Viva Beisbol

by Bruce Baskin
Published on June 6, 2005 under Mexican League (ML)

The Mexico Tigres have opened the second half of the Mexican League schedule with nine straight wins, bolting off to an early three-game lead in the Liga's South Division ahead of first half champion Campeche. As was the case in the first half, the all-Mexican Tigres are bludgeoning their opponents into submission with a team batting average now at .358. Perhaps the hottest bat belongs to shortstop Carlos Gastelum, who is leading the MLB with a .421 average as the Tigres' overall win streak is now at 12 games. There's still the little matter of Mexico pitchers allowing 6.60 runs per game (only Laguna is worse), but as long as batters are providing 7.91 runs each outing, all is well in Puebla. In the North, only three games separate all eight teams as Tijuana holds a half-game lead over surprising San Luis. First half winner Saltillo stumbled out the gate with a 2-4 record, but the Saraperos are expected to be a factor at the end.

The annual LMB All-Star Game was held Sunday in Puebla in front of a noisy, drum-beating crowd at Serdan Brothers Stadium. Aguascalientes' Rontrez Johnson went 3-for-3 and stroked two homers to lead the North to a 10-9 win over the South as both teams registered 16 hits each. It was a dinger-filled day as Campeche's Ruben Rivera hit a three-run bomb and the Tigres' Jorge Alberto Vazquez crunched a grand slam over the center field fence for the South, while Saltillo's Mario Valenzuela drilled a two-run shot to center for the North. The South had two runners on base with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but Monterrey closer Maximo De La Rosa induced the Tigres' Sergio Gastelum to ground into a force out to end the game.

While the big boys of Mexican baseball were in the spotlight, the LMB's Class A league within the National Academy continued to play in the relative obscurity of suburban Monterrey. Eight Liga clubs share five teams in the Academy League, while a separate Academy team rounds out the rostrum. The Academia plays two halves, and thus far the Mexico City Diablos Rojos' farm team has taken the first half crown and lead Monterrey's junior squad by a game and a half in the second half with an 11-4-1 record. Academia teams play just seven innings per game, and it is not unusual for a contest to end in a tie. Among batters, Juvenal Ibarra of the Tigres-Pericos leads the Academia with a .409 average. Jose Moreno of Yucatan-Tabasco tops pitchers with a 2.45 ERA but only has a 2-2 record to show for it.

NORTHERN DIVISION

1) TIJUANA POTROS (6-3)

The Colts slowed down San Luis by taking two of three over the Tuneros going into the All-Star Break to take over first place in the LMB North. P Alonso Beltran went eight strong innings May 31 in a 3-0 shutout over San Luis, while homers from Carlos Valencia and Derrick White spearheaded a 12-5 win for Tijuana on June 2. The Potros lead the LMB with 109 circuit clouts, as Randall Simon (.378) and Valencia (.318) have swatted 18 apiece.

2) SAN LUIS TUNEROS (5-3)

The Tuneros were the surprise leaders in the North before reality in the form of Tijuana set in. San Luis did avert a possible series sweep June 1 with a solid 4-2 win over the Potros as All-Star Darryl Brinkley hit his fourth homer of the year to help veteran LHP Luis Mercedes Esquer (1-4) to his first win of 2005. The Tuneros have a series coming up against mediocre Tabasco, but a road set against the Tigres will separate the men from the boys.

3) MONTERREY SULTANES (5-4)

Monterrey took two consecutive wins over Laguna to go into the All-Star Break in third place. The Sultanes beat the Vaqueros 9-5 on June 1 with Bubba Smith and Francisco Mendez each hitting two-run homers. Dionys Cesar hit two homers one night later, including an eleventh-inning walk-off shot to slip by Laguna 6-5. Monterrey is the only team in the LMB North with a sub-5.00 ERA (4.93), but they need more extra-base power from their batters.

