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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday, December 7, 2020
CARRILLO,
CASTILLA AMONG 7 NEW SALON MEMBERS
The 2020 class of the Mexican
Baseball Hall of Fame was announced last Thursday at a virtual ceremony
centered at the Salon de la Fama in Monterrey and led by Salon director
Francisco Padilla Davila. Seven new inductees were introduced to the
public,
including former Major Leaguers Matias Carrillo and Vinny Castilla plus
one-time Negro League player Bonnie Serrell.
Carrillo led all vote-getters among
28 nominees in the Players category with 52 votes on 55 electoral
committee
ballots. Carrillo played 107 MLB games between 1991 and 1994, batting
.251 for
Milwaukee and Florida, but the Sinaloan outfielder was a major star
south of
the border. In 22 Mexican League seasons, mostly with the Tigres, he
was
considered by many to be Mexico's most complete ballplayer. He was the
LMB
Rookie of the Year in 1982 and eventually led the Liga in all three
Triple
Crown categories. Carrillo compiled a career LMB average of .336 with
330 homers,
1,554 RBIs and 276 stolen bases, raking among all-time leaders in all
four
categories. In 27 winterball seasons in the Mexican Pacific League, “El
Coyote”
hit .286 with 260 steals (the LMP career record) and 159 homers (third
all-time) in 1,524 games and was MVP in 1992-93. He's also managed
pennant-winners in both leagues.
Castilla was an Obregon-born third
baseman who went on to play in the Mexican League with Saltillo and
Monclova
but made his mark in MLB. In 16 seasons with six teams (most notably
the
Rockies) between 1991 and 2006, he leads all Mexican-born players with
320
homers and 1,105 RBIs during a career that saw him top 40 homers for
the
Rockies three consecutive years (1996-98), lead the National League
with 131 in
2004 and play in two All-Star Games while winning three Silver Slugger
awards.
Castilla also spent 21 seasons playing in the Mex Pac and whacked 80
homers
with 298 ribbies, including a rookie record seven runs driven in one
game for
Obregon against Mexicali in 1988. He managed the Hermosillo Naranjeros
last
winter.
Isidro Marquez was a Navojoa-born
reliever whose underarm pitching allowed him to spent 22 seasons in the
Mexican
League, primarily with Campeche, where he posted a career record of
97-78 with
an ERA of 3.44 and an LMB record 301 saves. “Chilo” pitched 21 seasons
of
winterball, 16 with Mexicali, between 1985-86 and 2008-09, turned in a
2.88 ERA
with 134 saves with a 44-48 record and is the all-time leader in saves
in the
LMP as well, leading the league in saves a record five times and
earning two
saves in one day three times during the 2001-02 season. Spent part of
the 1995
season with the Chicago White Sox, going 0-1. Marquez is now the
bullpen coach
in Navojoa, where son, Isidro Junior, is a reliever.
Jose Luis Sandoval was a standout
shortstop with the Mexico City Diablos from 1990 through 2012, minus a
short
1993 stint with the Pirates' AAA Buffalo affiliate and the 1997 season
in
Saltillo. A Los Mochis native, like Carrillo, “El Borrego” sparkled
defensively
for the Diablos and is the Mexican League's all-time leader with 2,219
game at
shortstop, turning a record 1,731 double plays. A solid hitter as well,
Sandoval stroked 2,263 safeties over 23 seasons, including 435 doubles
and 253
homers, and is second all-time with 1,646 runs scored. He also played
21
winters in the LMP (20 with Hermosillo) and clobbered 98 homers over
1,137
games. Played with five Liga champions and six more in the Mex Pac.
Burly Eduardo Jimenez was born in
Tijuana and terrorized Mexican pitchers for two decades between 1986
and 2007.
The lefthanded outfielder spent 21 years in the Mexican League,
including seven
seasons in Saltillo (leading the LMB with 45 homers in 2000) before
playing his
last two years with the hometown Potros before retiring at 42. Jimenez
had a
career .301 average in the Liga and is fifth with 351 homers. He also
played 20
seasons in the LMP with six teams and crushed 199 homers, including six
games
in a row for Mexicali in 1990, and drove in a record nine runs hitting
for the
cycle in 1994.
