19 baseball players (8.1%), followed by Guasave with 14 (6%), Tijuana and Culiacán each have a dozen (5.1%) while Mexicali and Mazatlán both have 10, or 4.3%.

    Looking at the United States, California has 21 players, which could be the fourth best mixed with those in Mexico, just behind Sinaloa (67), Sonora (62) and Baja California Norte (31). California has 40.4 percent of the LMP's American 52 players, followed by Texas with 6 (11.5%), Arizona has 5 (9.6%), Florida and Illinois have 3 each (5.8%) and Indiana has 2 (3.8%). In total, there are 18 US states.

    As for the foreign cities with the largest number of players, they are Cartagena, Colombia; Havana, Cuba; and Dallas, Texas (all with 3), followed by Camagüey, Cuba; Tucson, Arizona; and Anaheim and Long Beach, California with 2 each.

    The Mexcali Aguilas have the most players born outside of Mexico with nine, while Guasave, Obregon and Los Mochis have 8 each followed by Hermosillo (7), Culiacan (6) and Mazatlan, Monterrey, Jalisco and Navojoa with the minimum regulatory amount of 5.

    These are only numbers and statistics of places of origin of the players who started the season. In January, we'll have a second installment to know the origin of all the players who participated during the season.

SOLANO TRADED, SILVA RETIRING; 1ST HALF END NEARS

    Career changes involving two of the Mexican Pacific League's most notable pitchers over the past decade were in the news last week. Longtime Mexicali starter Javier Solano was sent to Guadalajara after the Aguilas announced a four-player trade with the Jalisco Charros while Mazatlan hurler Walter Silva announced his pending retirement as a player to focus on serving at the Venados pitching coach at a press conference.

    Solano, a 31-year-old righty who's in his 14th winter of LMP action, has pitched 177 games over the seasons (107 as a starter) and has a Mex Pac career record of 48-36 with a 3.44 ERA. The San Luis Colorado native nicknamed “El Terrorista” was the loop's Pitcher of the Year in 2015-16, the ERA champion in 2019-20 and won a Gold Glove last winter. Solano, who made his LMP debut in 2008-09 with Hermosillo, was off to a rough start for Mexicali this season with an 0-4 record and 8.37 ERA in five starts after going 2-6 and 7.12 for Quintana Roo in the Mexican League over the summer.

    The former Dodgers farmhand was sent to the Charros along with fellow right-hander Felipe Arredondo in exchange for pitchers Fredy Quintero and Jesus Cruz. Arredondo is a middleman who has yet to pitch this winter but was 2-0 and 2.75 for the Charros last season before coming to the border city in the offseason. In return, the Aguilas get a veteran reliever in Quintero who was 1-0 and 4.76 for Jalisco this season while Cruz (5-2 and 4.76 in four years for the Charros) is another reliever who pitched one MLB game for St. Louis in 2020.

    Meanwhile, Silva is calling it a career after 20 years on the mound. After signing with Monterrey in 2002 at the relatively advanced age of 25, the Mazatlan product pitched for the LMB Sultanes and his hometown Venados (along with a one-year stint in Taiwan) before inking a free agent deal with San Diego in 2009. The 6'1 righty pitched six times that year for the Padres (0-2, 8.76) as a teammate of brothers Edgar and Adrian Gonzalez, with whom he'd previously played winterball in Mazatlan.

    After returning to Mexico for good, Silva spent ten more years in the Liga (five with Monterrey) and compiled a lifetime record of 97-86 over 16 seasons with a 4.56 ERA. He pitched another ten winters for Mazatlan and two more in Guasave. He was picked up as an emergency pitcher for Panama in the Caribbean Series last February and appeared in two games out of the bullpen. Now 44, Silva will make his first start this season (and last of his career) for the Venados against Jalisco at home on Wednesday night before becoming a full-time pitching coach under Mazatlan manager Eddie Diaz. His number 39 will be retired.

    Surprising Navojoa has created some breathing room at the top of the Mex Pac standings with a 19-10 record, three games ahead of 16-12 Guasave. With three games remaining in the first half, the Mayos are within grasp of clinching first place and the 10 points that come with it. For their part, Nipping the Algodoneros' heels are Jalisco, Obregon and defending champion Culiacan , all with 16-13 ledgers. At the bottom of the standings, hapless Los Mochis (8-20) has clinched last place and 3.5 points.

