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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
December 13, 2021
JUSTINE SIEGAL TO COACH FOR 3 LMP TEAMS THIS WEEK
In what
is her fourth time teaching at the Mujeres en
el Diamante (“Women of the Diamond”)
clinics with the teams of the Mexican Pacific League, baseball coach Justine
Siegal has returned to the LMP this week to don the uniforms of the Hermosillo
Naranjeros, Mexicali Aguilas and Guasave Algodoneros.
In a
virtual press conference with the presence of the president of the circuit,
Lic. Omar Canizales, United States Public Affairs Consul in Tijuana Kim
Scrivner presented the agenda that the American will have from December 12 to
17 in the three stadiums of the clubs involved.
Siegal
started his activities in Hermosillo yesterday with the tossing of the
ceremonial first pitch and her activation as a Naranjeros coach for the game.
She will give her Mujeres en el Diamante clinic today in the capital of Sonora. She will perform
similar dual duties Tuesday and Wednesday in Mexicali before finishing up
Thursday and Friday in Guasave.
"It’s
a dream come true,” Siegal said during the virtual press conference. “I’m very
excited to be with three organizations and wear their uniform. I am anxious
that the time comes to participate again in this high-level league," said
the 45-year-old Siegal, a coach with experience in organizations such as the
Oakland A’s, Cleveland Indians and the Israel Men's National Team.
The Mexicali Aguilas are trying to overcome a ninth-place finish in the
first half by collecting enough points to earn a playoff berth with a strong
second half. So far, so good, as the Eagles have taken the Mex Pac lead with a
16-10 record, one game ahead of 15-11 Obregon. Although it’s been a tale of two
seasons for the border team, one constant for the Aguilas throughout the
campaign has been closer Jake “Checkmate” Sanchez.
The
32-year-old righty from Brawley, California now has 23 saves for the year after
closing Mexicali’s 2-0 shutout against the defending champions in Culiacan,
tying the LMP record set by Obregon’s Mark Zappeli in 1990-91 and matched in
2015-16 by Andres Avila of Los Mochis. Sanchez, who saved 21 games for the
Aguilas in 2016-17 (a season that included a microscopic 0.28 ERA in 30
appearances), becomes the first pitcher in LMP history with two 20-save seasons.
Although
Hermosillo is just a hare’s breath out of the lead, the Naranjeros haven’t had
the easiest of times battling for second half supremacy. First, they lost
former Chicago Cubs All-Star infielder Addison Russell went down with an injury
when he strained a muscle in his left thigh legging out a ground ball in a
November 23 game at Guasave. Russell began his rehab in Hermosillo before
heading home to Florida, where he’s said to be working with his personal
trainer with no timetable for his return.
As a result, the Naranjeros placed Russell on their Reserve List
and signed Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo. Castillo spent the summer season
in Japan, where he hit .225 with a homer and three RBIs in 33 games for the Rakuten
Golden Eagles, but is probably best known on this side of the Pacific for
signing a contract with the Boston Red Sox that paid him $72.5 million over
seven years, including $14.3 million in 2020 for the last year of the pact. In
return, Castillo played 99 games for the Red Sox between 2014 and 2016, hitting
.262 with seven homers. The 28-year-old batted .250 with no longballs and six
RBIs in 22 games for Mexicali last winter.
Also, Hermosillo is on their third manager over the past month.
After replacing Juan Navarrete following a so-so first half, former Mexican
National Team skipper Juan Gabriel Castro was sidelined early last week after
being the only person on the Orangemen squad to test positive for Covid-19 just
prior to a midweek series in Navojoa. Castro was sent back to Hermosillo for
quarantine purposes while bench coach Chico Rodriguez fills in on an interim
basis. Unlike Navarrete, Castro is expected back.
Another Rodriguez got some press last week when Jalisco second
baseman Manny Rodriguez drove in Alejandro Osuna (younger brother of Charros
closer Roberto Osuna) with a run in the first inning of a 3-1 win over Los
Mochis. The RBI was the 594th of the 39-year-old Rodriguez’ Mexican Pacific
League career, which is in its 16th season, putting him one ahead of former
slugger Andres Mora in fifth place among the LMP’s all-time leaders in that
category. The late Hector Espino tops that list with 1,097 RBIs over 24
winters, 418 more than his nearest competitor, Matias Carrillo.
MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE standings (as of December 12)
LMP OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Batting: Tirso Ornelas (NAV) .361, Victor Mendoza (OBR) .350,
Sebastian Elizalde (CUL) .332
Home Runs: Kyle Martin (NAV) 16, Felix Perez (JAL) 10, Nick Torres
(HMO) 9
Runs Batted In: Jesse Castillo (GUA) 41, Kyle Martin (NAV) 40, Felix
Perez (JAL) 40
Stolen Bases: Dairon Blanco (CUL) 21, Alonzo Harris (OBR) 17, 3
players tied at 14
LMP PITCHING LEADERS
Wins: Six pitchers tied at 6
ERA: Elian Leyva (HMO) 1.69, Wilmer Rios (HMO) 2.37, Arturo
Lopez (OBR) 2.53
Strikeouts: Octavio Acosta (NAV) 60, David Reyes (MXI) 54, 3
pitchers tied at 51
Saves: Jake Sanchez (MXI) 23, Fernando Salas (HMO) 11, 2
pitchers tied at 11
MONCLOVA OVERCOMES
2-0 DEFICIT, WINS LIM PENNANT
Shawon Dunston Junior’s solo homer in the bottom of the
tenth inning Friday night completed an improbable comeback for his Monclova
Acereros, who lost the first two games to Puebla in a best-of-five Mexican
Winter League championship series before roaring back with three straight wins
to cop the LIM’s Prince Series (Serie de
Principe) and the AA winter league’s first
pennant since the league suspended operations after its 2017 season. The Mexico
City Diablos Rojos won all three LIM titles from 2015-17.