4) MEXICO CITY DIABLOS ROJOS (4-4)

The Red Devils got off to a slow start before scoring 29 runs in two victories over the Aguascalientes Rieleros. Mexico City hit seven homers (two by Victor Bojorquez) to crush the Railroaders 18-3 on June 1, while P Francisco Cordova benefited from another 11 runs one night later for his third straight win after losing his first five decisions. Roberto Saucedo hit homers both nights and now has 19 for the season.

5T) AGUASCALIENTES RIELEROS (4-5)

The Rieleros probably welcomed a long weekend after their two drubbings at the hands of the Diablos Rojos. P Jose Nunez dropped to 0-5 after allowing 7 runs in less than three innings against Mexico City on June 1, and things weren't a lot better for starter Abraham Elvira (3-3) one night later. Eduardo Rios' 21 home runs top the Liga, but the big surprise has been C Alex Delgado, who is batting .361 with 38 RBIs.

5T) SALTILLO SARAPEROS (4-5)

The Saraperos were just 2-4 in the second half prior to winning two of three against last-place Monclova. Former Orioles draftee Nick Garcia hit three doubles and drove in four runs to lead Saltillo to an 8-4 win over the Acereros on May 31, and All-Star Mario Valenzuela was 3-for-5 with three RBIs (including a game-winning single in the ninth) to sneak by Monclova 7-6 two nights later. The SarapeMen are just 13-of-32 in stolen bases this year.

5T) LAGUNA VAQUEROS (4-5)

Although the Vaqueros are just one game below .500 in the second half, they've played better living out of their suitcases with just a 2-4 home record. Bobby "The Animal" Lara lined a two-run single in the bottom of the tenth inning May 31 to give Laguna a 14-13 slugfest win over Monterrey as Raul Lopez and Cornelio Garcia homered for the Cowboys. Reliever Ben Rivera (5-4/3.05/12 saves) has been outstanding, but the starters are brutal.

8) MONCLOVA ACEREROS (3-6)

The Steelers are off to a sluggish second half start, losing two of three to Saltillo to go into All-Star Weekend in last place in the LMB North. Guillermo Garcia belted his 16th and 17th homers of the year to pace a 5-3 win over the Saraperos on June 1 as Jaciel Acosta (1-2) took the win and Bill Simas recorded the save. Like Ben Rivera with Laguna, Simas has been great out of the bullpen (4-3/2.38/11 saves), but he doesn't inherit a lot of leads with this crew.

SOUTHERN DIVISION

1) MEXICO TIGRES (9-0)

Besides building their winning streak to 12 games, the Tigres actually showed some pitching in a three-game sweep over Yucatan in which Mexico hurlers allowed just 11 runs. That's not impressive until you realize that's about three runs less per game than they've been giving up in 2005. Of course, when you have eleven batters hitting .340 or better, you could let Dick Cheney pitch and still win. Cheney's said to be tough against lefties anyway.

2) CAMPECHE PIRATAS (5-3)

The Pirates haven't played badly, but what do you do when the Tigres just win and win and win? Campeche took a three-game sweep over Puebla and still couldn't gain ground. Bill Selby hit two homers in a 10-7 win over the Pericos on May 31, and then hit another June 1 in an 8-3 win over Puebla. Selby didn't homer in the third game, but he didn't have to as Francisco Campos ran his record to 7-2 with an 8-6 triumph.

3) YUCATAN LEONES (5-4)

The traditionally pitching-rich Lions allowed 19 runs in three losses to the Tigres, a pretty good sign of how things are this year. Eddy Diaz hit his eleventh homer May 31 in a 5-2 loss to Mexico, and that was about the only highlight of the series for Yucatan. And to think the Leones went into the set with a 5-1 record. Yucatan is third in the Liga with a .321 batting average and the team's 4.52 ERA leads the league, but they've been remarkably inconsistent.

4T) VERACRUZ ROJOS AGUILAS (4-4)

Willis Otanez (.388/17/75) has slowed down a little, and the Red Eagles are treading water after taking two of three games from Tabasco. P Emigdio Lopez lifted his record to 5-1 by going six good innings in a May 31 5-4 win over the Olmecas. Joel Vargas (6-3) did even better on June 1, combining with two other pitchers on a 10-0 shutout. New shortstop Jose Nieves is batting .375 after six games in a Veracruz uniform.