    Christian Villanueva of Jalisco holds the batting lead over Navojoa's Tirso Ornelas by a slim .386 to .383 margin. Yoelkis Guibert of Culiacan is third at .354. Navojoa's Kyle Martin has taken the home run lead with seven longballs after just 16 games, one more than Mayos teammate Maikel Serrano and Nick Torres of Hermosillo. Guasave's Jesse Castillo are tied for the lead in runs batted in with 25 each and Luis Alfonso Cruz of Hermosillo) is third with 23 ribbies. Culiacan's Dairon Blanco is tops with 12 stolen bases while teammate Sebastian Elizalde and Los Mochis' Isaac Rodriguez tied for second with 10 swipes.

    Elian Leyva of Hermosillo finally allowed an earned run during his sixth start Friday when Jalisco's Felix Perez singled in Julian Ornelas during the fourth inning of a 5-1 Naranjeros win, but Leyva's 0.24 ERA over 37 innings still leads all LMP starters. Jalisco's Orlando Lara is right behind at 1.13 and Hector Velazquez of Obregon is third with a 1.64 mark. Navojoa's Carlos De Leon has won all five starts for a 5-0 record to lead in wins, one more than Leyva and Lara. Luis Escobar of Obregon has an LMP-best 34 strikeouts in 35.1 innings, ahead of Obregon's Arturo Lopez (32) and new Jalisco starter Javier Solano (28) on the K table. Mexicali's Jake Sanchez continues to top the saves category with nine in 12 outings as Fernando Salas of Hermosillo trails with eight and Navojoa's Carlos Bustamante is third with seven salvados.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE Standings: Navojoa 19-10, Guasave 16-12, Jalisco 16-13, Culiacan 16-13, Obregon 16-13, Hermosillo 15-14, Mazatlan 13-16, Monterrey 13-16, Mexicali 12-17, Los Mochis 8-20.

TWELVE CUBAN PLAYERS DEFECT AFTER U-23 WORLD CUP

    The final day of last month's WBSC Under-23 Baseball World Cup in Sonora saw the Cuba drop the Bronze medal game to Colombia, 5-3, in Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora. However, the Cubans suffered a greater loss with longer-lasting implications off the field after 12 young players had defected to Mexico by the time the tournament ended.

    Officials with the National Sports Agency in Havana referred to the largest group defection of Cuban athletes in years as “vile abandonments” involving players of “weak morals and ethics.” The remaining players and coaches returned to Cuba on Monday, October 4, two days after the loss to Colombia, during which 11 of 24 rostered players appeared.

    According to the Periodico Cubano website, the 12 players (all members of Cuban National Series teams) who remained behind in Sonora were LHP Dariel Fernandez (Pinar del Rio), LHP Leinel Zayas (Isla de Juventus), RHP Bryan Chi (Industriales), RHP Luis Dany Morales (Sancti Spiritus), RHP Uber Luis Medina (Santiago de Cuba), C Loidel Rodriguez (Sancti Spiritus), IF Miguel Antonio Gonzalez (Granma), IF Dismany Palacios (Sancti Spiritus), IF Yandy Yanes (Camaguey), OF Geisel Cepeda (Sancti Spiritus), OF Loidel Chapelli, Jr. (Camaguey), and OF Reinaldo Lazaga (Pinar del Rio).

    Gonzalez (.385), Yanez (.333) and Chapelli (.320) were Cuba's top three hitters in World Cup competition Chi went 1-2 with a 4.45 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 11 innings and Zayas struck out both batters faced in his lone appearance. While 11 of the 12 are technically free agents (Cepeda is under contract with Los Mochis of the Mexican Pacific League), all will first have to establish residency in Mexico or another country before being allowed to negotiate with any non-Cuban baseball organization.

