Mexican League (baseball)
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 Liga Mexicana de Béisbol logo |
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| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1925 |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country(ies) | Mexico |
| Most recent champion(s) | Tigres de Quintana Roo (10) |
| Official website | www.lmb.com.mx |
The Mexican League (Spanish: Liga Mexicana de Béisbol) is a summer minor league baseball league with teams based across Mexico. Along with the International League and the Pacific Coast League, it is one of three leagues playing at the triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.[1] It is the only Minor League Baseball (MiLB)-sanctioned triple-A league outside the United States. Nonetheless, Mexican League teams are not affiliated with specific Major League Baseball clubs as part of the farm system like the International and the Pacific Coast leagues.
The other professional baseball league in Mexico is the Mexican Pacific League.[2]
The Mexican League has three minor leagues of its own, the Liga Norte de Mexico, Liga de Beisbol del Noroeste de Mexico, and the Liga de Mexicana de Beisbol Academia (a summer and a winter league). The current champion is Tigres de Quintana Roo.
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[edit] History
When it was founded in 1925, the league included six teams (74 Regimiento, México, Agraria, Nacional, Guanajuato and Águila). Since then, the league has expanded to sixteen teams, divided equally into a north and a south zone, the champions of which meet to contest a best-of-seven game playoff series. The season begins in mid-March with the playoffs running through mid-August.
[edit] 1949: Landmark ruling of Gardella v. Chandler
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Judges use Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs to uphold that the baseball leagues and commissioner are not violating anti-trust rulings because they are not doing anything different than was done when the previous ruling occurred. Included in the previous ruling was the fact that the baseball leagues could transmit information about their games via telegraph wires. And, because the leagues are only negotiating, their actions in negotiating the television and radio broadcasts are no different than their actions with telegraphs. Therefore the previous decision can be upheld. Judges also assert that this the previous decision hasn’t been objected by Congress, so it must also be of the opinion of congress that baseball does not fall under the rules of the Anti-Trust Act. (Of course, consider that some judges felt differently, but ruling was overall in favor of the Leagues.)
The ruling went untested until the Mexican League was formed. Players who went to play in the Mexican League got blacklisted from MLB. One such player, Danny Gardella, was blacklisted because he had broken his contract and gone to play professional baseball in Mexico.
In 1948, Gardella brought a claim against Commissioner of Baseball Happy Chandler, the National League and American League, as well as their presidents (Ford Frick and Will Harridge, respectively). Gardella charged that they were engaged in interstate commerce because the defendants had made contracts with radio broadcasting and television companies that sent narratives or moving pictures of the games across state lines. MLB then settled with Gardella and offered all Mexican League jumpers amnesty -- protected the ambiguity surrounding the antitrust protection.
In 1949, baseball player Danny Gardella won a landmark appeal to baseball's reserve clause in the federal courts. This successful appeal is recognized as the first major step towards baseball free agency.
[edit] Expansion
In 1979, the Mexican Central League was absorbed into the expanded Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (Mexican Baseball League). The newly expanded league now featured a 20-team circuit with four divisions. However, after a series of team bankruptcies, the Mexican League was reduced to 14 teams in two divisions.
