Mexican Baseball (LMB): News, Notes, and Where to Watch

Liga Mexicana de Beisbol president Horacio de la Vega was among several league officials who traveled to South Korea this week for meetings with the Korea Baseball Organization.

Among the LMB delegation were Bernardo Pasquel, the president of El Águila de Veracruz; Gonzalo Medina, president of the Olmecas de Tabasco; and Guillermo González Elizondo, president of the Sultanes de Monterrey. The group met with KBO Commissioner Koo Youn Heo and other officials from the league.

The LMB has previously negotiated an agreement with Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s top professional league, and seeks to do the same with the KBO. According to a release from the league, “the project of a collaboration agreement for sports, broadcasting and business issues was addressed. In the same way, plans were projected for joint activities between clubs from both leagues, as well as preparation games for the National Teams of the two countries.”

La delegación de @LigaMexBeis contó con Horacio de la Vega; Bernardo Pasquel, presidente @elaguilabeisbol; Gonzalo Medina, presidente de @OlmecasTabasco y Guillermo González, presidente de @SultanesOficial, que se reunieron con la KBO y su Comisionado, Koo Youn Heo. pic.twitter.com/nsUpmyYxTN

— Séptima Entrada (@septimaentrada_) June 24, 2024

Officials also toured the Gocheok SkyDome, home of the Kiwoom Heroes and site of Major League Baseball’s season-opening series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers in March 2024, and met with representatives of major Korean corporations that sponsor baseball.

The KBO is a 10-team league with a 144-game schedule per season, 51 more than the LMB’s 93-game schedule this year. Karim García, Jorge Cantú, and Roberto Ramos are among notable Mexican players who have appeared in the KBO.

Both Mexico and South Korea will participate in the WBSC Premier12 in November, a tournament that features the top 12 nations in the WBSC’s World Baseball Rankings.

Mexico will host Group A play in the cities of Guadalajara and Tepic, with games between Mexico, the United States, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Panama, and Puerto Rico.

South Korea is assigned to Group B, which will be played in Nagoya, Japan, and Taipei City, Taiwan.

It’s possible that Mexico could play South Korea in exhibition games before the Premier12.

Caribbean Series Dates Confirmed – The Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe confirmed the dates for the 2025 Caribbean Series, which will be played in Mexicali, Baja California del Norte, this week.

The annual winter ball tournament will run from January 31 to February 7 at El Nido de Los Aguilas, home of the Aguilas de Mexicali.

Septima Entrada, a Mexican baseball media outlet, reported that the stadium would be renovated in advance of the 2025 Caribbean Series. There will be 1,500 seats added to give the park a capacity of 21,500, facades will be refreshed, and bathroom capacity will be increased, according to Arturo Espinoza, Secretary of Infrastructure, Urban Development and Territorial Reorganization of the State of Baja California, Septima Entrada reported.

Back-to-Back Games With Grand Slams For Carter – Chris Carter of the Pericos de Puebla hit grand slams in consecutive games, becoming the sixth player in LMB history to accomplish the feat, doing so on June 20 against Quintana Roo and June 21 against Queretaro.

Carter, 37, hit 158 homers in MLB with the Oakland A’s, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and the New York Yankees and led the National League in homers in 2016 with 41 when he was a Brewer. Playing in the LMB since 2019, Carter has 109 homers with the Acereros de Monclova and Puebla.

Grand slams in consecutive LMB games were previously hit by Leroy Utt of the Tigres Capitalinos on May 21-22, 1958, against Poza Rica, Saúl Villegas of Monterrey on May 2-3, 1964 against Puebla, Rubén Aganza of Monclova on April 12-13, 1997 against Tabasco, Erubiel Durazo of Monterrey on May 20-21, 1998 against Dos Laredos, and most recently by Nick Torres of Puebla on May 17-18, 2019 against Yucatán.

Esta Semana en la LMB—The expansion Conspiradores de Queretaro (31-26, 3rd in Zona Sur) are on the rise in the standings and will face the Diablos Rojos del Mexico (46-13, 1st in Zona Sur) on June 24-26.

Over the weekend, the Diablos will face the Leones de Yucatan (31-23, 2nd in Zona Sur) in a matchup of the top two teams in the Zona Sur. In the Zona Norte, the first-place Sultanes de Monterrey (37-21) will face the third-place Tecolotes de Los Dos Laredos (35-25) over the weekend.

You can watch Liga Mexicana de Beisbol on Jonron.tv, YoutubeTV, and LMBenvivo.

Photo Credit: Chris Carter #33 of North Zone Team at the bat during the annual batting competition ‘Home Run Derby’ of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB). (Photo by Carlos Santiago/Eyepix Group/LightRocket via Getty Images)