    Cuban ballplayers have been defecting from the island nation for years since failed pitcher Fidel Castro took over in 1959 and subsequently ruled that baseball would henceforth be an “amateur” sport. Current Tampa Bay infielder Randy Arozarena defected to Mexico in 2016 after two seasons with Pinar del Rio and spent a year playing in the Mexican League for Tijuana and with Navojoa of the Mexican Pacific League (leading the loop in homers) after signing with St. Louis for $1.25 million. Arozarena still resides in Merida, Yucatan and has stated his desires for Mexican citizenship and a spot on the Mexican National Team. Several Cubans have made Mexico their permanent baseball home, including Ronnier Mustelier, Henry Urrutia, Daniel Carbonell and Elian Leyva.

    A 2018 deal between Cuban authorities and Major League Baseball allowing some players to sign directly with MLB organizations was canceled by then-president Donald Trump, signaling a return to the flotilla method of players leaving the island under the coak of secrecy hoping for higher pay and a better life elsewhere.

    A December 13, 2013 story in England's Guardian newspaper said Cuban star Yuliesky Gurriel (28 at the time and now playing for Houston) had just been given a “huge” standard salary raise to 13,000 Cuban pesos per month, or about US$414 at the time, to play for Sancti Spiritus of the National Series. In 2016, Gurriel signed a five-year, $47.5 million contract with the Astros five months after first defecting from Cuba during the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic and then establishing residency in Haiti.

MEX PAC ROAD TRIP (Stop #6): Los Mochis, Sinaloa

    Driving from Navojoa, Sonora 98 miles southbound on Highway 15 for about two hours, our virtual Mexican Pacific League Road Trip takes us into the state of Sinaloa and Los Mochis, our sixth stop and a city with 300,000 metropolitan residents founded in 1893 by Pennsylvanian Benjamin Johnson.

    While it's a wealthy city in a fertile agricultural area, Los Mochis (like most LMP sites) is not geared towards tourism. It's a hub of sorts, connected by ferry to La Paz, Baja California Sur; a busy airport with flights to and from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson; and the western terminus of the legendary Copper Canyon railroad, Mexico’s last major passenger railway featuring one of the most spectacular views in North American train travel.

    Los Mochis sits on the Rio Fuerte, which irrigates an extensive valley region whose main crops are vegetables (e.g., beans and corn) and sugar cane and for which the city is the commercial and financial center, and is 15 miles east of the Gulf of California port of Topolobampo, famous for its shrimp and fishing activity. Among the native animals is the yellow crocodile, which can grow as large as 38.8 feet and weigh over a ton.

    Visitors to town should check out Parque Sinaloa, which contains the most complete collection of palm trees in Mexico, including rare species imported from around the world, and is a great setting for a stroll in the cool of the evening. Parque Sinaloa is set in the old “Colonia Americana” section of Los Mochis, a former residential district for North Americans easily identified by its USA-style architecture featuring brick houses with front porches and yards on all four sides, giving a unique character to Los Mochis rarely seen in Mexico.

    Los Mochis can trace its baseball history to 1947 and the Pericos of the old Pacific coast League, a predecessor to the present-day Mexican Pacific League. The team was renamed Caneros, or “Cane Growers,” in subsequent seasons and after a couple of stops and starts, re-entered winterball for good in 1962. While the Caneros are rarely prime contenders for a title, Mochis has won three LMP pennants: in 1968-69 with manager Ben Valenzuela, 1983-84 under Vinicio Garcia and in 2002-03 for Chico Rodriguez. In two Caribbean Series, the Caneros have gone 4-8.

    The Caneros play home games at Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada, which opened in 1947 as Estadio Mochis with a capacity of 4,700 fans. The ballpark has undergone three renovations over the years: One in 1962 included expansion of seating to 6,000 and the addition of lights for night games; another in 1982 after Hurricane Paul devastated the facility nearly doubled the capacity to 11,000 and included a new lighting system; and finally a major 285 million peso upgrade completed in 2018 that raised capacity to 12,000 seats. The ballpark (which was renamed in 1972) has hosted six LMP All-Star Games, ten Mex Pac championship series and the 2015 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup.

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.

