Homar Rojas - Acereros del Norte Monclova Manager 2015

Homar Rojas played professional baseball for 23 years including 4 years in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system. Rojas played for 6 different Liga Mexicana de Beisbol teams and 3 Liga Mexicana del Pacifico teams during which he compiled a .291 career batting average as a catcher.

In 1987 Rojas played for the Bakersfield Dodgers, a Single A minor league affiliate of the Dodgers in the California League. In 1988 he was moved to another Single A Dodgers team, the Vero Beach Dodgers.

Homar Rojas the Player

1989 saw Rojas start the year playing for the Triple A Dodger affiliate Albuquerque Dukes and finish up the season with the Double A team in San Antonio Texas.

Rojas began his managerial career with the Guerreros de Oaxaca of the LMB in 2005. During 2007-2008, he managed the Yaquis de Obregon, leading the Yaquis to their 1st league pennant in 27 years.

Homar managed the Broncos de Reynosa of the LMB from 2009-2012 and managed the Naranjeros de Hermosillo from 2009-2010.

Rojas With Hermosillo

In 2011, Rojas was named the manager of the Venados de Mazatlan of the LMP.

Rojas managed the Piratas de Campeche, of the LMB in 2013 and became the manager of the Acereros del Norte Monclava in 2014 where he led the team to a 60-51 record and into the LMB Playoffs.Monclova was swept in the 1st round of the playoffs by the Sultanes de Monterrey.

Acereros Manager Homar Rojas

Von Hayes - Pericos de Puebla Manager 2015

Von Hayes, Manager of the Pericos de Puebla team in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, began his career in the Major Leagues with the Cleveland Indians in April of 1981. He played his last game 11 years later for the Los Angeles Angels. In between Hayes spent 8 years with the Philadelphia Phillies.  

Von Hayes as a player

During his career, Hayes hit .267 with 36 triples,143 home runs, 696 RBIs and 253 stolen bases.

On June 11th, 1985, Hayes became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit 2 home runs in the 1st inning of a game. He led off the inning with a solo shot and later in the inning hit a grand slam off of Calvin Schiraldi leading the Phillies to a 26-7 victory over the NY Mets.

Hayes began his coaching career with the South Bend Silverhawks in 2003. He was named the Manager of the Year in the California League with the Modesto Nuts in 2004. Leading the Midland Rockhounds in 2005, Hayes was again chosen as the Manager of the Year, this time in the Texas League.

Hayes named manager of Barnstormers

The Lancaster Barnstormers named Hayes as their Manager for 2008 where he stayed until taking the same position with the Camden Riversharks in 2010. Hayes remained in Camden until he signed on to manage the Alexandria Aces of the ULB in 2013.

The Pericos de Puebla have hires Hayes to manage their team in 2015 after the Pericos lost the Liga Mexicana Beisbol Championship to the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in 2014.

Hayes as a Perico

Miguel Ojeda - Diablos Rojos de Mexico Manager 2015

Miguel Ojeda, manager of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, began his major league baseball career with the San Diego Padres in 2003. Following the 2005 season, Ojeda was traded to the Colorado Rockies lasting one year. He spent some of 2006 year with the Texas Rangers but was designated for assignment in May of that year. During his years in Major League Baseball, Ojeda hit .224 with 15 home runs and 72 RBIs.     

Ojeda in his Major League Playing Days

 

Ojeda played for the Venados de Mazatlan in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico. While playing for the Venados in 2005, Mazatlan won the LMP Championship and went on to win the Serie de Caribe. Ojeda represented Mexico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic

Ojeda during WBC 2009

Over his long career in the LMP, Ojeda hit .246 with 749 hits, 75 home runs and 347 RBIs. He retired from baseball in 2012. The Venados retired Ojeda's number 35 during this past season.

The Diablos Rojos de Mexico named Ojeda as their manager in 2013. In 2014 he led the Diablos to a 70-42 record and the Championship of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol with a four game sweep of the Pericos de Puebla in the final round.    

Coach Miguel Ojeda

Ojeda was hired as the manager of the Venados de Mazatlan in 2014 and led the team to the playoffs in his first year. His team was swept by the Charros de Jalisco in the first round of playoffs.

Jerry Royster - Tigres de Quintana Roo Manager 2015

As part of a series of posts about the 2015 Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, I will take a look at the managers of the 16 teams. The first manager article is about Jerry Royster of the Tigres de Quintana Roo.

Jerry was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1970 and started his first major league game in August of 1973. He had a career that spanned 15 years in which he played for 5 different big league teams. Jerry compiled a .249 batting average while hitting 40 home, driving in 352 and stealing 189 bases. He ended his playing career with the Atlanta Braves in 1988.

