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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
October 4, 2021
MEX
PAC TO OPEN 77TH WINTERBALL SEASON TUESDAY
The Mexican Pacific League is
scheduled to begin its 2021-22 season with a trio pf games on Tuesday
night.
Jalisco will host Monterrey, Mazatlan will visit Culiacan and
Hermosillo will
be at home against Mexicali. In all, ten games will be played between
Tuesday
and Thursday as teams play home-and-away sets against league rivals,
including
Obregon against Navojoa as well as Los Mochis against Guasave. A full
slate of
five games is set for Saturday night.
As in the past, the Mex Pac regular season will be split into two halves, with the 32-game first half closing on Thursday, November 11 and the 36-game second half commencing one day later and concluding Thursday, December 23, about a week earlier than in previous seasons. The top eight teams will advance to the playoffs, which open on Christmas Day. After three stages of the postseason, the playoff champions will take a heavily-reinforced team to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the Caribbean Series between January 28 and February 3, 2022.
The Culiacan Tomateros are shooting for a third consecutive pennant and trip to the Serie del Caribe under manager Benji Gil. Defending batting champion Yadiel Hernandez will be back in Hermosillo hoping to follow up on his .339 average while home run (15) and RBI (52) kingpin Japhet Amador will try to do the same with the Jalisco Charros, who were set to announce the sale of the team to the owners of the Mexican League's Guadalajara Mariachis after front office squabbles and legal threats decimated what has been one of the LMP's flagship franchises.
Mexicali pitcher Miguel Pena has
returned for another season in the border city after being awarded the
LMP's
ERA title last winter (2.08), as is veteran righty Javier Solano, who
was
second with a 2.60 figure. Strikeout champ Manny Barreda (64 K's) is
expected
back in Culiacan after making his MLB debut with Baltimore this summer
while
wins co-leaders Fernando Miranda and Juan Pablo Oramas (8 each) will
both pitch
another season of winterball in Guasave and Hermosillo, respectively.
SKY Sports will stream all regular
season and playoff games live for a second season in a row this winter.
Full
season packages through the LMP championship series are available for
US$69.99
via the Extrabase.TV prompt in the top right corner of the league
website.
The following is a directory for the
LMP and its ten member clubs in 2021-22, with most information taken
from the
Mex Pac website:
MEXICAN
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Guadalajara,
Jalisco
Website:
www.lmp.com
Facebook:
@LigaARCO
Twitter:
@Liga_Arco
Email:
medios@lmp.mx
Phone:
(33) 38 17 07 68
President:
Omar Canizales
Sports
Director: Christian Veliz
CULIACAN
TOMATEROS
Website:
www.tomateros.com.mx
Facebook:
@clubtomateros
Twitter:
@clubtomateros
Email:
redessociales@tomateros.com.mx
Phone:
(667) 758-3400
Sports
Manager: Mario Valdez
Manager:
Benji Gil
Home
Stadium: Estadio Tomateros de Culiacan (21,000)
Field
Dimensions: LF-325, CF-410, RF-325
LMP
Championships: Twelve
GUASAVE
ALGODONEROS
Website:
www.losalgodoneros.mx
Facebook:
@AlgodonerosdeGuasavemx
Twitter:
@AlgodonerosGsv
Email:
contacto@losalgodoners.mx
Phone:
(687) 138-4323
Sports
Manager: Alejandro Ahumada
Manager:
Oscar Robles
Home
Stadium: Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon (10,000)
Field
Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400 RF-325
LMP
Championships: One
HERMOSILLO
NARANJEROS
Website:
www.naranjeros.com.mx
Facebook:
@clubnaranjeros
Twitter:
@clubnaranjeros
Email:
contacto@naranjeros.com.mx
Phone:
(662) 260-3932
Sports
Director: Derek Bryant
Manager:
Juan Navarrete
Home
Stadium: Estadio Sonora (16,000)
Field
Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400 RF-335
LMP
Championships: Sixteen
JALISCO
CHARROS
Website:
www.charrosjalisco.com
Facebook:
@CharrosBeisbolOficial
Twitter:
@CharrosBeisbol
Email:
comunicacion.charros@gmail.com
Phone:
