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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Wednesday,
December 22, 2021
LMP
PLAYOFFS SET: MAZATLAN, LOS MOCHIS MISS CUT
The
eight-team field for the first round of the upcoming Mexican Pacific
League
playoffs was in doubt all the way until the last week of the regular
season, as
nine of the LMP’s ten clubs were within close proximity throughout the
second
half of the 2021-22 campaign. However, all doubts as to who reaches the
postseason were dispelled after two games played Tuesday night.
The
defending two-time champion Culiacan Tomateros had been candidates for
elimination before they shut out the Jalisco Charros, 2-0, in
Guadalajara
behind a strong start by starter Manny Banuelos, the Mex Pac’s most
recent
Pitcher of the Week. At the same time, the Mazatlan Venados were
being
blanked in a 6-0 road shocker by Kyle Friederichs and tailenders Los
Mochis,
knocking the nine-time champions out of the postseason for the first
time since
their 26-40 season in 2013-14.
It
has to be a shocker for the Venados and their fans, who last February
witnessed
the Caribbean Series at Mazatlan’s Estadio Teodoro Mariscal (which
Major League
Baseball declared as the most beautiful place in the world to play
baseball on
its TikTok account) but now will have no more games at the 16,000-seat
ballpark
until next October.
On
the other hand, Culiacan manager Benji Gil and his Tomateros are
breathing a
collective sigh of relief over avoiding elimination. Gil in particular
has
faced mounting criticism in Culiacan for failing to win the Caribbean
Series in
fourth try at the crown jewel of Latin baseball since 2015 by fans
failing to
note that to get that far, you have to win your league pennant.
Gil
then received heat on a nationwide basis for managing Mexico to an 0-4
record
at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, breaking protocol along the way by
having
Culiacan players who’d been chosen to the team pose wearing their
Tomateros
jersey in the Olympic Village.
No
such worries in Mexicali, where the Aguilas and interim manager Gil
Velazquez
have clinched the second half title after defeating first half champion
Navojoa, 2-1, Tuesday night in Navojoa despite only collecting three
hits on
the night (including RBI singles by Victor Ruiz and Gilberto Vizcarra
in the
seventh. Even though Mexicali closer Jake Sanchez was touched for the
Mayos’
lone run on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the ninth, he got the
final
out for his LMP record 26th save.
After
a 14-18 first half that ended in a ninth-place finish that cost
then-manager
Bronswell Patrick his job, Velazquez has led the Aguilas to a 21-13
ledger in
the second half (two games up on 19-15 Navojoa with one game left) and
a
probable return to start the 2022-23 season with the Eagles, but let’s
face it:
the term “interim manager” is a redundancy in Mexicali.
Navojoa
will be the top seed entering the playoffs whether they finish second
or third
in the second half. Skipper Matias Carrillo’s Mayos will finish with
19.0
playoff points for the season should they win Wednesday night, well
ahead of
Guasave’s projected 14.5 points. After a day off Friday, the
quarterfinals will
open on Christmas Day, The Mayos appear to be on a course to host
defending
champion Culiacan in the first two games, their “reward” for a
first-place finish.
Wherever
playoff games will be held, veteran umpire Humberto “El Lobito” Saiz
won’t be
working any of the games. Saiz was reportedly drunk and was physically
removed
from the field while working third base during the third inning of
Sunday’s
game in Mazatlan between the Venados and Navojoa after making obscene
gestures
at fans and confronting players and coaches. He was suspended
indefinitely by
the LMP on Monday. The son of Salon de la Fama umpire Victor “El Lobo”
Saiz was
also suspended by Mex Pac president Omar Canizales ten years ago for
alleged
drug use.
MEXICAN
PACIFIC LEAGUE Second Half standings (through December 21)
Mexicali
21-13 (4.0), Navojoa 19-15 (10.0), Hermosillo 18-16 (5.5), Obregon
18-16 (7.0),
Monterrey 17-16 (5.0), Guasave 17-17 (9.0), Jalisco 16-17 (8.0),
Culiacan 16-18
(6.0), Mazatlan 15-19 (4.5), Los Mochis 12-22 (3.5)
First
Half playoff points in parentheses
LMP
OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Batting:
Victor Mendoza (OBR) .349, Tirso Ornelas (NAV) .346, Ramon Rios
(MAZ) .328
Homers:
Kyle Martin (NAV) 17, Victor Mendoza (OBR) 10, Felix Perez (JAL)
10
RBIs:
Jesse Castillo (GUA) 44, Joey Meneses (CUL) 44, 2 players tied
with 43
Stolen
Bases:
Dairon Blanco (CUL) 21, Alonzo Harris (OBR)
17, 2 players tied with 16
LMP
PITCHING LEADERS
Wins:
Elian Leyva (HMO) 7, 5 pitchers tied with 6
ERA:
Elian Leyva (HMO) 1.54, Wilmer Rios (HMO) 2.39, David Holmberg
(NAV) 2.43
Strikeouts:
Octavio Acosta (NAV) 66, Ryan Verdugo (HMO)
60, Many Banuelos (CUL) 56
Saves:
Jake Sanchez (MXI) 26, Fernando Salas (HMO) 12, 2 pitchers tied
with 11
NEW
LMB MANAGERS NAMED IN PUEBLA, LAGUNA
As
the Mexican Pacific League prepares to open their first round of
playoffs this
weekend, their summerball counterparts are making offseason moves in
anticipation of their 2022 season. Two Mexican League teams announced
managerial hirings with a pair of familiar faces named to take over.
