Salon de Fama del Beisbol Mexicano Inducts Five Former MLBers; 14 Players With Great Careers In Mexico

The Salon de Fama del Beisbol Mexicano — the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame — announced the class of 2025, comprised of 19 new members this week.

Five of the electees had significant careers in Major League Baseball, while 14 had significant careers in Mexican professional baseball.

Elected to the Salon de Fama in the MLB category were Erubiel Durazo, Ismael Valdez, Rodrigo Lopez, Jorge de la Rosa, and Karim Garcia. The 14 players elected for their body of work in Mexico’s professional leagues were Roberto Ramirez, Miguel Ojeda, German Jimenez, Mike Paul, Emigdio Lopez, Juan Carlos Canizales, Darrel Sherman, Oscar Robles, Roberto Saucedo, Remigio Diaz, Francisco Campos, Luis Alfonso Garcia, Pablo Ortega, and Pedro Mere.

The most notable of the inductees to fans outside of Mexico is Karim Garcia, who was also inducted into the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame this past year. Garcia made the Major Leagues as a 19-year-old with the Los Angeles Dodgers, played a significant role in the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, and appeared in six Caribbean Series representing Mexico.

Durazo played seven seasons in Major League Baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics and had his best season in Oakland in 2004, when he batted .321/.396/.523 with 22 homers and 88 RBIs, garnering him enough votes to finish 23rd in American League MVP balloting.

Ismael Valdez pitched 12 MLB seasons with seven different teams, finishing seventh in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1995. He posted a career ERA of 4.09 over 1827 1/3 innings in 325 appearances, making 288 starts.

Rodrigo Lopez, the general manager of Mexico’s 2023 and 2026 World Baseball Classic teams, pitched 11 seasons in Major League Baseball with six different teams and is now a Spanish-language broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jorge de la Rosa pitched for five teams across 15 MLB seasons, working as both a starter and a reliever. In 2013, de la Rosa went 16-6 with a 3.49 ERA, 112 strikeouts and 62 walks in 30 starts for the Colorado Rockies.

Roberto Ramirez made 53 appearances in MLB with the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies, and returned to Mexico in 2001 to pitch for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, where he served as a starter for the next 12 seasons, winning four championships.

Miguel Ojeda played parts of four seasons in the majors with the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies, sandwiched between 17 seasons playing both summer and winter ball in Mexico. He won six LMB titles with the Diablos Rojos before he appeared in MLB, and played five seasons in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico with the Venados de Mazatlan, appearing in the 2009 Caribbean Series for Mexico.

German Jimenez appeared in 15 games for the Atlanta Braves in 1988, but pitched from 1982-2001 in the LMB with several teams. In 1988, before finishing the season in Atlanta, he made 18 starts for the Charros de Jalisco, going 14-2 with a 2.72 ERA.

After seven years in MLB, lefty Mike Paul pitched in Mexico from 1974-82 with Tampico, Juarez, and the Diablos Rojos.

Emigdio Lopez pitched 10 seasons in the LMB with Campeche, Torreon, Cordoba, Veracruz, Minatitlan, and Tabasco, posting a 4.31 ERA over 1209 1/3 innings.

Juan Carlos Canizales played from 1991-2012 in both the LMB and LAMP and appeared in the 2007 Caribbean Series for Mexico, where he went 6-for-18, and batted over .300 in at least eight summer or winter seasons.

After playing part of the 1993 season with the San Diego Padres, Darrel Sherman went to Mexico for the 1996 campaign and played there through 2007 with five different LMB teams, and played one winter season with the Algodoneros de Guasave.

Oscar Robles played 1,889 games in his native Mexico, playing year-round from 2009-14 with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the LMB and the Aguilas de Mexicali in the LAMP, and then playing for Tijuana of the LMB and Culiacan in the LAMP until 2017.

Robert Saucedo clubbed at least 341 homers in 17 seasons in Mexico, playing the bulk of his 1,779 games with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico and the Venados de Mazatlan.

Remigio Diaz played 17 seasons in the LMB with the Sultanes de Monterrey as well as San Luis Potosi, Saltillo, Tabasco, and Campeche.

Francisco Campos retired in 2019 after playing 19 professional seasons, most of them with the Piratas de Campeche and the Toamteros de Culiacan, appearing in two Caribbean Series for Mexico.

Luis Alfonso Garcia appeared in 2,269 professional games, with nearly 1,300 of them in Mexico with the Sultanes de Monterrey, Diablos Rojos del Mexico, Leones de Yucatan, Guerreros de Oaxaca, and Generales de Durango in the LMB and the Naranjeros de Hermosillo in the LAMP.

Pablo Ortega was a long-time starting pitcher with the Tigres, pitching for the franchise in the three cities it has called home, as well as making LMB appearances with the Pericos de Puebla, and he also pitched for Mazatlan, Obregon, and Hermosillo in the LAMP, appearing in two Caribbean Series.

A second baseman, Pedro Mere played 22 seasons in the LMB with Dos Laredos, the Tigres Capitalinos, Poza rica, Chetumal, Veracruz, Aguascalientes, and Minatitlan. He played one winter season with the Aguilas de Mexicali.

Photo: Mexico’s Karim Garcia, left, celebrates with teammate Sergio Contreras after scoring a run during a Caribbean Series baseball game against Puerto Rico at Quisqueya stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)