Dunston’s
blast gave Monclova a 9-8 victory in the deciding game of a series in which the
home team won every game. The first two contests were played in Puebla before
the series moved to Coahuila for the final three games, although after the
Pericos took a 2-games-to-0 lead, it didn’t seem likely that they’d need that
many to clinch the title after defeating Veracruz-Yucatan in the LIM South
Finals to advance to the Serie de Principe against the Acereros, who’d beaten
Monterrey for the LIM North crown.
Puebla
opened the LIM title set last Sunday with an 8-6 home win over the Acereros as
Jesus Cordova made the most of his one hit by driving in two runs and scoring
two more for the Pericos while Ahmad Galaz collected two hits and as many RBIs
on the night. Despite allowing five runs in 6.1 innings, Puebla starter Joel
Paula benefited from the 7-4 lead his offense had given him going into the
seventh and was awarded the win.
The
Parakeets took a two-game lead last Monday in a 9-8 knucklebiter over the
Steelers that lasted eleven innings. Cordova was the man of the moments by
lining a walkoff single against Monclova reliever Rolando Mora that drove in
the game-winning run. Cristian Alvarado, who earned the save on Sunday, tossed
the final three innings for Puebla and got the win out of the bullpen while
Mora absorbed the loss.
After Tuesday’s travel day, the series resumed at Estadio
Monclova with the Acereros’ collective backs against the wall. The Blue Fury
responded with a pair of blowout wins to set up the deciding game, starting
with Wednesday’s 9-3 laugher during which veteran third baseman Rodolfo Amador
went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs while another vet, first sacker Ricky
Rodriguez, had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Monclova starter
Jassiel Ochoa, who enjoyed the 9-0 fifth inning lead his mates had built for
him, got the win after tossing 5.2 frames and allowing three runs (all coming
in the top of the sixth after the winner had pretty much been decided).
Monclova got an even bigger win last Thursday, 13-4, as the
Acereros did all their scoring in a three-inning stretch: four runs in the
second, three in the third and six in the fourth. Dunston belted the first
homer of the series for both teams in the second and ended up with two runs
scored and three ribbies. Lost in the onslaught was the mound work done by
18-year-old Steelers starter Jose Miguel Martinez, who went seven entradas and allowed
two runs on three hits, striking out nine Pericos and walking none.
That led to Friday’s deciding Game Five. The hosts were
leading 4-2 after seven innings before Puebla put up four runs in the eighth
and one more in the ninth to take an 8-4 advantage with three outs to go for
the title. Instead, Monclova scored four of their own in the bottom on the
ninth, including a Roberto Castro homer, to send the tilt into overtime. After
Acereros reliever Jesus Valenzuela struck out the side in the top of the tenth,
Dunston stepped up in the bottom of the inning and blasted a roundtripper to
end the game, the series and the season for Monclova and manager Mickey
Callaway, a former Mets skipper who earlier pitched in MLB, Korea and Taiwan.
MAESTROS OF MEXICO:
Epitacio Torres, OF
Baseball fans in the USA are likely more familiar
with shortstop Hector Torres, a Little League World Series hero in 1957 who
went on to play Major League Baseball, his father was arguably the better
player. Epitacio Torres was a right fielder comparable to Roberto Clemente
(although Torres lacked Clemente’s power) and is considered by many to be
Mexico's best-ever at that position. He had a rifle arm that few runners dared
test and was a consistent .300 hitter for nearly twenty seasons.
Nicknamed “La Mala” (“The Bad”) as a player,
Torres was born September 19, 1921 in Villaldama, Nuevo Leon and made his Liga
debut as a 17-year-old in 1939 with the Monterrey Sultanes, for whom he would
play 18 seasons. He hit .316 (with a .381 OBP) and was named Rookie of the Year
that season.
Over his 19 Mexican League seasons, Torres topped
the .300 mark twelve times, was awarded nine Gold Gloves in right field and had
the highest career fielding percentage (.982) among all past and present LMB
outfielders when he retired. The left-hander became the first player in league
history to reach the 1,000 hit threshold and finished his career with 1,823 safeties,
scoring 933 runs and driving in 855 more (despite only clubbing 46 career
homers).
Torres helped the Sultanes win four pennants,
including three in a row between 1947-49, and played in 13 All-Star Games
between 1943 and 1956. Despite his usual lack of power, he struck the
game-winning homer in the bottom of the tenth inning at the 1954 All-Star Game,
giving the Mexican League a 1-0 win over the Texas League All-Stars in front of
his home fans in Monterrey. He completed
his final Mexican League season with two games for Nuevo Laredo (batting
1-for-7) in 1958, the year after son Hector led Monterrey to the Little League
World Series title.
La Mala also played eight seasons of winter ball
with Mazatlan, batting .300 or better five times (winning the 1947-48 batting
title of the old Pacific Coast League), and is a member of the Mex Pac’s
all-time team. Torres played one winter with future Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey
Ford in Mazatlan and in his book “Slick,” Ford called Torres “the best player
I’ve ever seen in my career.”
Torres was inducted into the Mexican Salon de la
Fama in 1964, one of the earliest players to be so honored. He died at age 49
on April 21, 1971 in Monterrey.