[edit] Teams
[edit] Current teams
[edit] Defunct teams
- Alacranes de Durango (Durango Scorpions)
- Algodoneros de Union Laguna (Union Laguna Cotton Pickers) (Torreón)
- Alijadores de Tampico (Tampico Lightermen)
- Angeles Negros de Puebla (Puebla Black Angels)
- Astros de Monclova (Monclova Astros)
- Astros de Tampico (Tampico Astros)
- Azules de Coatzacoalcos (Coatzacoalcos Blues)
- Bravos de León (León Braves)
- Cachorros de León (León Cubs)
- Cafeteros de Córdoba (Córdoba Coffee Growers)
- Charros de Jalisco (Jalisco Charros) (Guadalajara, Jalisco)
- Chileros de Xalapa (Xalapa Chili Growers)
- Dorados de Chihuahua (Chihuahua Goldens)
- Ganaderos de Tabasco (Tabasco Cattlemen)
- Indios de Ciudad Juárez (Ciudad Juárez Indians)
- Industriales de Monterrey (Monterrey Industrialists)
- Langosteros de Cancún (Cancun Lobstermen)
- Mineros de Coahuila (Coahuila Miners)
- Petroleros de Poza Rica (Poza Rica Oilers)
- Piratas de Sabinas (Sabinas Pirates)
- Plataneros de Tabasco (Tabasco Banana Growers)
- Potros de Minatitlán (Minatitlán Colts)
- Rieleros de Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes Railroaders)
- Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (Two Laredos Owls)
- Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (Nuevo Laredo Owls)
- Tigres de Puebla (Puebla Tigers)
- Toros de Tijuana (Tijuana Bulls)
- Truchas de Toluca (Toluca Trouts)
- Tuneros de San Luis Potosí (San Luis Potosi Prickly Pear Pickers)
[edit] Champions
[edit] Champions and runner-ups (current teams)
| Team | Titles | Runner Up | Years Won | Years Runner Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diablos | 15 | 17 | 1956, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2008 | 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1977, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2011 |
| Tigres | 10 | 6 | 1955, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2011 | 1956, 1982, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2009 |
| Sultanes | 9 | 6 | 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1962, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2007 | 1953, 1969, 1986, 1994, 2006, 2008 |
| Rojos del Águila | 5 | 4 | 1937, 1938, 1952, 1961, 1970 | 1939, 1960, 1962, 1968 |
| Pericos | 4 | 5 | 1925[3], 1963, 1979[4], 1986[5] | 1948, 1961, 1964, 1965, 2010 |
| Saraperos | 3 | 6 | 1980, 2009, 2010 | 1971, 1972, 1973, 1988, 2004, 2005 |
| Leones | 3 | 3 | 1957, 1984, 2006 | 1954, 1989, 2007 |
| Piratas | 2 | 0 | 1983, 2004 | - |
| Broncos | 1 | 2 | 1969 | 1967, 1981 |
| Olmecas | 1 | 0 | 1993 | - |
| Guerreros | 1 | 0 | 1998 | - |
| Acereros | 0 | 1 | - | 1998 |
[edit] Championships by franchise (all-time)
| Team | Titles |
|---|---|
| Diablos | 15 |
| Tigres | 10 |
| Sultanes | 9 |
| Rojos del Águila | 5 |
| Tecolotes | 5 |
| Azules | 4 |
| Pericos | 4 |
| Alijadores | 3 |
| Leones | 3 |
| Saraperos | 3 |
| Agrario | 2 |
| Algodoneros | 2 |
| Cafeteros | 2 |
| Charros | 2 |
| Piratas | 2 |
| Tigres (Comintra) | 2 |
| Bravos | 1 |
| Broncos | 1 |
| Chiclet's Adams | 1 |
| Gendarmería | 1 |
| Guerreros | 1 |
| Indios | 1 |
| Monte de Piedad | 1 |
| Obras Públicas | 1 |
| Ocampo | 1 |
| Olmecas | 1 |
| Petroleros (Poza Rica) | 1 |
| Policía | 1 |
| Rieleros | 1 |
| Tráfico | 1 |
[edit] See also
- Mexican Pacific League (Spanish: Liga Mexicana del Pacífico)
- Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (hall of fame)
- Minor League Baseball Awards
[edit] References
- ^ "Scoreboard". Minor league baseball. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/scoreboard/index.jsp?ymd=20110822. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "LMP.mx". Mexican Pacific League. http://www.ligadelpacifico.com.mx/index.php. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ Won Title As 74 Regimiento (First champion in the leagues History)
- ^ Won Title As Angeles De Puebla
- ^ Won Title As Angeles Negros De Puebla
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- Official site (Spanish)
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