Second baseman Bonnie “Barney”
Serrell, who was voted into the Salon as a Veteran, spent five years in
the
Negro American League (mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs) before
emigrating
in 1945 to Mexico, where he spent ten years and registered a career
.311
Mexican League average on 1,099 hits while scoring 560 runs playing for
five
teams. Serrell was nicknamed “The Vacuum Cleaner” for his defensive
work at
second base and led the LMB in hits and triples for 1953 with Nuevo
Laredo,
then topped the loop in hits, doubles and triples in 1954 for the
Tecolotes.
Jorge Menendez Torre was elected as
a journalist. A native of Merida, Yucatan, Menendez wrote under the
pseudonym
“George Squeeze-Play” for both the Diario de Yucatan and the
now-defunct
Novedades for over 30 years, serving as the sports editor for
the
latter. Beginning in 1960, he also published several books on baseball,
won
four Salon de la Fama journalism contests and in 2000 was
awarded the
Fray Nano National Sports Journalism Award. Menendez also served as a
vice
president with the LMB Yucatan Lions prior to passing away in 2013 at
age 74.
MEXICALI
WINS 7 OF 8 TO BEGIN MEX PAC SECOND HALF
The Mexicali Aguilas stumbled out
the gate at the outset of the current Mexican Pacific League season,
losing
their first eight games and costing manager Pedro Mere his job. Things
have
gone a trifle better for the Eagles under new manager Bronswell Patrick
for the
beginning of the LMP's second half, with the team winning seven of
their first
eight games to take a one-game lead over defending champion Jalisco in
the
standings.
One prime reason for the border
team's resurgence, during which Mexicali has gone 19-7 since Patrick
took over,
has been the mound work of starting pitcher Miguel Pena. The former Red
Sox
minor leaguer from Mission, Texas has a 1.72 ERA in six appearances
(including
five starts) and is a perfect 3-0 as the Aguilas lead the LMP with a
team ERA
of 3.55. Twenty-year-old setup man Fernando Lozano, a Phillies farmhand
out of
nearly Ensenada, has a 3-0 record and 1.84 in nine appearances. The
Mexicali
offense has struggled a bit with a collective .241 average, but veteran
batsman
Luis Juarez (.278 with 4 homers and 19 RBIs in 32 games) has kept
rallies alive
and baserunners moving while outfielder Michael Choice, a former Top
100
prospect with Oakland and Texas, is making the most of his .226 average
with
six homers, 18 RBIs, 20 runs scored and six steals.
Jalisco dropped out of a first-place
tie with the Aguilas following a 5-2 loss in Mazatlan Sunday to fall to
7-2 in
the second half. The Charros are battering Mex Pac pitchers to the tune
of a
league-best .308 average while scoring 5.61 runs per game as seven
Jalisco
regulars are hitting .300 or better (Japhet Amador is at .341 with 7
homers and
32 RBIs in 33 games). However, manager Roberto Vizcarra's pitching
staff has
been generally awful this winter, with an LMP-worst 5.49 ERA, a number
that
would be far worse if not for starter Luis Ivan Rodriguez.
The 5'9” lefty from Guadalajara has
been average at best since his 2013 debut with Laguna in the Mexican
League,
but Rodriguez is a Pitcher of the Year candidate thus far after turning
in a
6-0 record with a 2.83 ERA over seven starts for the Charros. While the
team
waits as usual for reliever Roberto Osuna to take the mound (both of
Osuna's
17-year-old twin brothers have played this winter), MLB veteran Sergio
Romo has
arrived in Guadalajara and is preparing to pitch for the Charros this
month.
The 37-year-old “El Mechon” was 1-4 with five saves and a 4.05 ERA in
24
appearances for the Minnesota Twins this year, but is now a free agent.
His
arrival will be welcomed by both Vizcarra and his teammates.
Navojoa is in the middle of the pack
at 4-4 and tied with Culiacan for fifth place, one game behind
Hermosillo and
surprising Guasave. The Mayos made a move to bolster their lineup last
week by
signing reigning Venezuelan League batting champion Jay Austin. A
30-year-old
Atlanta native, the lefty-batting Austin led the LVPB with a .392
average for
the Aragua Tigres last winter. After playing five summers in the Astros
system
between 2008 and 2012, Austin spent most of the next five years in
independent
leagues before debuting in the Mexican League with Oaxaca and Quintana
Roo
during the Fall 2018 season, batting .304. The speedy outfielder then
hit .329
for Campeche in 2019 with a career-high 15 homers while stealing 31
bases for
the Piratas.