MEXICO CLINCHES SUPER ROUND AT U-23 WORLD CUP

Mexico pitcher Alemao Hernandez

    The World Baseball Softball Confederation's U-23 Baseball World Cup started last Thursday in Mexico. Twelve national teams comprised of players aged 24 or under (special dispensation for players who were 23 when last year's BWC was postponed) are taking part in tripleheaders at Hermosillo's Estadio Sonora and Estadio Yaquis in Obregon. The two six-team groups are competing in seven-inning, round-robin first stage games through Monday night, plus last Thursday's rained-out group A contest between Cuba and the Dominican Republic rescheduled for this Tuesday. Host Mexico won three consecutive games after dropping their opener to clinch a berth in the Super Round.

    Mexico got off to a bad Group A start with a 5-1 upset loss to the Czech Republic last Thursday in Obregon despite holding the Czechs to two hits. One of those was a bases-loaded double by Marek Chlup off Mexican starter Saul Castellanos in the top of the third that drove in three runs. Fabricio Macias singled and later scored from third on a Brandon Valenzuela groundout in the sixth for the lone Mexican score with 2,233 watching at Estadio Yaquis.

    Mexico came back Friday night with a 5-0 shutout over Cuba as 1,651 looked on in Obregon. Alemao Hernandez picked up the win by tossing 5.1 innings of two-hit ball with four strikeouts during the combined whitewash. It was a 2-0 until Macias belted the first pitch in the top of the seventh for a homer while Reivaj Garcia's two-run single capped the scoring for the night. Cuba starter Bryan Chi was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs in 5.2 innings.

    The Mexicans won Saturday's game against the Dominican Republic, 8-2, thanks to a six-run sixth inning that broke open a 2-2 contest. Kevin Zamudio sliced a two-run double while Valenzuela chipped in with a two-run single in breaking the game open. A gathering a 2,714 watched as Keven Lamas hit an early homer in support of starter Alejandro Chavez, who tossed five innings of two-hit, two run ball against the Dominicans.

Mexico outfielder Fabricio Macias

    Mexico then punched its ticket to the Super Round with a 3-0 win over Taiwan on Sunday. Javier Salazar scored from third on a first-inning wild pitch after singling earlier in the frame. Macias made it a 2-0 lead in the fourth by doubling to deep left, to bring in Lamas from second and Valenzuela completed the scoring in the fifth by singling and then motoring around to score on an Agustin Ruiz double to left center. Juan Tellez scattered three hits over four innings for the win as 2,177 took in the contest at Estadio Yaquis.

    The top three finishers in each group will advance to the Super Round in Hermosillo while the bottom three converge in Obregon for the Consolation Round starting on Wednesday. Each team will carry their first-round record into the next stage, where they'll play games against the three teams arriving from the opposite group. The tournament concludes on Saturday in Hermosillo when the third and fourth place Super Round finishers meet in the Bronze Medal game at 1:00PM local time, followed by a Gold Medal game between the top two Super Round finishers at 7:30PM.

WBSC U-23 BASEBALL WORLD CUP SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Thursday, September 23
Taiwan 7, Germany 0 (Zhuang-Chen Zhong-Ao 5 innings pitched, 6 hits, 9 strikeouts)
Colombia 7, Panama 1 (Elkin Alcala allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 7-inning complete game)
Cuba vs. Dominican Republic in Obregon rained out, rescheduled for September 28
Nicaragua 6, South Korea 4 (Luis Montealto doubled, homered and had 5 RBIs)
Czech Republic 5, Mexico 1 (Marek Chlup had 2 hits, including 3-run 2B in top of 3rd)
Venezuela 9, Netherlands 4 (Roberto Perez belted a 3-run homer in win)

Friday, September 24
Dominican Republic 8, Germany 4 (Francis Florentino, Fabian Sandro both hit 2-run Hrs)
Panama 13, Nicaragua 6 (Panama 7 runs in top of 8th, Abraham Rodriguez 2-run HR)
Taiwan 4, Czech Republic 1 (Chen Sheng-Ping's 2-run double keyed 4-run top of 1st)
South Korea 8, Netherlands 7 (Jung Min-Kyu walkoff run from 3rd on error in bottom of 8^th)
Mexico 5, Cuba 0 (Alemao Hernandez 5.1 shutout innings on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts)
Venezuela 3, Colombia 2 (Roberto Perez singled, doubled and scored 2 runs)

