The Charros de Jalisco are set to begin their third season in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico (LMP) on the 12th of October against the Tomateros de Culiacan.
Estadio de
Beisbol Charros de Jalisco remains their home stadium. The stadium,
situated near the Telmex Auditorio, is actually in Zapopan. The stadium, which
seats 13,000 was built for the 2011 Pan American games held in Guadalajara and
is a gorgeous facility.
In 2014, under then manager Juan Navarette, the Charros
finished 2nd to the Tomateros in the LMP Championships. 2015 saw a
drop in pitching efficiency and the Charros fell to 6th in the
league, sneaking into the playoffs on the final day of the season. Pitching
problems continued to plague the team as they were swept by the Aguilas de
Mexicali in the first round of the playoffs.
Homar Rojas, who took over as manager of the Charros with 9
games remaining in the 2015 season, has an offensive juggernaut at his
disposal. The Charros led the league in slugging percentage (.423), doubles
(132) and RBIs with 308. Jesus Valdez led the league in hitting with a .347
average and Amadeo Zazueta was second at .335. Although leaving the team early
to prepare for a season of Japanese baseball, Japhet Amador led the league in
HRs (14), RBIs (48) and slugging percentage (,558). Manny Rodriguez led the league in doubles with 20.
In an attempt to improve the starting pitching, the Charros
drafted 9 pitchers for the 2016 season. It can be assumed that not all of the
pitchers from 2015 will be invited back. The Mexican leagues limit the number of
“extranjeros”, foreigners on a team to six. This includes all non Mexicans. An
interesting note about this year’s draft, the Charros selected Nyjer Morgan.
You may recall him in the big leagues as the guy who always talked to himself
in the field and used the third person to talk about himself in interviews.
As in all leagues, the hometown fans have their favorites. Manny Rodríguez (El Capitán),
Eduardo Arredondo (El Mosco), Amadeo Zazueta, Alex Liddi (El Italiano), Jesús
Valdez (Cacao) and Japhet Amador (El Gigante) all fan favorites. The
fans clamor to the Charros side of the field before the games to get signatures
and pictures for all of their favorites.
The Charros open with the Tomateros at home for 1 game and
then travel for 5 games. The first home stand begins on the 18th of
October with 3 games against the Caneros de Los Mochis and 3 with the Tomateros
de Culiacan.
The Charros stadium is an exciting place to watch a ball
game. A family friendly atmosphere with dedicated fans and good food makes for
an enjoyable experience. Check out this rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame And, oh yes, did I mention the monkey? You’ll have to
see him to believe him!