The
Puebla Pericos announced that Venezuelan Willie Romero will be their
new
skipper next season. Romero has a long history in Mexican baseball,
making his
managerial debut during the 2012 campaign with Yucatan. Later, he
directed the
Monclova Steelers in 2013 and coached for Quintana Roo in 2014 before
returning
to Yucatan, where he was named Manager of the Year in 2015 and 2016,
earning
the same distinction in the LMP with the Navojoa Mayos in 2017-2018.
Currently,
Romero manages the Magallanes Navegantes in the Venezuelan Winter
League after
serving last summer in the LMB as a hitting coach for expansion
Guadalajara
under Benji Gil, as the Mariachis had the number one offense in the
League. He
also has experience coaching in American minor league baseball with the
San Francisco
Giants organization. Like Gil, Romero has been a winning manager while
also a
volatile sort who can raise the ire of umpires and opposing players,
coaches
and fans while raising blood pressure among directors of clubs he’s
worked for.
The Pericos, who finished 33-33 under Carlos Gastelum and Gerardo
Sanchez last
summer, promise to be entertaining under Romero one way or another.
Meanwhile,
as expected, the Union Laguna Algodoneros have elevated bench coach
Oscar
Robles to manager after the tragic suicide of former skipper Omar
Malave. A
former MLB infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego, Robles
played
in the Mexican League between 2009 and 2017, retiring after his
birthplace
Tijuana Toros won their lone LMB pennant that summer. He stayed on with
the
team as a coach in 2018 and was named manager midway through the
season. Robles
compiled a 110-66 record through the 2019 season before he was fired,
as all
managers in Tijuana are, because he failed to win a title either season.
Robles
has managed the past two winters in Guasave and is a major reason the
Algodoneros have risen from a 26-37 expansion team in 2019-20 to a
playoff
contender with an overall 66-56 record in the Mexican Pacific League’s
smallest
market. He was named the LMP Manager of the Year last winter after
leading the
Cottoneers to a five-game improvement, a third-place finish in the
overall
standings and stretching their first round playoff series with eventual
champion Culiacan to six games.
MAESTROS
OF MEXICO: Alfredo Ortiz, P (1963-87)
Comparable
to former Philadelphia Athletics star Bobby Schantz, Alfredo Ortiz
overcame a
slight frame (5’7” and 135 pounds) with pinpoint control and crafty
pitching to
become the best left-hander in Mexican League history.
Born
January 12, 1944 in Medellin de Bravo, Veracruz, Ortiz played Class A
ball in
the Mexican Center League for three years prior to debuting with the
Mexico City
Diablos Rojos as a 19-year-old in 1963. He went on to pitch 25 years in
the
Liga, playing on five LMB pennant winners in Mexico City as he and
righty Ramon
Arano formed the best 1-2 pitching combo in Mexican annals.
Ortiz
averaged 15 wins a year between 1966 and 1975 for the Red Devils, with
an
outstanding 1969 campaign in which he went 23-9 with a 2.26 ERA,
including five
shutouts and 27 complete games. Even when he pitched for poor teams, he
was
effective, as Ortiz turned in a 2.77 ERA despite a 2-13 record for
Tabasco in
1977. His last big year was in 1979 as he went 16-10 with a 2.44 ERA
for Nuevo
Laredo, although he did pitch six shutouts for Tabasco in 1982 and went
10-7
with a 3.70 ERA and just 20 walks in 139 innings as a 40-year-old in
1984. Ortiz
wrapped up his career in 1987 by pitching three games for Puebla.
For
his career, Ortiz went 255-210 (second in wins to Arano) with a 3.13
ERA and 51
shutouts, fifth on the all-time list in the latter category. Despite
his lack
of size, Ortiz was a workhorse, tossing 256 complete games among his
3,841
innings. Not a power pitcher by any means, he was a master of location
who
struck out 1,824 batters (eighth all-time) while walking just 830
batters over
25 seasons. He reached double figures in wins 14 times while turning in
an ERA
below 3.00 ten times. Ortiz could swing a bat well enough to appear as
a first
baseman at times when he wasn’t on the mound and hit .261 with 11
homers for
the Diablos in 405 at-bats between 1967-69.
Ortiz
was almost as successful in 19 winter seasons in the Mexican Pacific
League,
although he set a still-standing LMP record with 23 strikeouts in a
13-inning
game in January of 1965. The man nicknamed “Zurdo” (or “Lefty”) was
104-96 (7th
in all-time wins) with a 2.98 ERA (17th) and 925 strikeouts (11th) for
his
winterball career. He went 0-1 for Hermosillo in the 1971 Caribbean
Series, the
first time a Mexican team appeared in that competition after leading
the LMP
with 13 regular season wins.
Ortiz
was a player-manager for Tabasco, Cordoba and Veracruz as well as a
bench
manager with the Mexico City Tigres and Aguascalientes. He also managed
the
Mazatlan Venados to the LMP title and the Caribbean World Series in
Venezuela
during the 1976-77.
Nicknamed
El Zurdo de Oro (“The Golden Southpaw”), Alfredo Ortiz was selected to
the
Salon de la Fama in 1993. He still played amateur baseball in Mexico
City into
his 60’s, taking turns at first base and the outfield as well as on the
mound.
He turns 78 next month.
