B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
DECEMBER
11, 2 0 1 5
ESCALANTE
TO STEP DOWN AS LIGA LEADER IN 2016
Mexican League president Plinio
Escalante has announced his retirement following the 2016 LMB season.
Escalante made his statement at the Winter Meetings in
The position of Mexican League president had
been relatively stable after Antonio Ramirez Mura took the job in 1962.
Ramirez went on to serve 20 years at the big desk before stepping down
following the 1981 season, a year after dealing with a crippling players strike
that included a spinoff league of striking LMBers playing their own schedule
the rest of the 1980 season in Liga cities and ballparks. Cisneros Treto
emerged in 1982 as president and held the office another 18 years before
leaving in 1999, opening the revolving door that stopped when Escalante stepped
up in 2007.
According to Puro Beisbol's David
Braverman, Escalante is already rumored to have three Liga teams offering a job
after he exits the LMB office.
ZAZUETA SWATS SECOND SLAM IN JALISCO ROAD WIN
Amadeo
Zazueta belted a grand slam in the top of the 12th inning as the Jalisco
Charros copped a 10-7 win over the Culiacan Tomateros Tuesday night in front of
16,359 onlookers in
Zazueta
also singled and came around to score on Edson Garcia's single in the second as
the
It
was Zazueta's second grand slam in 15 days. The 29-year-old launched a
bases-loaded bomb November 20 against
OLMECAS DEAL KARIM GARCIA TO
Former
major league outfielder Karim Garcia has been traded from the Tabasco Olmecas
to the Saltillo Saraperos. The 40-year-old Obregon native played all or
part of ten seasons in MLB for seven teams between 1995 and 2004, batting .279
with 66 homers for his career. His best season was in 2002, when he hit
.292 and whacked 16 roundtrippers in 53 games for Cleveland and the New York
Yankees. Garcia batted .286 for the Yanks in their 2003 World Series loss
to the Florida Marlins.
After
his MLB playing days ended, Garcia toiled for
To
bring the former KBO All-Star to
SORIA RETURNS TO
After
a four-year exile, relief pitcher Joakim Soria has rejoined the team for whom
he was a two-time All-Star. The 31-year-old righty from
Soria
was taken by the Royals from the San Diego organization with the first pick of
the January 2006 Rule V draft amid a standout winter with the Obregon Yaquis,
for whom he went 9-1 (leading the Mexican Pacific League in wins) with a 2.41
ERA in 13 starts. KC immediately moved him to the bullpen, where Soria
went on to post save 160 games in 298 appearances for the Royals between 2007
and 2011, registering a 2.40 ERA and being selected for the 2008 and 2010
All-Star Games.
The
road has been rockier since Soria missed the 2012 season following Tommy John
surgery. Since then, he's pitched for
Shortly
before the signing,