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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
April 19, 2021
ESPN
TO BROADCAST MEXICAN LEAGUE GAMES
According to The Economist,
ESPN is among the networks that will broadcast Mexican League games this
summer. The LMB hopes to increase their audience spectrum and improve the economic
conditions of all 18 teams. The announcement was made during a virtual league
press conference last week, but no specific dates were given for ESPN live
coverage. Other channels involved in 2021 will be TV Azteca, Multimedios and
Canal 1.
In an Assembly of Presidents meeting
held in San Diego more than a year ago, it was determined that in 2021 the LMB
will for the first time control the broadcasting rights of all member teams
that comprise it to commercialize them collectively. One of the plans in the
management of league president Horacio de la Vega is to increase its reach to
spectators and promote teams beyond their local market.
"Leagues like the NFL have
managed to improve a lot in production issues to create a more competitive
league,” de la Vega says, “so that the teams can have better conditions when
making a global negotiation. For that reason, this agreement has been
made."
The Mexico City Diablos Rojos and
Monterrey Sultanes were among the most affected franchises, since they already
had lucrative contracts with SKY Sports, an ESPN competitor. The Proceso
website detailed that the economic blow for the Diablos will exceed five
million pesos (about US$250,000) with this decision.
According to information provided at
a press conference by Diablos executive president Othon Díaz, the process
consists of packaging the games to sell them at three levels (A, AA and AAA).
Each television station is assigned a certain number of games, depending on the
amount that has paid, so that in the end all teams are on different channels.
In addition, Diaz pointed out that
in conjunction with the league, it will allow local television stations to
carry important games.
“In the case of local television
stations, especially at the state level,” says Diaz, “they have normally
broadcast the teams' games. There is a matter of negotiation where through the
sale of the rights for those cities, the local television station only has the
possibility of broadcasting in the city or state where it has been negotiated
with the league.”
PURO
BEISBOL:
PACHO FIRED, BACKED MAZATLAN MAYOR
Juan Jose Pacho has apparently been
given an object lesson in the perils of bringing politics into the workplace.
According to Puro Beisbol editor Fernando Ballesteros, Pacho was fired
by the Mexican Pacific League's Mazatlan Venados organization after appearing
in a photograph standing next to current Mazatlan mayor Luis Benitez Torres at
a recent campaign event. Benitez stepped down as mayor in March to take a
three-month leave until June 7 to focus on his re-election campaign.
Benitez Torres and the City have
been at loggerheads with Venados owners Jose Antonio Toledo and his family ever
since Estadio Teodoro Mariscal reopened in time for the 2018-19 LMP season
after undergoing US$18 million worth of renovations. The first dispute involved
three clandestine water lines discovered by the City at the facility early that
season.
After the state-owned Jumapam water
utility determined that the Venados owed them 12.9 million pesos, water to the
ballpark was shut off in late November and city staffers closed the ballpark to
fans in the stands until the bill was paid. The imbroglio lasted into December
before an uneasy settlement was arrived at and the stadium opened back up to
ticketbuyers.
Differences between the City and the
team flared up again last year when employees of the municipality evicted the
Venados staff from their ballpark offices and padlocked the 16,000-seat
facility in April after violations of the signed lease were cited. The Toledo
family also had their concessions contract at Estadio Teodoro Mariscal
terminated. That was a particularly hard pill to swallow for the Toledos, who
had managed concessions there since 1980 and were able to build up enough
wealth to purchase the team from the Mazatlan-based Pacifico brewery in 2005.
The team was forced to operate out
of temporary offices away from the ballpark and while Mazatlan had been awarded
last winter's Caribbean Series by the Pan American Baseball Conferation (COPABE),
the standoff carried into June and COPABE head Juan Francisco Puello was
threatening to move the tournament elsewhere if his organization was not given
access to the stadium during the event. Eventually, Benitez Torres relented and
the Venados were allowed to occupy Estadio Teodoro Mariscal for the 2020-21
season and the Serie del Caribe, but the dispute concerning the ballpark
lease has still not been resolved.
With that as back story, it had to
come as a shock to the Toledos when the picture of Pacho and Benitez Torres at
a rally surfaced in early April. The former shortstop was relieved of his
managerial duties during last season (the third time he's managed the club) but
had remained on the payroll as a consultant while supervising a children's baseball
school.
