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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
December 27, 2021
LMP PLAYOFFS
OPEN; FIRST
REINFORCEMENT DRAFT HELD
The 2021-22 Mexican Pacific League
playoffs began on Christmas Day. All eight teams battled it out in four
first-round series openers, with the visiting team coming away
victorious in
three of them.
In a series that may capture the
most attention among observers, defending champion Culiacan (who were
the
eighth and lowest postseason seed this winter) won at top-seed Navojoa,
8-5, on
Saturday. The Tomateros knocked out Mayos starter Octavio Acosta with
four runs
in the top of the second inning and never looked back.
Culiacan was holding a 5-3 lead when they
scored three more times in the eighth, including a two-run single by
Jose
Guadalupe Chavez with the bases loaded.
Asael Sanchez
rapped a two-run homer for Navojoa in the
bottom of the frame to make it a two-run game, but that would end the
scoring
for both teams. Manny Barreda got the win for Culiacan despite a
less-than-sterling five innings of work (three runs on four hits and
five
walks) while Acosta was tagged for the loss as over 10,000 were in the
stands
at Navojoa’s Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria, the largest gathering
among
the four openers.
Elsewhere,
Monterrey pulled out a road win at Hermosillo,
5-4, in eleven innings to open their set on Saturday night. With the
score
knotted at 4-4 after ten frames, Anthony Giansanti opened the top of
the
eleventh for the Sultanes by getting on base after an error by
Naranjeros
shortstop and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Andres Martin,
setting
the stage for a Miguel Torrero single to put the visitors ahead by a
run.
Nathanael Santiago, who tossed a scoreless tenth for Monterrey, came
out and
pitched an unblemished eleventh to seal the win.
The Obregon Yaquis traveled to
Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon for their series opener at Guasave and
came
away with a 3-1 win on Christmas. The Yaquis drew first blood in the
top of the
third when Ian Miller scored on Alonzo Harris’ sacrifice fly and Victor
Mendoza
later singled in reinforcement Isaac Rodriguez with the second run of
the entrada. The Algodoneros closed the gap
to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Yadir Drake singled in Jhoan
Urena but
Obregon scored the final run of the night for both teams two frames
later when
Michael Wing and Juan Carlos Gamboa hit back-to-back doubles off Gusave
starter
Jordan Kipper, who lasted one more batter before being pulled. Kipper
took the
loss while Obregon starter Jake Thompson earned the win with five
innings of
four-hit, one-run pitching.
Jalisco became the only home team to
win their series opener after outlasting visiting Mexicali, 10-9, in 12
innings
at Guadalajara. The Charros had built a 7-2 lead (aided by a trio of
solo
homers from Christian Villanueva, Japhet Amador and Agustin Murrillo in
the
bottom of the fourth) before the Aguilas plated one run in the top of
the
eighth and four more in the top of the ninth as Luis Jimenez stroked a
two-run
double and later scored on a Aneuty Tavarez double to even the score at
7-7.
Both teams scored twice in the tenth but the night’s heroics belonged
to Charros
shortstop Missael Rivera, who led off the 12th with a double and
advanced to
third before coming in with the game-winner on Villanueva’s sacrifice
fly to
right to end a game that featured a combined 28 hits and 11 walks.
Fifteen minutes after the final
regular season game concluded, the eight playoff teams held a so-called
reinforcement draft of players from Mazatlan and Los Mochis, the two
clubs that
didn’t advance. With the first pick, Obregon chose Los Mochis second
baseman
Isaac Rodriguez. Guasave followed by plucking another second sacker,
Mazatlan’s
Ramon Rios, while Hermosillo took Venados infielder Isaac Paredes with
the
third pick. In all, 16 Los Mochis and Mazatlan players were selected
over two
rounds, nine of them pitchers.
A similar draft
will be held prior to the semifinals and
finals. The eventual champions will be able to load up on more
reinforcements
before heading the the Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo with a roster
that
bears little resemblance to their regular season lineup. A similar
process is
carried out in other winter leagues, making the Serie del
Caribe more a tournament of all-star teams than league
champions.
PADRES SIGN
MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE MVP
CARRILLO
After being
named Most Valuable Player of the Mexican Winter
League this season, Yucatan Lions outfield prospect Oliver Carrillo,
has been
signed by the San Diego Padres.
A 5’11”
210-pounder, Carrillo caught the attention of the San
Diego organization after leading the LIM in several offensive
departments
playing for a team of players from the Yucatan, Veracruz and Durango
LMB
organizations. He came very close to obtaining the Triple Crown by
being
champion with 8 home runs and 46 RBIs, plus a .586 on-base percentage
and an
.806 slugging percentage, finishing
second in batting percentage at .441.