(331) 562-0485
Sports
Manager: Raymundo Padilla
Manager:
Roberto Vizcarra
Home
Stadium: Estadio Panamericano (16,500)
Field
Dimensions: LF-335, CF-415, RF-335
LMP
Championships: One
LOS
MOCHIS
CANEROS
Website:
www.caneros.net
Facebook:
@verdesxsiempre
Twitter:
@verdesxsiempre
Email:
contacto@caneros.net
Phone:
(668) 818-6323
Sports
Manager: Carlos Soto
Manager:
Robinson Cancel
Home
Stadium: Estadio Emilio Ibarra Almada (12,000)
Field
Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP
Championships: Three
MAZATLAN
VENADOS
Website:
www.venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Facebook:
@VenadosBaseball
Twitter:
@Venadosbase
Email:
club@venadosdemazatlan.com.mx
Phone:
(669) 981-1710
Sports
Manager: Jesus Valdez Rodriguez
Manager:
Eddie Diaz
Home
Stadium: Estadio Teodoro Mariscal (16,000)
Field
Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-330
LMP
Championships: Nine
MEXICALI
AGUILAS
Website:
www.aguilasdemexicali.mx
Facebook:
@aguilasdemxli
Twitter:
@aguilasdemxli
Email:
info@aguilasdemexicali.mx
Phone:
(686) 800-4000
Sports
Manager: David Cardenas
Manager:
Bronswell Patrick
Home
Stadium: Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (17,000)
Field
Dimensions: LF-330, CF-400, RF-330
LMP
Championships: Four
MONTERREY
SULTANES
Website:
www.sultanes.com.mx
Facebook:
@SultanesOficial
Twitter:
@SultanesOficial
Email:
info@sultanes.com.mx
Phone:
(812) 270-2000
Sports
Manager: Jesus Valdez Diaz
Manager:
Gerardo Alvarez
Home
Stadium: Estadio be Beisbol Monterrey (21,906)
Field
Dimensions: LF-320, CF-400, RF-320
LMP
Championships: None
NAVOJOA
MAYOS
Website:
www.mayosbeisbol.com
Facebook:
@OficialMayosBeisbol
Twitter:
@OficialMayos
Email:
clubmayos@hotmail.com
Phone:
(642) 422-1433
Sports
Manager: Lauro Villalobos
Manager:
Lorenzo Bundy
Home
Stadium: Estadio Manuel “Ciclon” Echeverria (11,500)
Field
Dimensions: LF-318, CF-378, RF-318
LMP
Championships: Two
OBREGON
YAQUIS
Website:
www.yaquis.com.mx
Facebook:
@YaquisDeObregon
Twitter:@Yaquis_oficial
Email:
oficina@yaquis.com.mx
Phone:
(644) 413-7766
Sports
Manager: Manuel Velez
Manager:
Sergio Gastelum
Home
Stadium: Estadio Yaquis (16,500)
Field
Dimensions: LF-325, CF-400, RF-325
LMP
Championships: Seven
VENEZUELA
BOOTS MEXICO FOR U-23 BASEBALL WORLD CUP TITLE
Venezuela downed host Mexico, 4-0,
on Saturday night at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo to capture a U-23
World
Championship in Hermosillo. Venezuelan starter Wikelman Ramirez tossed
a
complete game shutout, allowing just three hits on the night. The
21-year-old
right-hander struck out four and baffled Mexico’s hitters all night
long.
Two runs in bottom of the first
inning gave Venezuela an early lead. With two out and Carlos Rodriguez
(whose
leadoff single to center barely eluded a diving Fabricio Macias)
standing on
second base, a high pop fly to the right side of the infield by Romer
Cuadrado
ate Mexico second baseman Reivaj Garcia alive, clanking off Garcia's
mitt into
shallow right and allowing Rodriguez to score as Cuadrado carried his
gift
safely to second. Juan Fernandez then sliced a ground ball that
handcuffed
third baseman Keven Lamas to put runners at the corners for Justin
Lopez, whose
3-and-2 single to right on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against
Mexico's Saul
Castellanos brought Cuadrado in with the second unearned run of the
inning.
Venezuela's next two runs came in
more straightforward fashion in the bottom of the third. Jesus Lujano
led off
with a double down the left-field line, moved to third on a Robert
Perez
groundout to Mexican shortstop Javier Salazar and scored on Cuadrado's
sacrifice
fly to Macias in center to bring the score to 3-0. The next batter,
Fernandez,
drilled Castellanos' second pitch for a homer that barely stayed fair
as it
passed the foul pole in left. A Lopez double ended the night for
Castellanos
but for all intent and purposes, the game was pretty much over by then.
Ramirez
only needed 86 pitches (60 of them strikes) to complete the shutout,
scattering
a double to Eric Meza and singles by Tirso Ornelas and Roque Salinas.