A Salon de la Fama member as a
player, Pacho first became the Venados skipper after replacing Dan Firova amid
the 2004-05 season and led the squad to the LMP pennant and a Caribbean Series
title, Mazatlan's first, that season. The Deer also copped the 2005-06 Mex Pac
flag but Pacho was eventually let go with thanks, as all managers in Mexico
experience. He replaced Miguel Olivo at the helm during the 2015-16 campaign
and once again led them to the pennant and CS crown that winter but was eventually
let go again. This time around, he was brought in to replace Joe Alvarez after
the latter left with the team in first place during the 2018-19 season and held
the post until he was sent back to the front office last winter.
Now, however, the 59-year-old Pacho
(who was fired shortly after his birthday) has apparently crossed a bridge too
far by appearing to support a mayor that has been anathema to his team owners
for the past two years. He will likely hop on the Mexican managerial
merry-go-round and find a new job as dugout boss elsewhere because nobody seems
to be out of work for long as long as they've had past success, and there may
have been a lesson learned in what can happen when you back a politician who
has been the bane of your employers' existence.
SALON
DE LA FAMA MEMBER JORGE FITCH DIES AT 87
Sinaloa native Jorge Fitch, one of
the best shortstops in Mexican baseball history, died last Thursday due to
health problems. His son of the same name reported in a statement on social
networks that the senior Fitch had passed away after turning 87 on March 30.
The former player and manager had
battled serious problems for a long time after suffering a stroke. One of
Fitch's last public appearances was two years ago in Reynosa at the reunion of
the 1969 Mexican League champion Broncos.
A member of the Mexican Baseball
Hall of Fame since 2001 (when he was inducted along with catcher Rudy Sandoval,
first baseman Jack Pierce and utilityman/pitcher Pedro Ramirez), Fitch was
considered the Mexican League's best shortstop during a playing career that
lasted from the late 1950's into the mid-1970's, especially with Puebla and
Reynosa. Playing winterball in the Mexican Pacific League, he also stood out in
the middle infield with Hermosillo, Obregon and Navojoa.
Born in Novalato, Sonora on March
30, 1934, Fitch broke into pro baseball at age 22 with the Fresnillo Mineros of
the Class C Mexican Center League in 1956. Despite only batting .203 with five
homers and 39 RBIs over 87 games while committing 25 errors at shortstop, he
was acquired by the Mexico City Tigres for 1957 and spent three seasons with
the team, socking 10 homers and stealing 25 bases under manager George Genovese
in 1958. However, it wasn't until after Fitch was dealt to Puebla in 1960 that
he hit his stride.
Fitch topped the .300 batting mark
in each of his first two years with the Pericos, for whom he spent eight
summers and won one pennant (1963) while finishing second twice (1964, 1965).
In the timespan, Puebla put together one of the strongest infields in LMB
history with 1B Ronnie Camacho, 2B Moises Camacho, SS Fitch and 3B Jose
“Zacatillo” Guerrero. Fitch and Moi Camacho (no relation to (Ronnie) formed an
airtight keystone combo and all four are members of the Salon de la Fama.
By 1969, Fitch was member of the
Reynosa Broncos, who won the Liga pennant despite batting just .259 and hitting
44 homers as a team (pitcher Salvador Sanchez' 22-12 record and 1.84 ERA might
have had something to do with their first-place finish). Fitch played one more
year with the Broncos and spent 1971 in Tampico, where he was teammates with
the legendary Hector Espino and a 22-year-old pitcher named Adan Munoz, whose
yet-to-be-born son Adan caught 21 years in the LMB and is now manager in Quintana
Roo. After that season, Fitch retired as a player at age 37, although he came
out of the dugout to play 21 more games for Reynosa in 1974 and 1975 when he
was managing the Broncos.
Fitch played 1,670 games in his LMB career, collecting 1,676 hits for a .272 average. He spent nine winters playing in the Mexican Pacific League with Hermosillo, Obregon and Navojoa, batting .250 on 469 hits to give him a total of 2,145 safeties in both leagues. In addition to his managerial experience in the Mexican League, where he went an overall 525-518 with two flags over seven seasons, Fitch managed the Mex Pac's Tijuana Potros for several winters during the 1980's and won the LMP pennant in 1987-88.
