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Bruce
Baskin /
Jackie
Robinson Moments
B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
April
17, 2 0 1 7
LAGUNA EARNS SEVENTH
STRAIGHT WIN, TIED FOR LMB NORTH
LEAD
The last time a team from
Mexico's Laguna region (centered in
the cities of Torreon and Gomez Palacio) won the Mexican League
pennant, Harry
Truman was president of the USA, Hank Williams was just emerging as
country
music's most seminal singer and a 16-year-old named Henry Aaron was
earning $3
a day playing for the semipro Mobile Black Bears. You
get the picture.
While it's far too early
to seriously invoke thoughts of
Union Laguna winning their first Liga pennant since 1950, the Vaqueros
are
making the most of the early portion of the 2017 schedule by winning
seven
straight games (including sweeps of road series in Tabasco and
Campeche) to tie
Monterrey for the LMB North lead with identical 10-5 records, tops in
the
circuit. Union Laguna closed out their
broom job in Campeche Sunday with a 6-4 win over the Piratas as Jerome
Pena's
three-run homer in the fifth inning put the Vaqueros ahead for good. Starter Dustin Crenshaw battled through six
rocky innings for his third win of the young season while closer
Esmailin
Caridad worked a 1-2-3 ninth with a pair of strikeouts for his fifth
save.
If those names are
unfamiliar to casual observers of Mexican
baseball, it should come as little surprise.
Union Laguna has historically been one of those franchises that
have
operated on the margins with limited budgets.
While more glamorous teams in places like Mexico City and
Monterrey have
been able to afford more recognizable talent, Laguna has never had the
financial means to compete at that level.
Even now, the Vaqueros have a relatively anonymous roster, with
former
MLB infielder Anderson Hernandez (who's batting .339) perhaps the most
notable
team member.
Union Laguna plays in the
12,000-seat Estadio Revolucion, the
Liga's oldest ballpark and with an impressive art deco entry facade
that was
inaugurated in 1932 and has apparently never undergone a major facelift
over
its 85-year history. Brothers Juan Jose
and Erick Arellano, who also own the Yucatan Leones, bought the club in
the
offseason. There has been some
speculation that the Arellanos may move the team to their hometown of
Mazatlan,
but the combination of stalled plans for a new ballpark in Mazatlan,
decent fan
support in Laguna (they're currently sixth in LMB attendance with an
average of
5,272 turnstile clicks per opening) and the brothers' own financial
concerns
may be putting that off for the time being.
For now, the Vaqueros are
led by rookie manager Ramon
Orantes, a longtime LMB infielder, and they've responded with a team
batting
average of .297 (third in the Liga). Shortstop Kristian Delgado (.368),
first
baseman Ricky Alvarez (.356 with 4 homers and 17 RBIs), outfielder
Welington
Dotel (.345) and Hernandez have done the most damage at the plate. Orantes' pitching staff has a
middle-of-the-road ERA of 4.57. Crenshaw
and lefty Edgar Osuna both have three wins, with Osuna's 1.50 ERA
leading the
team. It's hard to envision Union Laguna
maintaining this pace over five months against such loaded LMB North
teams as
Monterrey, Tijuana and Monclova, but they're off to a great start and
it's an
opportunity here to go into some depth about a team that has received
relatively scant attention over the years.
While the Vaqueros and
Sultanes top the North, only
three-and-a-half games separate the co-leaders from last-place Saltillo. At 6-8, the Saraperos are the only team in
the division under .500. In the LMB
South, Yucatan is atop the standings with a 9-5 mark, a game up on
Oaxaca's
all-Mexican squad and a game-and-a-half ahead of defending champs
Puebla. The South is a little more spread
out, with
last-place Tabasco six games out of the lead with an Liga-worst 3-11
mark. The Olmecas snapped an eight-game
losing skid
Saturday by beating Durango, 6-2, as Dave Sappelt stroked a two-run
single and
starter Angel Araiza went 5.1 innings for his first win.
Speaking of the Generales,
who've gone a surprising 8-7
playing all their games away from home, they'll have to wait just a bit
longer
for their home opener at Estadio Francisco Villa, where hurried
renovations
haven't caught up with Tuesday's scheduled game against Veracruz. A fire broke out at the ballpark over the
weekend, which certainly didn't help the beleaguered franchise. Durango's home opener has been pushed back to
Friday against Oaxaca. As hard as I've
been on the Generales (and the Mexican League in general) the past few
weeks
and months, I want this team and league to succeed.
The center of power does appear to be
shifting from the Old Guard owners to the New Breed group and while I'm
simpatico
with the Old Guard's "Mexico First" desire to focus on giving
domestic talent more opportunities to play, the New Breed is bringing
badly-needed fresh thinking and approaches to a league that has badly
needed
both for years.
On the stats front,
longtime Monterrey centerfielder Chris
Roberson leads the Mexican League with a .468 average, 18 points ahead
of
Oaxaca gardener Alan Sanchez. Durango
outfielder Yadir Drake has been a big part of the Generales' early
success by
leading the circuit with 6 homers to go with his .351 batting average. Monclova first sacker Matt Clark tops the
loop with 24 RBIs, one ahead of Acereros second baseman Manny Rodriguez. Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene appears
recovered from a facial injury suffered playing winterball in the
Mexican
Pacific League and has 7 stolen bases, best in the LMB.
Seven pitchers have 3 wins
apiece, with Union Laguna's
Crenshaw the only one to suffer a loss.
The most effective starter has been Mitch Lively of Leon, whose
3-0
record is augmented by a 0.90 ERA. The
leader in that category is Monterrey's Angel Castro (1-0) at 0.46. Josh Lowey's disastrous 2016 stint in Korea
appears to have had no ill effect in his Liga pitching.
The Floridian righty is 2-1 for Monclova with
a 3.00 ERA and his 23 strikeouts in 21 innings are the LMB's best. He's issued just two walks thus far in three
starts. Durango closer Tiago Da
Silva
is a perfect 8-for-8 in saves opportunities, putting him three ahead of
Laguna's Caridad in that column.
Among the more important
series coming up this week include
Monclova's visit to Merida Tuesday through Thursday to take on the
Yucatan
Leones in a set between two teams picked by many (including me) to meet
in
September's championship series. The
Leon Bravos will play their first game at home Friday when they host
Mexico
City in the first of three. As
mentioned, Durango hopes to get their home schedule underway Friday
against
Oaxaca.
FOR MORE BASEBALL NEWS
FROM MEXICO, VISIT
www.BaseballMexico.com