Saturday, September 25
Germany 6, Czech Republic 4 (David Grimes had two-run double in top of 3^rd)
Panama 5, South Korea 2 (Adrian Montero went 3-for-4, scored 2 runs and had an RBI)
Cuba 2, Taiwan 1 (Yuddiel Gonzalez' 2-run homer in bottom of 7th was enough for win)
Colombia 10, Netherlands 0 (Luis Moreno allowed 3 hits, had 7 K's in 6-inning shutout)
Mexico 8, Dominican Republic 2 (Kevin Zamudio's 2-run double aided 6-run 6th)
Venezuela 6, Nicaragua 3 (Juan Fernandez' 2-run HR keyed 3-run top of 3^rd)

Sunday, September 26
Cuba 10, Germany 3 (Marlon Vega allowed 1 run on 1 hit in 5 innings pitched, struck out 8)
Netherlands 4, Panama 1 (Tyriq Kemp hit 2-run homer during 4-run 4th for Dutchmen)
Dominican Republic 2, Czech Republic 0 (Jordan Sandoval hit 2-run HR in mercy rule win)
Colombia 10, Nicaragua 0 (Jordan Diaz socked 2-run HR, added RBI double in shutout)
Mexico 3, Taiwan 0 (Juan Tellez and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout)
Venezuela 3, South Korea 0 (Roberto Perez' 2-run double aided 4 pitchers in 2-hit shutout)

Monday, September 27
Game 25: Cuba vs. Czech Republic (Group A) in Obregon
Game 26: Nicaragua vs. Netherlands (Group B) in Hermosillo
Game 27: Dominican Republic vs. Taiwan (Group A) in Obregon
Game 28: Panama vs. Venezuela (Group B) in Hermosillo
Game 29: Germany vs. Mexico (Group A) in Obregon
Game 30: Colombia vs. South Korea (Group B) in Hermosillo

Tuesday, September 28
Game 3: Cuba vs. Dominican Republic (rescheduled group A) in Obregon

STANDINGS (through Sunday, September 26)
GROUP A: Mexico 3-1, Cuba 2-1, Dominican Republic 2-1, Taiwan 2-2, Czech Republic 1-3, Germany 1-3.
GROUP B: Venezuela 4-0, Colombia 3-1, Panama 2-2, South Korea 1-3, Nicaragua 1-3, Netherlands 1-3.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE ROAD TRIP: Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

    For the next ten weeks, BASEBALL MEXICO will be taking an updated virtual road trip to all ten Mexican Pacific League cities. We'll start in Monterrey, then cut across to Mexicali and head south through Mazatlan before wrapping up our online journey in Guadalajara.
    The Mexican Baseball Road Trip (which touched down in all 24 cities in both the LMP and Mexican League) was first carried in the old VIVA BEISBOL column and repeated during BBM's first year in 2009. Each stop on our Mex Pac tour will include some revised text:

Downtown Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

    Our Mex Pac Road Trip begins in Monterrey, home of the Sultanes (who also field a summer team in the Mexican League), capital of the state of Nuevo Leon, the leading city in northern Mexico and the industrial center of the nation. Monterrey sits in the Sierra Madre Oriental foothills and was founded in 1596 by Diego de Montemayor, but it wasn’t until after the War of Independence in the 1820’s that it started blossoming as an important business center.

    Present-day Monterrey is home to over five million metropolitan residents and is Mexico’s second-largest city behind Mexico City. Although daytime high temperatures regularly hit the 90's during summer, winters are actually quite pleasant, with daytime highs usually in the low 70's between November and February.

    Visitors will not be impressed by the factories, traffic and smog they’ll encounter here, but Monterrey’s city center is actually quite pleasant, with a combination of colonial elegance and modern architecture and statues. The heart of Monterrey, many say, lies in the Plaza Zaragosa (also known as the “Macroplaza”), which was created by the demolition of six complete city blocks in downtown Monterrey. The crown jewel of the Macroplaza is the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, or MARCO, a museum that is considered a “don’t-miss” experience for art lovers visiting Monterrey. While not as beautiful on an overall basis as some of the more colonial cities in Mexico’s south, Monterrey has much to offer those willing to look past the industrial congestion that creates the city’s wealth.

