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Bruce
Baskin /
Jackie
Robinson Moments
B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
May 3, 2 0 1 7
LIGA NORTE’S 2017 SEASON
WELL UNDERWAY
While the Mexican League
receives the lion's share of
attention of baseball fans during the spring and summer as the nation's
top
professional loop, Mexico's "second circuit" has quietly gotten its
2017 season underway in the northwest corner of the country.
The Liga Norte de Mexico
(or Northern Mexico League) serves
as a de facto Class AA league for the LMB, with each of the LNM's six
teams
sharing affiliations with two Liga teams.
Although the league has only been around in its present form
since 2012,
it dates back to the 1940's under the name of Liga Norte de Sonora,
from which
current LNM teams broke away five years ago.
The San Quintin Freseros (Campeche, Quintana Roo) are the
defending Liga
Norte titlists after defeating the San Luis Algodoneros (Monclova,
Puebla) in
seven games in last year's championship series.
After the Tecate Toritos dropped out following the 2016 season,
the LNM
roster includes the following teams for the current campaign:
Caborca Rojos
LMB affiliates: Laguna, Yucatan
President: Jesus Leon Garcia
Manager: Leo Arauz
2016 record: 24-50 (no playoffs)
Pennants: 1966, 1975, 2004, 2011
Ballpark: Estadio Heroes de Caborca (5,000)
Website: somosrojosdecaborca.com.mx
Ensenada
Marineros
LMB Affiliates: Mexico City, Oaxaca
President: Juan Manuel Arellano
Manager:
Victor
Bojorquez
2016
record:
42-32 (lost to Tecate in first round)
Pennants: 2010, 2012
Ballpark: Estadio Deportivo Antonio Palacios (5,000)
Website: marineros.com.mx
Mexicali
Centinelas
LMB Affiliates: Aguascalientes, Monterrey
President: Jose Luis Rodriguez
Manager:
Ruben
Estrada
2016
record:
42-32 (lost to San Quintin in semifinals)
Pennants: 2015
Ballpark: Estadio B'Air (17,000)
Puerto Penasco
Tiburones
LMB Affiliates: Saltillo, Tijuana
President: Alcalde Kiki Munro
Manager: Alejandro Lizarraga
2016
record:
34-40 (lost to San Quintin in first round)
Pennants: 1974, 1978, 2013
Ballpark: Estadio Francisco Leon Garcia (3,500)
Website: www.tiburonesdepensaco.com
San Luis
Algodoneros
LMB
Affiliates:
Monclova, Puebla
President:
Francisco Ochoa
Manager:
Tim
Johnson
2016
record:
39-35 (lost to San Quintin in championship series)
Pennants: 1998, 2000, 22002, 2003
Ballpark: Estadio Andres Mena Montijo (2,500)
Website: algodonerosdesanluis.com.mx
San Quintin
Freseros
LMB
Affiliates:
Campeche, Quintana Roo
President:
Vicente Garcia
Manager:
Benito
Camacho
2016
record:
42-32 (defeated San Luis for league championship)
Pennants: 2016
Ballpark: Estadio Dr. Miguel Valdez Salazar (2,200)
Website:
freseros.com.mx
Undoubtedly the
most-recognizable name on the above directory
is San Luis manager Tim Johnson, a former major league shortstop who
managed
the Toronto Blue Jays to a third-place finish in the American League
with an
88-74 record in 1998. However, after
Johnson
admitted that stories he'd told Toronto players about his Vietnam War
battle
experience (when he'd really been a reservist who never left the
country) led
to his dismissal in the offseason. He
has since managed teams in the Mexican and Mexican Pacific leagues as
well as a
number of independent clubs in the States, the apparent victim of a
blackball
in organized baseball north of the border.
The Liga Norte's 84-game
regular season opened April 4 and
will conclude July 13, with an LNM All-Star Weekend slated for June
9-11 in
Puerto Penasco. Heading into the current
midweek series, defending champs San Quintin sits atop the standings
with a
15-9 record, one game ahead of 14-10 Ensenada and three up on 12-12
Ensenada
and Puerto Penasco. Jeremy Acey of Puerto
Penasco leads the batting tables with a .393 average, San Quintin's
Osniel
Maderas has five homers while Juan Carlos Torres of San Luis is tops
with 21
RBIs. Yeiper de Jesus Castillo of San
Luis has the most wins among LNM pitchers with four victories,
Castillo's
Algodoneros staff mate Miguel Ruiz has a league-leading 34 strikeouts
and
Ensenada hurler Wanel Vazquez' 1.01 ERA is the lowest among starters.
FOR MORE BASEBALL NEWS
FROM MEXICO, VISIT
www.BaseballMexico.com