Thousands of articles!
B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
August 3, 2020
LMB PRESIDENT DE LA VEGA ACCUSED OF FRAUD
The president of the Mexican League,
Horacio de la Vega, is one of several people named in a criminal
complaint
alleging both fraud and patrimonial damage filed by a Mexico City-area
mayor
last week. According to the Mexidiario.com
website, Iztacalco mayor Armando Quintero filed the complaint on
July 30
with both the Mexico City attorney general and comptroller. Iztacalco
is one of
16 boroughs within the Distrito Federal, with a population approaching
400,000
residents, and serves as the location for the Magdalena Mixihuca Sports
City,
which is where the complaint is focused.
The 227-acre complex opened in 1958
and was used when Mexico City hosted the Summer Olympics ten years
later. The
multi-sport facility underwent extensive renovations while de la Vega
served as
director of the Mexico City Sports Institute, which overees the Sports
City,
prior to his resignation from the post last year. The Magdalena
Mixihuca Ciudad
Deportes is the site of several sporting events throughout the year,
and
contains the Foro Sol and Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, past and present
home
stadiums for the LMB Mexico City Diablos Rojos. Both structures sit
within the
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.76-mile long motorsports race track.
Quintero's complaint alleges that
more than 26 million pesos (US$1.2 million) worth of fraud was
committed by de
la Vega and others in relation to the renovations, that were done while
he
headed the facility under former Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel
Mancera, a
former city attorney general and longtime figure in the Party of the
Democratic
Revolution, or PRD, a political rival of Quintero's Morena party (from
which
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador formed a coalition with two other parties
to win
Mexico's 2018 presidential election).
Quintero's complaint claims that
substandard workmanship and materials specifically affected an
unfinished and
unused BMX bicycle racing track, which is currently the subject of
ongoing
litigation between two private companies involved in its construction,
and a
new artificial lake was judged "unsustainable" because of the 3
million peso cost of maintenance, after a children's baseball field and
several
trees were removed to make room for it. Quintero also states that there
were
instances in which contracted work was never performed. The complaint
says that
the resulting "patrimonial damages," in which taxpayers would be
required to fund repairs or complete unfinished work from the
renovations,
exceeds 80 million pesos (US$3.6 million).
The 45-year-old de la Vega, who
represented Mexico in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics as a
pentathlete,
became director of the Sports Institute in 2013 and led the
organization for
six years. He is credited with bringing events connected with the NFL,
NBA, MLB
and Formula 1 racing to Mexico City during his time in the position
before
stepping down last October, two months after the Sports City held
reopening
ceremonies. De la Vega was named to succeed Javier Salinas as president
of the
Mexican League last November.
PERICOS
SLUGGER ORTIZ TO
PLAY WINTERBALL FOR MONTERREY
Faced with the recalcitrance of one
of their top hitters from last season, the Monterrey Sultanes signed
another
highly-rated batsman for the upcoming season when outfielder Danny
Ortiz agreed
to terms for the upcoming Mexican Pacific League season. Ortiz will
presumably
replace fellow outfielder Felix Perez in Monterrey's as one of three
foreigners
allowed on the roster.
A former Reds farmhand, the
Cuban-born Perez led Sultanes regulars last season with a .270 average
and 48
RBIs while whacking 10 homers for the LMP expansion team, but is
refusing to
return to Monterrey at a reduced salary. Since the Sultanes also own
his
Mexican League rights, things could be sticky for the 35-year-old Perez
next
spring.
Bringing in Ortiz will hardly be a
downgrade for the Nuevo Leon-based team, who will play their home games
in
Mazatlan for the Wuhan virus-altered season to save on travel expenses.
The 30-year-old
Puerto Rican was a fourth-round draft pick for the Minnesota Twins in
2008, but
made his Major League debut with Pittsburgh on April 29, 2017 after
signing
with the Pirates as a free agent one year earlier. Ortiz went 1-for-12
for the
Buccos in nine games before returning to the minors. He spent 2018 with
the
Phillies' AAA affiliate in Lehigh Valley before signing with Puebla
after the
season. In ten MiLB campaigns with three organizations, Ortiz hit a
collective
.257 with 121 homers and 572 RBIs over 1,102 games.
His first year with the Pericos was
a coming-out party of sorts, as the 30-year-old Ortiz exploded for
career highs
with 42 homers and 114 RBIs in 117 games for Puebla while batting .312
in 2019.