Los Mochis continues to stagger
after finishing last with a 9-20 mark in the first half. The Caneros
fired
manager Victor Bojorquez between halves and veteran Saul Soto, who has
stepped
into such situations before, filled in for the first three games in the
second
half (all losses) until the front office named Robinson Cancel as the
team's
new manager. The former big league catcher has previously managed
Culiacan in
2018-19 and took the Tomateros to the playoffs, but was not brought
back for
last season. the Caneros had dropped 19 of their previous 20 games
before
Cancel led them to a 2-3 record last week, bringing Los Mochis'
second-half
record to 2-6, one game behind Mazatlan and Obregon (both 3-5) and one
game
ahead of cellar-dwelling Monterrey (1-7). The Caneros also signed
Panamanian
catcher Ivan Herrera, a 20-year-old Cardinals prospect eyed by some as
a
potential successor to Yadir Molina in St. Louis but who went just
2-for-15 in
his first five games with Los Mochis last week.
HERMOSILLO'S
HERNANDEZ LEADS LMP BAT RACE
Although two Guasave players
(including a potential MVP candidate) have higher batting averages over
fewer
plate appearances, Hermosillo outfielder Yadiel Hernandez is tops among
qualifying batters in the Mexican Pacific League batting race with a
.350
figure, one point ahead of Navojoa catcher Omar Renteria's .349. A
33-year-old
who spent six winters in the Cuban National Series with Matanzas before
defecting in 2015, Hernandez hit .336 for the Naranjeros last season
before
making his MLB debut this summer and batting .192 with one homer for
Washington
in 12 games. He has three homers and three steals for the Orangemen and
has
scored 21 runs thus far.
Another Cuban product who, like
Hernandez, played six seasons in the CNS (with Cienfuegos) before
defecting is
Guasave shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena. Unlike Hernandez, Arruebarrena
spent
four years in the Dodgers system before going BACK to his homeland last
winter
and ironically playing for Matanzas, hitting .322 with 19 homers as the
Cocodrilos won their first-ever CNS title. Making his debut in Mexican
ball this
winter, the 30-year-old Arruebarrena is batting .390 with nine homers
in 21
games for Guasave after joining the Algodoneros during the first half.
Teammate
Jose Felix is hitting .376 while fellow Cuban Yadir Drake has .336/6/25
numbers
but it's been Arruebarrena who has set the Cottoners batting order on
fire.
In other offensive categories,
outfielder Leandro Castro has been one of the precious few bright spots
in Los
Mochis this season and leads the LMP with 10 homers, one more than
Arruebarrena, Dustin Peterson of Monterrey and Culiacan's Sebastian
Elizalde.
Although Castro is hitting just .233, 13 of his 28 hits have been for
extra
bases. Japhet Amador of Jalisco has 33 RBIs to lead the loop, one more
than
teammate Dariel Alvarez and Elizalde, who is out of the Tomateros
lineup for up
to two weeks after suffering an ankle injury during a play against the
Charros
on November 30. Obregon's Alonzo Harris continues to lead the Mex Pac
with 20
steals in 22 attempts but has not played for the Yaquis since going
2-for 4
against Los Mochis on November 26 to raise his batting average to .337.
Harris
has been taken off the roster on the Yaquis website but does not appear
on the
list of LMP transactions since his final appearance.
Luis Ivan Rodriguez of Jalisco's beleaguered staff has been the surprise among Mex Pac pitchers this year, leading the loop with six wins and a 2.83 ERA. Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas is just behind at 5-2. Navojoa's now-departed Felix Dubrount, who went home to pitch in his native Venezuela, leads pitchers who've tossed more than 35 innings with a 2.15 ERA while Mexicali's Eduardo Vera is second among starters at 2.45. Manny Barreda of Culiacan is tops in strikeouts with 37 in 42 innings, one more than Oramas' 36. Hermosillo closer Fernando Salas' nine saves are best in the LMP and his 1.38 ERA is a big reason. Jalisco's Brennan Bernardino, who was brought in after the Charros released former Pitching Triple Crown winner Elian Leyva last month, is second with six saves.