"The fact of playing in Mexico
put too much pressure on these players," commented Mexico's manager
Enrique “Che” Reyes after the loss. "It's a fact we didn't play well
enough to beat Venezuela." Venezuela’s last international World
Championship came in 2012 when its team finished first at the 15U
Baseball
World Championship. "It is really easy to work with these players,"
commented Venezuelan manager Carlos Garcia. "They came together, worked
hard, stayed focused on our goal. And more than that, they enjoyed
playing the
game."
Mexico topped the first-round Group
A standings with a 4-1 record after beating Germany, 3-1, last Monday
to
advance to the Super Round. Agustin Ruiz contributed a two-run double
in the
bottom of the first and starter Jorge Leo tossed four scoreless frames.
After
losing a 2-0 shutout to Panama and being thumped 7-1 by Venezuela,
Mexico
salvaged their Super Round stint with a 3-2 win over Colombia as Tirso
Ornelas
socked a homer in the bottom of the sixth and Robles Rabago tossed a
scoreless
seventh to seal the victory. Mexico advanced to the Gold Medal game by
virtue
of their aggregate 3-2 record against teams in the Super Round over the
two
stages of the tournament.
In the first game of Saturday's
medal-round doubleheader, Colombia topped Cuba, 5-3, for the Bronze as
Angel
Angulo belted two homers and drove in three runs. Saturday night’s game
during
the first U-23 World Cup with the new seven inning format was played in
just
one hour and forty minutes.
One Mexican, shortstop Salazar, was
named to the All-World team after batting .320 over eight games in the
tournament. Colombia's leftfielder, Gustavo Camprero, was chosen as MVP
for his
.519 average and 11 runs scored during the event. Ornelas led Mexico by
batting
.370 (10-for-27) while hitting one of the host country's three World
Cup homers
(the other two were swatted by Macias and Lamas. Reliever Juan Robles
won two
of the five games Mexico won playing in Hermosillo and Obregon and was
unscored
upon in 6.1 innings over four appearances. Alejandro Chavez allowed no
runs in
two starts and 9.1 frames as the entire staff turned in a 1.92 ERA in
nine
games, but the batters (a collective .245) couldn't put anything
together in
the Gold Medal contest with Venezuela.
MEX
PAC ROAD TRIP: Mexicali, Baja California Norte
Heading northwest from last week's
starting point of Monterrey, we’ll make the second stop on our Mexican
Pacific
League Road Trip at the the border city of Mexicali, Baja California
Norte,
home of the LMP Aguilas and 936,826 metropolitan residents on Mexico’s
northwestern
border with California.
Historically, Mexicali is a fairly
“recent” city, developed as a center for area farmers just over 100
years
ago. After becoming the capital of Baja
California Norte in 1915, it grew (like many Mexican border towns) as a
place
for North Americans to engage in illicit activity over the course of
the 20th
Century. The economy expanded in more legitimate directions as foreign
companies established maquiladora factories in and around Mexicali. Maquiladoras are common in Mexican cities
along the USA border, built primarily by North American companies who
seek to
take advantage of Mexico’s lower labor costs while having close access
to the
USA market. Maquiladoras have accounted for much of Mexicali’s
burgeoning
population. Across the border lies the
twin city of Calexico, California. Both share a 24-hour border crossing.
While Mexicali is not the tourist
draw Tijuana has become to the west, there are still some local points
of
interest. It has the Mexico’s largest
Chinatown (La Chinesca) and there are a large number of shops and
restaurants
in a triangular area near the border. In the former state governor’s
mansion
(on Avenida Alvaro Obregon) lies the Galeria de la Ciudad, which
displays works
by many leading Mexican artists. Mexicali
is also home to the University of Baja California, where a regional
museum
features exhibits of paleontology, archaeology, ethnography, landscape
photography and missions of Baja California. The annual Fiesta del Sol
in
October is one of the year’s highlights.
Still, Mexicali is not a textbook
example of a traveler’s paradise. It is
very hot during the summer, gets temperatures below freezing level
during the
night in winter and in general is not tourist-oriented despite being
one of the
most prominent border crossings between the USA and Mexico. Millions of people have passed through
Calexico to Mexicali, but few of them stay overnight.
Mexicali’s baseball team is called the Aguilas, or “Eagles.” The Aguilas were formed in 1976 and are in their 45th winter in the MexPac, having won four LMP pennants and a Caribbean Series championship in 1986 under legendary manager Ben “Cananea” Reyes. Their home stadium, known officially as Estadio Aguilas de Mexicali (and informally as El Nido, or “The Nest”), seats 17,000 fans around a symmetrical field measuring 330 feet down the foul lines and 400 feet to straightaway center. Mexicali hosted the 2009 Caribbean Series, becoming the northernmost city in which the tournament has ever been held.