Jerry as a player

 

His coaching career began in 1993 as a third base coach for the Colorado Rockies but lasted 1 year. Jerry was out of baseball until 2000 when, as a bench coach for Davey Lopes of the Milwaukee Brewers, he was named interim manager after Lopes got off to a disastrous start. Although the interim tag was removed 2 weeks later, Royster was fired at the end of the year following a 53-94 record.

Before being named manager of the Dodgers Triple A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51's, in 2005, Royster had been the Dodgers infield coordinator for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

In 2007, Royster was signed as manager of the Lotte Giants of the South Korean Baseball League. He became the first non-Korean to manage in the league. He managed the Giants until 2010. 


Royster as Lotte Giants Manager

Royster was the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox in 2012.

The Tigres de Quintana Roo hired Royster as their manager in 2014 where he led the team to a 65-48 record and 1st place in the Sur Division of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. The Tigres lost to the Pericos de Puebla in the semi-final round of the divisional playoffs.

Royster Named Tigres Manager

45 Things That Never Happened In MLB History Until 2014

An interesting article by Bruce Herman of Athlon Sports about 45 things that happened in the 2014 MLB season that never occurred in MLB history.

Find out who accomplished these feats:

Who hit a grand slam for two different teams in the month of April?
Who stole 3 bases in a game while his team was being no-hit?
What player hit a solo home run, 2 run home run, 3 run home run and a grand slam sequentially in successive games?

What pitcher struck out the side, on nine pitches, with the bases loaded?
Who struck out 40 batters between his 1st and 2nd walks?
Who beat one team 3 times in one year pitching for 3 different teams?

If you know the answers to these questions...you are absolutely amazing but there are even more amazing facts in Herman's article here.

22 Charros Players To Join Liga Mexicana de Beisbol

22 players from the 2014-2015 Charros de Jalisco are listed on rosters for teams in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol that begin play in April of 2015.

The LMB consists of 16 teams divided into two 8 team divisions. The Norte Division will have teams from Tijuana, Mexico City, Monclova, Monterrey, Saltillo, Reynosa, Laguna and Aguas Caliente.

The Sur Division will consist of the following teams: Quintana Roo, Puebla, Campeche, Cd. Carmen, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Yucatan and Tabasco.

Here is a list of the Charros and the LMB team they will play for. As with any Spring roster, it is not unusual for changes to occur. I will keep watching and update this list as necessary.

Diablos Rojos de Mexico
Jesus Lopez
Japhet Amador
Carlos Vasquez
Gabriel Gutierrez

Sultanes de Monterrey
Marco Tovar
Oscar Villarreal

Vaqueros de la Laguna
Ivan Zavala

Saraperos de Saltillo
Jesus Cota
Jose "Manny" Rodriguez

Toros de Tijuana
Mario Mendoza
CJ Retherford
Eduardo Arredondo

Rieleros de Aguas Caliente
Orlando Lara

Tigres de Quintana Roo
Adrian Ramirez

Pericos de Puebla
Hugo Castellanos

Piratas de Campeche
Ivan Salas

Rojos Aguila de Veracruz
Manuel Flores

Leones de Yucatan 
Juan Delgadillo
Mario Meza
Israel Nunez
Edson Garcia
Fernando Valenzuela

Liga Mexicana del Pacifico Gold Glove Recipients Announced

The Liga Mexicana del Pacifico has announced the winners of the Gold Glove, by position, for the 2014-2015 season.

Fueron los mejores a la hora de estar a la defensiva, posición por posición y en base a las estadísticas oficiales. La Liga Mexicana del Pacífico da a conocer a los ganadores de los Guantes de Oro de su temporada BANORTE 2014-2015.

The Caneros de Los Mochis had 3 fielders win Gold Gloves followed by the Naranjeros de Hermosillo with 2 and the Charros de Jalisco, Yaquis de Cd Obregon, Tomateros de Culiacan and the Venados de mazatlan with 1 each.

The winners by position are: 1B - Jesus Castillo, Mazatlan .990   2B - Carlos Gastelum, Hermosillo .988   3B - Rodolfo Amador, Los Mochis .978   SS - Issmael Salas, Culiacan .986   OF - Jerry Owens, Hermosillo .994   OF - Justin Christian, Los Mochis .993   OF - Eduardo Arredondo, Jalisco .992   C - Said Gutierrez, Obregon .988   P - Jonathan Castellanos 1.000

Liga Mexicana Players Headed To Spring Training As Non Roster Invitees

The Liga Mexicana del Pacifico will send five players from the 2014-2015 to join MLB teams as non-roster players this spring training.