Nicknamed
“Chanito,” Carrillo was one of the young players to
make their debut this year in the Mexican League with the Leones,
playing one
inning in right field and going 0-for-1 in his lone plate appearance as
a
pinch-hitter for Luis Juarez during a June 6 game against Quintana Roo.
The veteran
Juarez took the youngster under his wing and has
said “It’s a pleasure and a pride
that young people
like him get to have these kinds of opportunities and it is a case of
perseverance of someone who did not give up. Many times they told him
no and he
did not get tired. He gave himself to baseball as he should and
received a very
large reward.”.
Carrillo’s
training began after he was signed by Yucatán at
the Academia de Beisbol del Pacífico. "The process has always been
strong.
I lasted three years at the Pacific Baseball Academy, then they sent me
to the
Monterrey Academy to continue with my training and thank God the
results were
good," said the right-handed batter who’ll turn 20 on January 19.
During his stay
as a Leones recruit, Carrillo has also shone
in different national and international tournaments, being the champion
and
best hitter in the International Series of Prospects organized by
PROBEIS and
managed by Yucatan’s incoming sports manager, Santos Hernandez.
The native of
Rosario, Sinaloa, signed in the presence of
Padres scout Emmanuel Rangel and was accompanied by Leones co-owner
Erick
Arellano, who commented that he feels proud and excited by the signing
of the
Sinaloan player, since he had to look at the process within the
academy.
"Several organizations had been following him,” said Arrellano, “but
what
really motivated this team (the Padres) was the season he had in the
Winter
League. He is a healthy boy and while I am happy with all the
signatures, this
one has a special feeling."
Through their
Pacific Baseball Academy in Mazatlan, the
Leones have managed to place a total of 38 players with Major League
Baseball
organizations in six years.
MAESTROS OF
MEXICO: Miguel “Pilo” Gaspar, C
A defensive
genius, Pilo Gaspar was recognized
internationally as one of the best receivers in Mexican baseball and a
consistent batter who could get a hit off any pitcher at the most
opportune
moment.
In 1949, he
began playing professionally in the old Pacific
Coast League with Guaymas and was the Rookie of the Year that winter. The 6’1” 178-pound Gaspar went on to play
minor league ball for eight seasons in the United States, including
three years
in the Orioles farm system and one with the Dodgers. The earliest part
of his
summer career was spent with Laredo, where he hit 44 homers between
1950 and
1951 (including four in one April 1951 game against Texas City. Ironically, he only whacked 29 more
roundtrippers over the final 26 years of his pro career.
Gaspar played 11
games in 1951 for Nuevo Laredo in the
Mexican League but did not come home to play for good until 1958, when
he
played 81 games for both the Tecolotes and Yucatan and hit .282 with
five
homers. He eventually settled in behind
the plate for Veracruz in 1959, and played 11 seasons for the Aguilas,
topping
the .300 mark four times (including a career-best .330 in 1961). Pilo was in his 40’s when he moved on to
Union Laguna for two years beginning in 1970, hitting .292 and .269.
After a .250
campaign with Tampico in 1972, Gaspar went on to
play two more years with Chihuahua before hanging up his catcher’s mitt
following the 1974 season at the (reported) age of 45.
He singled and doubled in two pinch-hit
opportunities for Chihuahua in 1976, and went 2-for-9 in five more
games in
1977, even attempting to steal a base (he got caught) before stepping
down for
good.
Over his long
professional career, Pilo played in 2,604
games, totaling 2,419 hits, 346 doubles and 1,062 RBIs and hitting
.288. In the
Mexican Pacific League, Gaspar spent several winters with Guaymas,
Navojoa and
Hermosillo, connecting for 503 hits and an average of .262. Gaspar, who
managed
Mexican League teams in Veracruz, Chihuahua and Quatzocoalcos, was
elected to
the Salon de la Fama in 1994.
Gaspar was
mentioned in Bill Heward’s 1974 gem of a book,
“Some Are Called Clowns,” a diary of Heward’s 1973 season with the
barnstorming
Indianapolis Clowns. The book touched on
Mexican baseball in one chapter, including this passage quoting one of
Heward’s
teammates who spent time south of the border: “Our catcher was a guy
named Pelo
(sic) Gaspar, out of Sonora, Mexico. Some say he’s 42. Other guys
who’re in the
know say he’s 50. What a baseball head!
I never saw him blow a popup.
Pelo had a fabulous arm. I never
saw a guy steal on him. Pelo’s right index finger was broken and bent
sideways
about 45 degrees. The players who didn’t know him would thumb their
noses and
say, ‘Aw, crooked finger.’ But when he threw out two or three of them
they
forgot about his finger.”