Mexican League
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1925 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country | Mexico |
| Continent | North America |
| Most recent champion(s) | Tigres de Quintana Roo (2015) |
| Most titles | Diablos Rojos del México (16 titles) |
| TV partner(s) |
TVC Deportes ESPN ONE World Sports |
| Official website | www.lmb.com.mx |
The Mexican Baseball League (Spanish: Liga Mexicana de Béisbol) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico. It is a Class Triple-A league in organized Minor League Baseball, one grade below Major League Baseball (MLB).[1] Unlike the other two Triple-A circuits, the International League and the Pacific Coast League, Mexican League teams are not affiliated with Major League teams.
The Mexican League has two minor leagues of its own, the Liga Norte de Mexico, and the Mexican Academy League. An additional baseball circuit, the Mexican Pacific League, is a Winter league.
History
The Mexican League was founded in 1925 by sportswriter Alejandro Aguilar Reyes and former baseball player Ernesto Carmona.[2] The league included six teams (74 Regimiento, México, Agrario, Nacional, Guanajuato and Águila). Since then, the league has expanded to 16 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.
1949: Landmark ruling of Gardella v. Chandler[3]
Judges, under the doctrine of stare decisis, use the case Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs to maintain that the baseball leagues and commissioner are not violating anti-trust laws because they are not doing anything different from what was done when the previous holding was handed down. Included in the previous ruling was the fact that the baseball leagues at the time of the ruling could transmit information about their games via telegraph wires; radio and television are merely extensions of the type of coverage provided by the older medium. Further, because the leagues are only negotiating as agents for their member clubs, their actions in negotiating the television and radio broadcasts are essentially no different from their actions with telegraphs. Therefore, the previous decision can be maintained. Judges also have asserted that this the previous decision has not ever been objected to by Congress, in that no corrective legislation which would have overturned the ruling has ever been enacted, so it must also be of the opinion of Congress that baseball does not fall under the rules of the Sherman Antitrust Act (some judges have found differently, but final rulings have always overall held in favor of Organized Baseball).
The ruling went untested until the Mexican League was formed. Players who went to play in the Mexican League were blacklisted from Major League Baseball. One such player, Danny Gardella, was blacklisted because he had violated his contract and gone to play professional baseball in Mexico.
During 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— protecting the ambiguity of the antitrust protection.
In 1949, Gardella won a major appeal against baseball's reserve clause in the federal courts. This successful appeal is recognized as the first major step towards baseball free agency, even though it was decades in the making.
Expansion
During 1979, the Mexican Central League was absorbed into the expanded Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (Mexican Baseball League). The newly expanded league 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.
Current teams
Team locations
The following are the locations of the Mexican League teams. Red markers indicate teams in the South Division, while green markers indicate teams in the North Division.
Defunct teams
- Alacranes de Durango (Durango Scorpions)
- Algodoneros de Torreón (Torreón Cotton Pickers)
- Algodoneros de Unión Laguna (Union Laguna Cotton Pickers)
- Alijadores de Tampico (Tampico Lightermen)
- Angeles de Puebla (Puebla Angels)
- Astros de Monclova (Monclova Astros)
- Astros de Tampico (Tampico Astros)
- Azules de Coatzacoalcos (Coatzacoalcos Blues)
- Bravos de León (León Braves)
- Bravos de Reynosa (Reynosa Braves)
- Cachorros de León (León Cubs)
- Cafeteros de Córdoba (Córdoba Coffee Growers)
- Cardenales de Villahermosa (Villahermosa Cardinals)
- Charros de Jalisco (Jalisco Horsemen) (Guadalajara, Jalisco)
- Chileros de Xalapa (Xalapa Chili Growers)
- Diablos Blancos de Unión Laguna (Union Laguna White Devils)
- Dorados de Chihuahua (Chihuahua Goldens)
- Estibadores de Tampico (Tampico Stevedores)
- Ganaderos de Tabasco (Tabasco Cattlemen)
- Gallos de Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa Roosters)
- Indios de Anahuac (Anahuac Indians)
- Indios de Ciudad Juárez (Ciudad Juárez Indians)
- Industriales de Monterrey (Monterrey Industrialists)
- Langosteros de Cancún (Cancún Lobstermen)
- Mayas de Chetumal (Chetumal Mayas)
- México Azul (Mexico City Blue)
- Mineros de Coahuila (Coahuila Miners)
- Osos Negros de Toluca (Toluca Black Bears)
- Petroleros de Minatitlán (Minatitlan Oilers)
- Petroleros de Poza Rica (Poza Rica Oilers)
- Piratas de Sabinas (Sabinas Pirates)
- Plataneros de Tabasco (Tabasco Banana Growers)
- Potros de Minatitlán (Minatitlán Colts)
- Reales de San Luis Potosí (San Luis Potosí Royals)
- 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 Trout)
- Tuneros de San Luis Potosí (San Luis Potosí Prickly Pear Pickers)
Champions
Champions and runners-up (current teams)
| Team | Titles | Runner Up | Years Won | Years Runner Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diablos | 16 | 17 | 1956, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2014 | 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1977, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2011 |
| Tigres | 12 | 6 | 1955, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015 | 1956, 1982, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2009 |
| Sultanes | 9 | 9 | 1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1962, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2007 | 1942, 1944, 1953, 1969, 1986, 1994, 2006, 2008, 2013 |
| Rojos del Águila | 6 | 4 | 1937, 1938, 1952, 1961, 1970, 2012 | 1939, 1960, 1962, 1968 |
| Pericos | 4 | 5 | 1925, 1963, 1979, 1986 | 1948, 1961, 1964, 1965, 2010, 2014 |
| 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 | - |
| Rieleros | 1 | 1 | 1978 | 2012 |
| Acereros | 0 | 1 | - | 1998 |
Championships by franchise (all-time)
| Team | Titles |
|---|---|
| Diablos | 16 |
| Tigres | 12 |
| Sultanes | 9 |
| Rojos del Águila | 6 |
| 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 |
See also
- Mexican Pacific League (Spanish: Liga Mexicana del Pacífico)
- Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame)
- Mexican League baseball awards
References
- ↑ "Mexican Baseball Is Finally Eliminating One of the Worst Unwritten Rules In Sports". VICE Sports. 1 December 2015.
- ↑ Virtue, John (10 October 2007). South of the Color Barrier: How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Racial Integration. McFarland. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7864-3293-6.
- ↑ "Gardella v. Chandler". Justia. 13 July 1948.
External links
- Official site (Spanish)
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