He was selected to play in the Mexican League All-Star Game, his third
after
performing in the 2011 Midwest League and 2013 Eastern League midseason
showcases, and finished second in homers to Monclova's Chris Carter
(who hit
49) and came in fourth in ribbies. Ortiz also won the 2019 Home Run
Derby
during All-Star Weekend in Mexico City. Although his power numbers
won't be
aided by either Puebla's high altitude or the since-discarded Franklin
ball in
the pitcher-friendly Mex Pac, Ortiz is expected to be a
middle-of-the-order
force for new manager Gerardo Alvarez' Sultanes.
This will be his first season in the
LMP, but Ortiz is no stranger to playing baseball in the winter months.
The
Caguas-born gardener spent all or part of ten seasons in his native
Puerto Rico
with the Mayaguez Indios between 2010 and 2019. Although his career
winterball
numbers aren't the most imposing (a .248 average, 15 homers and 132
RBIs in 332
contests), he's a two-time postseason All-Star and 2017 league MVP
who's played
on four pennant-winnters and in five Caribbean Series.
MLB:
GONZALEZ MAKES DEBUT,
URIAS EARNS FIRST 2020 WIN
Victor Gonzalez became the 130th
Mexican-born player to appear in a Major League Baseball game last
Saturday
when the Los Angeles Dodgers rookie made a relief appearance during
their game
in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
A 24-year-old native of Tuxpan,
Nayarit, Gonzalez was sent to the mound the open the bottom of the
fifth inning
by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts with a 2-0 lead after starter Tony
Gonsolin had
tossed four frames of one-hit shutout ball. Although he showed good
control by
throwing 17 strikes in his 24-pitch appearance, Gonzalez did not come
away
unscathed.
Diamondbacks leadoff batter
Christian Walker welcomed the recent call-up from the minors with a
first-pitch
single to shallow right field on a 96 MPH fastball, then advanced to
second on
David Peralta groundout to third. After getting Stephen Vogt swinging
on a
slider for the second out, Gonzalez plunked Jake Lamb on an 0-2 pitch
to put
runners and first and second before inducing Idelmaro Vargas into a
groundout
to short to end the threat with a scoreless entrada.
Things didn't go much better in the
sixth for Gonzalez, who gave up a single to right by first batter Ketel
Marte
followed by a run-scoring double (also to right) by Kole Calhoun that
cut the
Dodgers lead to 2-1. That was enough for Roberts, who called it a night
for
Gonzalez by signaling to the bullpen for Tony Floro, who went on to end
the
inning with no further scoring. Arizona went on to a 5-3 comeback win,
thanks
to a four-run outburst in the eighth.
A 6'0" lefty, Gonzalez signed
with Los Angeles in 2012 as a 17-year-old after being scouted by Mike
Brito. He
struggled his first four summers in the Dodgers organization, going
11-20
before missing the 2017 season after Tommy John surgery. His future
remained in
doubt upon his return when he went a combined 1-4 for Class A Great
Lakes and
Rookie Ogden in 2018.
However, he turned things around
last year by starting out 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA in eight appearances
(five
starters) at Class A Rancho Cucamonga. He then went 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA
in
eight starts after a May call-up to AA Tulsa before finishing the
season with
AAA Oklahoma City, where he had no decisions and a 3.86 ERA in 15
relief
outings. Gonzalez was on the Dodgers taxi squad prior to being brought
to the
big club Thursday and making his MLB debut one night later.
Although Dodgers moundmate Julio
Urias is a year younger than Gonzalez, he's served as a mentor of sorts
for the
rookie lefty. It was Urias' turn to get into the act on Saturday with
11-2
triumph over Arizona for his first win of the year. Urias, 23, had a
rocky
start by throwing 28 pitches in the first inning and falling behind 1-0
on
Eduardo Escobar's RBI single, but settled down enough to allow only one
more
run in the fourth before leaving the game with an 8-2 lead after
allowing five
hits on 90 pitches for his six innings of work. It was Urias' first win
since
June 25 of last year, when he put in another six innings in relief
against the
D-Backs, also in Phoenix.
A product of Culiacan, Urias shares
three things with Gonzalez: He's a lefty, he was scouted by Mike Brito
and he
signed with the Dodgers in 2012. He was also the last Mexican to debut
for the
Dodgers before Gonzalez, making his first appearance in 2016.
