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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
March 22, 2021
UNION
LAGUNA P DE LA CRUZ DIES AT 37 OF HEART
ATTACK
A former Major League Baseball
pitcher who represented the Union Laguna Algodoneros in the 2019
Mexican League
All-Star game died Sunday, March 14 of an apparent heart attach at home
in his
native Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic. Eulogio “Frankie” de la Cruz
had
turned 37 years old two days earlier.
De la Cruz was signed as an
18-year-old by Detroit in 2002 and assigned to the Tigers' Gulf Coast
League
affiliate in Lakeland, Florida that summer. He was a reliever his first
three
years in the Detroit system (saving 17 games for West Michigan of the
Midwest
League in 2004) before splitting time between the starting rotation and
bullpen
by the time he made his MLB debut for the Tigers in 2007, making six
relief
appearances. According to de la Cruz, that was when he got his nickname
because
Detroit manager Jim Leyland couldn't pronounce “Eulogio” and started
calling
him “Frankie” instead.
De la Cruz was one of six players
traded to the Marlins the following offseason for Miguel Cabrera and
Dontrelle
Willis. He made his lone big league start for Florida against San
Francisco at
home on May 25, 2008, giving up two runs on two hits in three innings
during a
5-4 Marlins win. He was sent down to AAA Albuquerque shortly after that
and was
named the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Week as a starter in
June.
The 5'11” righty went on to appear
with San Diego in 2009, pitched in Japan with the NPB Yakult Swallows
in 2010
and was a reliever for Milwaukee in 2011. In 26 MLB games, de la Cruz
had a 0-0
record and an 8.16 ERA over 32 innings.
De la Cruz resumed his globetrotting
ways by playing in Asia again in 2012 (going 3-1 for the Uni-President
Lions of
Taiwan's CPBL), made his LMB debut with Monterrey in 2014 and turned in
a 4-3
record in 12 starts for the Sultanes and then went to Italy in 2016 to
pitch
for Nettuno (3-4, 2.65 ERA).
De la Cruz then spent the next three
summers in the Mexican League, posting an aggregate 20-18 record for
Saltillo,
Mexico City and Union Laguna while appearing in the 2017 and 2019
All-Star
Games. In the latter year, he won the Algodoneros' pitching triple
crown by
leading the team with six wins, 92 strikeouts and a 4.91 ERA on a team
that
allowed 8.05 earned runs per game and finished 37-79.
Although he usually spent his winters
pitching in the Liga Dominicana, de la Cruz did pitch one Mexican
Pacific
League game for Jalisco in 2014-15 and started seven games for Mexicali
(3-1,
4.65) in 2018-19. He spent the last two seasons with the LiDom's Este
Toros,
turning in an 0-1 record and 2.35 last winter in seven appearances
(with one
start). The Toros won the pennant in 2019-20 but de la Cruz did not
pitch in
the Caribbean Series in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Algodoneros had hoped to bring de
la Cruz back to Torreon this summer but there were reportedly “some
immigration
procedures” to hurdle before he could return to the Estadio Revolucion
mound in
2021 after missing all of last year's canceled season. He would've been
reunited with Union Laguna manager Omar Malave, who was de la Cruz'
winterball
skipper in Venezuela with Magallenes during the 2017-18 season.
THIRD LMP
PRESEASON TOURNAMENT SET FOR YUCATAN
A third Mexican League preseason
tournament has been scheduled on the heels of similar four-team events
in San
Luis Potosi and Puebla. The Copa Maya is slated to be played between
May 13 and
16 at Merida's Parque Kukulcan, home of the Yucatan Leones. The Leones
will be
joined by the Quintana Roo Tigres, Campeche Piratas and Tabasco Olmecas
in the
four-day tournament.
The Copa Maya will be the
culmination of a larger effort during which the four clubs will form
what
they're calling the Southeast League (or Liga Sureste). The LMB South
rivals
will play each other in an 11-game miniseason with single evening
contests
between April 29 and May 12 at each other's home ballparks.
The Copa Maya will feature day/night
doubleheaders between Thursday, May 13 and Saturday, May 15, with games
scheduled for 12PM and 7PM. The event
will wrap up with two games on Sunday, May 16: A 12PM contest for third
place
followed by a 7PM title for the championship. Seeding for the final day
will be
determined by team record compiled during all Liga Sureste and Copa
Maya
matches up until then.