4T) TABASCO OLMECAS (4-4)

After dropping the first two games of their last series before the All-Star Game, Tabasco avoided being swept by scoring three seventh-inning runs in a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Veracruz. Osvaldo Fernandez picked up the win in relief to even his record at 5-5. The Olmecas' 5.12 team ERA is fourth in the Liga, but Tabasco's .288 team batting average underscores a relatively anemic attack in the offense-oriented LMB.

6) OAXACA GUERREROS (4-5)

The Guerreros went into the All-Star break with a three-game winning streak, courtesy of Cancun. Oaxaca won the opener 10-4 on May 31 with help from a four-run seventh inning, then took Game Two 8-5 as Angel Pena checked in with two homers and four ribbies. The Warriors completed the sweep on June 2 with a 7-1 win behind Pena's three-run homer. He's now hitting .342 with 14 homers and 56 RBIs.

7) CANCUN LANGOSTEROS (2-7)

The Lobstermen just can't buy a win, and now trail the Tigres by seven games even though the second half is just nine days old. A seven-game losing streak has pretty much wiped out the 2-0 start Cancun got off to after finishing dead last in the first half. While the pitching has turned in a desultory 6.18 ERA this season, it's the hitting that has doomed the Langosteros (who are last in the Liga in batting average, homers and runs scored).

8) PUEBLA PERICOS (1-7)

In the last issue of Viva Beisbol, the Pericos were tabbed as a team to watch during the second half of the season. Well, we've watched them go 0-3 at home en route to an LMB-worst 1-7 record. Maybe a pair of Foster Grant sunglasses will help. While it's far too early to write off the Pericos just yet, they need some wins in their upcoming series against North powers Saltillo and Tijuana. They're better on paper than they've been on the field this year.

MEXICAN BASEBALL ROAD TRIP: Mexico City, D.F.

Originally called Tenochtitlan, Mexico City was the capital of the Aztec nation when it was found by Spanish conquistadores nearly 200 years after natives began building what became a beautiful city of 300,000 built in the middle of a lake. When Cortes and his band of soldiers came upon Tenochtitlan after their 1519 arrival on Mexico's east coast, they found a city that was easily equal in scope to almost any place in Europe at that time. Although Cortes' soldiers were badly outnumbered, the Aztec emperor Moctezuma protected him because he thought the fair-skinned, bearded Cortez was the reincarnation of the god Cuetzalcoatl returning to fulfill ancient prophesies. Cortes repaid this hospitality by kidnapping the emperor, attacking a number of Aztec temples and placing Christian chapels alongside their altars. Eventually the natives rebelled, killing Moctezuma and driving Cortes' forces from the city. It was a matter of time, however, before the Spaniards regrouped and finally took the city for good in August 1521.

While the Spanish victory leveled almost every vestige of Aztec culture in Mexico City, the very stones left amid the ruins were used to rebuild the city (including a palace for Cortes on the same site a similar structure once stood for Moctezuma). The city was very slowly rebuilt and only reached its former population a century ago, but the newer city was much larger in land size than the former capital. Although it was once feared that all references to Aztec culture were smashed during the conquest, discoveries in recent decades (including that of the Templo Mayor beneath the colonial town square) have been brought to light. The dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz from the 1870s to 1911 sped up the industrialization of Mexico City, spurring a growth in population that remains unabated to this day.

There are almost too many places worth visiting in Mexico City to list, but the "can't miss" list includes the Palacio de Bellas Artes, one of the world's most beautiful theaters; the Catedral Metropolitana, a massive yet ornate church that took 250 years to finish; the Bosque de Chapultepec park on the city's west side featuring lakes, woods, lawns, a zoo, amusement park and museums; and the Palacio Nacional, a 17th century edifice housing the President's office, the national archives, the federal treasury, and awesome courtyard murals painted by Mexico's most famous artist, Diego Rivera, that give colorful details of national history.