Xorge Carrillo, the 2013-2014 LMP Rookie of the Year, will report to the NY Mets training camp in Port St. Lucie Florida. Carrillo played for the Aguilas de Mexicali in 2014 where he hit .273 with 56 hits, 19 doubles, 9 home runs and 33 RBIs.

Walter Ibarra, also from the Aguilas de Mexicali, hit .291 with 68 hits, 9 doubles, 4 home runs and drove in 23. Ibarra will be in spring training with the Arizona Diamondbacks at their facility in Phoenix Arizona.

Rico Noel, who played for the League Champion Tomateros de Culiacan, is a non roster invitee of the San Diego Padres. Noel hit .233 on the year with 42 hits, 1 double, 1 home run and 16 RBIs.

Eric Farris, formerly a Tomatero, will attempt to make the Minnesota Twins team as a non roster invitee at their Ft. Myers Florida complex. Farris last season in the LMP,  hit .309 with 64 hits, 8 doubles, 3 home runs and 32 RBIs.

Brian Broderick, a member of the Charros de Jalisco and the 2013-2014 winner of the league's Isidro Marquez Trophy as Reliever of the Year, will join the World Series runner up Kansas City Royals in Arizona to try and crack the solid core of relief pitching that got the Royals to the World Series in 2014.

Broderick was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 21st round of the 2007 MLB Draft. He was picked up as a Rule #5 draftee by the Washington Nationals in 2011 but was returned to the Cardinals in 2012. Broderick was reacquired by the Nationals that same year and traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks before the start of the 2014 season. Brian signed with the Los Angeles Angels after the 2014 MLB season but was traded to the Kansas City Royals on the 19th of December of 2014.

Broderick's stats for the 2014-2015 LMP season were very impressive. He saved 16 games in 17 chances and had a won/loss record of 3-1. Broderick allowed just 2 walks in 26 innings pitched while striking out 23. His 0.68 ERA over that time was matched by his WHIP of 0.68. Opposing hitters managed to hit just .176 off of the masterful right hander.

WDBarrsports will keep an eye on these players during spring training. Most of the teams will start playing games on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd of March and we wish all of the players Good Luck in pursuing their dreams.

Charros Take 3 Awards For The 2014-2015 Liga Mexicana del Pacifico Season

The Charros de Jalisco were rewarded by the LMP for their outstanding 2014-2015 campaign that saw the team reach the Championship Series in their 1st year of competition in the league.

HECTOR ESPINOSO AWARD - Most Valuable Player  

Manny Rodriguez at the Plate

Juan Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez took home the Most Valuable Player Award for his outstanding, consistent and dominating performance during the year.

He finished the season with a .341 batting average (3rd), 93 hits in 67 games (1st), 23 doubles (2nd), 10 home runs (T3rd) and 48 RBIs (2nd). He led the league in Total Bases with 146 and had 33 Extra Base Hits. His .535 Slugging Percentage was also tops in the league.

Manny led all second basemen with a Fielding Percentage of .985, committing just 6 errors in 410 chances and started more double plays than any of second basemen in the league.

Japhet Amador, of the Charros, finished 2nd in the MVP balloting on the strength of his 13 home runs (T1st) and 51 RBIs (1st).

BENJAMIN REYES TROPHY - Manager of the Year

Juan Navarrate garnered 37 votes in the balloting for this award, more than twice that of his closest foe.
Navarrate piloted the Charros to a 42-26 record, finishing 2nd in the first half of the season and winning the second half to finish the year with the best record.

The Charros were the only team to finish with a winning record both home and away. Jalisco's longest losing streak was 3 games while they managed an 8 game winning streak during the season that was the longest of any team.

Navarrate was a coach for the Oakland Athletics from 1995 until 2005.

Coach Navarrate was inducted into the Mexican Baseball of Fame in 1998 after a career that saw him collect 2625 hits in 21 years of play. He played primarily at 2nd base but saw action at shortstop too.

ISIDRO MARQUEZ - Reliever of the Year

Brian Broderick was named as the inaugural Liga Mexicana del Pacifico's Reliever of the Year on his extremely efficient year in the closer role for the Charros.

Broderick had 16 saves in 17 opportunities with a 3-1 record. He issued just 2 walks in 26 innings pitched while striking out 23.

His 0.68 ERA led the league and his WHIP (Walks/Hits per Inning Pitched) was a miniscule 0.68. Additionally, he held opposing batters to a .176 batting average.