Games will include typical training
camp rosters of established players, foreigners and prospects. Two of
the four
teams will be playing under new managers. Former pitching great
Francisco
“Pancho Ponches” Campos will be Campeche's dugout boss, replacing Jesus
Sommers, while Tabasco has brought in veteran skipper Pedro Mere
filling out
the lineup cards to take Ramon Orantes' place. Adan Munoz will be back
for his
first full season running the Tigres (he took the place of the fired
Jesus
Sommers in early 2019, with Sommers sliding over to take the Campeche
job later
that season) and Geronimo Gil will likewise be opening his first
preseason with
Yucatan after replacing Luis Carlos Rivera in June 2019.
Now that there are the San Luis
Potosi Cup (Aguascalientes, Durango, Guadalajara, Leon and Monterrey),
Battle
of Legends (Mexico City, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz) and the Copa Mayo
(Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan) on the docket, that
leaves the
defending champion Monclova Acereros, Saltillo Saraperos and Tijuana
Toros as
the only Liga teams without a preseason tournament of their own. Give
them
time.
Mayan
Cup
Schedule
Kukulcán
Park, Merida
Thursday,
May 13th
Yucatan Lions vs Campeche Pirates, 12 pm
Tabasco Olmecs vs Quintana Roo Tigres, 7pm
Friday, May 14
Campeche Piratas vs Quintana Roo Tigres, 12 pm
Tabasco Olmecas vs Yucatán Leones, 7pm
Saturday, May 15
Tabasco Olmecas vs Campeche Piratas, 12 pm
Tigres de Quintana Roo vs Leones de Yucatán, 7pm
Sunday, May 16
4th place vs 3rd place, 12 pm
2nd place vs 1st place, 7pm
LMP MVP
SEBASTIAN ELIZALDE SIGNS WITH METS
Culiacan Tomateros rightfielder
Sebastian Elizalde has signed a minor league contract with the New York
Mets
for the second year in a row. The 29-year-old Guaymas native, who was
named
Most Valuable Player for the Mexican Pacific League this winter, has
been
assigned to Class AA Binghamton and expects to report to the Mets'
spring
training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida next month. He'd been
slated to
open the 2020 season with Binghamton before the pandemic led to all
affiliated
minor league baseball to cancel their seasons.
That the Mets have assigned the
veteran flychaser to their AA affiliate is somewhat curious because
Elizalde
had previously spent all or part of two seasons at AAA Louisville
during his
five-year stint in the Reds organization. After being an organizational
All-Star in 2014 and playing in the 2015 Florida State League All-Star
Game,
Elizalde hit .297 with five homers for AA Pensacola in 2016 before
putting up a
.277 average and swatting eight longballs for Louisville in his AAA
debut
season of 2017. He then hit .254 with a pair of roundtrippers in 21
games in
2018 before the Bats loaned him to Monterrey for the rest of the year.
Elizalde was no stranger to the
Sultanes, for whom he made his professional debut in 2010 at age 18. He
went
1-for-3 over 11 games with Monterrey while playing mostly as a
defensive
substitute in left field. After playing sparingly for the Sultanes the
next two
summers, Elizalde's contract was sold to Cincinnati early in the 2013
season
and he was assigned to the Reds' Arizona Rookie League affiliate and
placed on
the 60-day disabled list twice, ending the campaign for him. He began
his
career north of the border with Class A Dayton in 2014 and worked his
way up to
Louisville over the next four years.
More polished when he returned to
Monterrey, Elizalde hit. 297 and .333 with a combined 12 homers and 46
RBIs in
75 games over the two shortened 2018 seasons as the Sultanes defeated
Oaxaca in
the Serie del Rey to cop the Fall 2018 pennant under manager Roberto
Kelly
after falling to Yucatan in the Spring championship series. The
six-foot,
190-pounder saw limited action with Monterrey in 2019, batting .319
with one
homer and eight RBIs over 39 games. His LMB rights remain with the
Sultanes.
“El Predator” has experienced more stability playing winterball, where he has played ten seasons in the Mex Pac (five for Hermosillo, five for Culiacan). He's done well since becoming a regular for the Naranjeros in 2014-15 and gone on to bat .293 with 39 homers in 404 LMP regular season games. During his recently-concluded MVP season for the Tomateros, he batted .282 and was among the league leaders in doubles (13), homers (11), stolen bases (12) and RBIs (45). He's also represented Mexico in the last two Caribbean Series and gone 9-for-37 (.243) at the plate with a homer and five RBIs over 10 games.