Mexico City is also a center of baseball in the country as home to both the Liga Mexicana offices and the Mexico City Diablo Rojos. The Red Devils shared Mexico City for decades with the Tigres before the latter relocated in Puebla earlier this decade. Both teams played at the old Social Security Stadium, which has since been replaced by the ultramodern 25,000-seat Foro Sol ballpark. Mexico City has been home to more than 30 Liga champions, with the Diablos Rojos winning 14 crowns since 1956.

By the way, the "official" name of Mexico City is Mexico, Distrito Federal. The word "City" is added in much the same way that people refer to New York as "New York City." With over 20 million residents, Mexico City is now the largest in the world.

NEXT VISIT: San Luis Potosi

MAESTROS OF MEXICO: Angel Castro, First Baseman (1938-57)

One of the early stars of the Mexican League, Angel Castro Pacheco was born April 20, 1917 in Empalme, Sonora (the same hometown as another great Liga first sacker, Ronnie Camacho). The left-handed batter broke in with a bang in 1938 for Tampico, garnering Rookie of the Year laurels after leading the LMB in hits, triples, homers and RBIs while batting .354. Castro went on to enjoy 12 .300+ seasons, 14 years with 10 or more homers and another 10 years with at least 60 RBIs while playing a shorter schedule through the 1940s. He led the Liga in 12 offensive categories over his 20-year career, and became the first homegrown product to win the LMB Triple Crown with Veracruz in 1951 (.351/22/79).

Castro, who is described by Baseball Guru's Carlos ‘The Latin Insider' Fragoso (a SABR member and leading Mexican baseball historian) as an "elegant" first baseman, retired after the 1957 season with 230 homers, 1219 RBIs, 1914 hits and a career batting mark of .306. He played on five Mexican League champions (managing Veracruz during his Triple Crown year of 1951), performing with Hall of Famers Josh Gibson and Martin Dihigo with Veracruz in 1940. He was also a three-time winter league champion in the LMP for Mazatlan in the early 1950s (with 16 homers and 56 RBI during his 1952-53 MVP season). Castro may be best remembered for blasting a ninth-inning walk off home run for Veracruz to beat Puebla's Tomas "Planchardon" Quinones by a 1-0 score. Quinones, whose second baseman was future Cleveland Indian great Bobby Avila, was working on a no-hitter at the time.

Angel Castro, whom Fragoso calls "a legend and maybe the best all around Mexican player before Hector Espino," was selected to the Salon de la Fama in 1964.

Next Maestro: Jose Pena, Pitcher (1962-84)

THIS EDITION'S TRIVIA QUIZ

Q) Who was the Mexican League's top pitcher with a 17-7 record for the Mexico City Tigres in 1960, years before becoming one of the top pitchers in the major leagues?

LAST EDITION'S TRIVIA QUIZ ANSWER

A) Matias Carrillo of the Mexico Tigres is continuing his assault on pitchers and the Mexican League record book in 2005, parlaying a .346 batting average with 13 homers and 63 RBI's into yet another All-Star Game appearance last weekend in Puebla. The 41-year-old Carrillo was the LMB's Rookie of the Year in 1982 after hitting .300 for Poza Rica. After two years, he was traded to the Tigres in 1984. He was a member of the Florida Marlins in the 1990's, but has spent most of the past 20+ seasons as a perennial .300-hitting outfielder and is a surefire pick for the Salon de la Fama in Monterrey when he becomes eligible. As his current performance would indicate, though, he's a long way from retirement.

OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES

www.LMB.com.mx features the official Mexican League website

www.MinorLeagueBaseball.com features Mexican League statistics

www.Hitazos.com, www.DePelota.com, and www.Esto.com.mx feature links to Mexican baseball websites

www.BaseballGuru.com features "The Latin Insider" by Carlos Fragoso

www.Planeta.com features Mexican baseball stories by Jon Clark

Mexican League Stories from June 6, 2005

• Viva Beisbol - OSC Original by Bruce Baskin

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.