    Home to three past Little League World Series champions, Monterrey is also in some aspects the center of Mexican baseball. It is home of the Salon de la Fama, the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame, which was originally opened in 1971 at the Cuauhtemoc Brewery grounds. After its 2012 closure at the behest of the brewery, Mexico City billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu provided over US$18 million in funding for a beautiful new facility that opened in 2019. Over 200 immortals from Mexican baseball are enshrined there.

Estadio Monterrey, home of the Sultanes

    In nearby El Carmen sits the Mexican Baseball Academy, where all 16 LMB teams share funding for the 100 young domestic athletes hoping to develop into pro ballplayers. The complex consists of 56 dormitory rooms, four baseball fields, four batting cages, a computer room, weight room, cafeteria, infirmary and a plaza where players can congregate. In the past, the Academia has operated an eight-team rookie league during the winter.

    The Monterrey Sultanes are one of the Mexican League’s flagship franchises and have won ten LMB championships since their founding in 1939. The Sultanes added a Mexican Pacific League team in the 2019 expansion, which has yet to reach the playoffs in two seasons. Both teams play home games in Mexico’s largest ballpark, the 22,000-seat Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey. It was the first venue in the country to have hosted Major League Baseball regular season games in 1996.

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Ramon Arano, Pitcher

Ramon Arano at his peak with Diablos

    Ramon Arano is one of only two men to have pitched in six different decades in professional baseball history (the other is Hub Kittle), and is the only man to have won 300 or more games in one minor league. While Arano never reached 20 wins in a season, the workhorse hurler won 10+ games 18 times and holds LMB career record with 334 wins, 57 shutouts, 297 complete games and 4,773 innings pitched.

    The diminutive Arano made his Liga debut for Poza Rica in 1959, going 8-9 with the Petroleros with a 4.47 ERA. He spent the next three seasons with Veracruz, including a disastrous 1960 campaign in which he was mainly used out of the bullpen and lost all five of his decisions with a sky-high 6.53 ERA. Arano turned things around in 1961, turning in an 11-3 record to lead the LMB in winning percentage for the pennant-winning Aguilas. He then reeled off 46 wins over the next three campaigns and made his only journey to play pro ball north of the border at the end of the 1962 campaign with Oklahoma City of the American Association, going 1-1 with a 9.82 ERA in three appearances.

    Following a mediocre 9-8 season with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in 1965, Arano went on another three-year skein of effective pitching between 1966 and 1968, showing a 48-32 record with 400 strikeouts and a sub-3.00 ERA each season. An injury-shortened 1969 saw him go 5-7 before yet another three-year run of double-digit victories despite pitching for three teams (the Diablos, Saltillo and Cordoba) in that span. After another shortened year with the Cafeteros in 1973, Arano went on an eight-year tear of solid pitching.

    Between 1974 and 1981, Arano won between 12 and 19 games every season while consistently registering sub-3.00 ERAs, winning 19 games in both 1978 and 1979. He spent the strike-split 1980 season with Reynosa and won 14 games for the Broncos and turned in a 14-5 mark for the Diablos Rojos in 1981.

Pitching for Veracruz at age 62

   Arano bounced around a bit after that, although he did go 11-9 for Veracruz as a 44-year-old in 1984. He retired in 1986 before coming back in 1995 with the Aguilas, throwing one game in 1998 with Cordoba, and finally made one three-inning appearance in 2001 as a 62-year-old pitching coach for Veracruz.

    In all, Arano played in a total of 32 seasons (a Mexican League record) with eight teams. He also played winterball in the Mexican Pacific League for 15 seasons, compiling a decent 89-84 record with a solid 2.81 ERA and a no-hitter. Among his career highlights, Arano shut out Cleveland 4-0 in a 1967 exhibition game, but he saved the best for the following year. In a game in Mexico City, Arano beat Jim Bouton and the New York Yankees, 5-3, striking out Mickey Mantle twice.

    Arano, a Veracruz native who passed away in 2012 at age 72, was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993. His nickname as a player was "Don Pantalones" (loosely translated, "The Man Who Wears the Big Pants"), a good name for the winningest pitcher in Mexican baseball history.