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Bruce
Baskin /
Jackie
Robinson Moments
B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
June
22, 2 0 1 7
Wrap of Mexican League All-Star
Weekend
LMB ALL-STARS: NORTH
WINS, 4-3; CASTILLO NAMED MVP; DIAZ COPS HR DERBY
The Mexican League held
its 2017 All-Star Weekend between
Friday and Sunday in Campeche and the Walled City did not disappoint. Festivities culminated in a 4-3 North
Division win Sunday night as a record throng of 10,657 crammed
6,000-seat
Parque Nelson Barrera Romellon, capping a three-day event that began
with the
LMB announcing Friday that they would play two shorter seasons in 2018
and
hometown hero Francisco "Frank" Diaz beating Tijuana's Alex Liddi in
the final round of Saturday's Home Run Derby.
Sentiment was the rule of
the day at Sunday's Juego de Estrellas, with winless
Francisco Campos (0-3) taking the mound for the LMB South as cheers
rang out
from all corners of the ballpark. The
man they call Poncho Ponches (which
liberally translates to "Strikeout Man") was making the 15th All-Star
appearance of his 23-year Liga career, all spent in Campeche except for
a stint
of five wins in as many starts on loan to Monterrey in 2006. To many, Campos IS the Piratas, and he held
up his end of the bargain by tossing a scoreless first inning and
living up to
his nickname by whiffing Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias, older
brother of
Padres shortstop prospect Luis Urias.
After his South teammates
gave Campos a lead in the bottom of
the first when Balbino Fuenmayor (Veracruz) doubled in two runners off
Octavio
Acosta (Mexico City), the North got a run back when Zoilo Almonte
doubled off
Pablo Ortega (Tigres) in the top of the second.
It became a 3-1 game in the bottom of the entrada
when another Campeche All-Star, third baseman C.J.
Retherford, socked a solo homer off reliever Arturo Lopez (Mexico
City), but
the North roared back for three runs in the top of the third. Yoanner Negrin (Yucatan) took over on the
hill for the South and was immediately greeted by singles from Justin
Greene
(Saltillo) and Urias, followed by a three-run bomb detonated by Jesse
Castillo
(Aguascalientes) to produce what turned out to be the game-winning runs.
Castillo was subsequently
selected as the All-Star Game MVP
by media members in attendance. Greene
and Urias each had two singles as part of the North's 10-hit attack. The South's eight safeties were scattered
among as many batters, with a double from Ronnier Mustelier (Yucatan)
the only
extra-base hit. A total of 19 pitchers saw
action for both teams as North manager Pedro Mere (Tijuana) and South
skipper
Willie Romero (Yucatan) kept to 20-pitch count limits.
Jose Oyervides (Monclova) tossed a scoreless
third to pick up the win while Negrin came away with a blown save and
the
loss. Tijuana closer Jason Urquidez
blanked the South in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save.
On Saturday, a large
turnout watched the Home Run Derby,
featuring four players representing each division.
Leon's Leandro Castro swatted 10 homers in the
opening round to lead all eight batters, advancing to the second round
along
with Campeche's Frank Diaz (7), Alex Liddi (4) and Issmael Salas (4). Liddi and Salas moved on after a special
tiebreaker with Durango's Yadir Drake and Veracruz' Balbino Fuenmayor,
who'd
also hit four homers in the opening stage.
Tijuana's Corey Brown (3) and the Rieleros' Castillo (3)
finished tied
for seventh. In the second round,
defending HR Derby champ Liddi knocked out 14 dingers to reach the
final along
with Diaz (10), as Castro (7) and Salas (6) fell well short. Diaz then outhomered Liddi by an 8-6 margin
to win the Derby and claim a check for MX$20,000 as Piratas fans in
attendance
roared their approval during a weekend that gave baseball in the Gulf
city a
badly-needed shot in the arm, with the help of Pirates' All-Stars Diaz,
Retherford and, of course, Poncho Ponches.
However, the biggest news
out of the weekend may have been
delivered Friday after the LMB's Assembly of Presidents meeting. While leaders apparently did nothing to
address concerns in either Leon (non-payment of franchise fees) or
Tabasco
(bottoming-out attendance), outgoing president Plinio Escalante
announced that
2018 will include two four-month seasons between February and November
instead
of a traditional six-month regular season plus playoffs, adding that
the change
came on a unanimous vote. The format
would be similar to Liga MX soccer, which has two annual tournaments
(the
Apertura and Clausura) in both its Premier and First divisions. No details were made available by the LMB,
but reaction among Mexican cronistas
has been almost universally negative.
BBM will have more as details become available on this move,
likely the
brainchild of incoming LMB president Javier Salinas, a longtime Liga MX
exec,
and one that may have repercussions throughout baseball and draw
challenges
from Mexican Pacific League president Omar Canizales and Minor League
Baseball
president Pat O'Connor.
FOR MORE BASEBALL NEWS
FROM MEXICO, VISIT
www.BaseballMexico.com