1992 Liga Mexicana de Béisbol (Mexican League) Estampas de Fotos Checklist

      I have been in contact with the gentleman who started the fledgling blog 1992 Mexican Leauge Baseball Cards.  He posted a link to some photos of cards and unopened boxes he still has from the set.  In my previous post about this set, I posted close-up scans of the logos on the backs of the cards:

     From my email conversation of past weeks, TCI means Trading Cards International, Inc., the short-lived company from Lockport, Louisiana, who most likely designed the set.  EDM stands for Estampas Deportivas de Mexico SA de CV (possibly the actual printers of the cards) and the back of the box reads Lomeli Trade Center SA de CV Guadalajara Jalisco (the import/export company that distributed the set).  Apparently he was friends with someone who knew someone that worked for TCI, and helped distribute the cards around the Mission, Texas/Reynosa area, and also recalls the cards being heavily distributed in Monterrey and Guadalajara.

        He also sent me about a dozen cards I didn't have, so I have been able to expand the checklist a bit.  This is only 121 cards now, of a total 150, so I've asked if he wouldn't mind filling in the gaps so this set can get the recognition it deserves in the hobby as the first major modern Mexican League set.   All sixteen Mexican League teams from the 1992 season are accounted for in the checklist so far.

      In keeping with all of the other checklist posts on the blog, I have reformatted this post to highlight the gaps in the checklist in hopes that someone might be willing to help fill them.

Card #	Player Name	Team
1	Rafael Castañeda	Tigres Capitalinos
2	Marco Antonio Romero	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
3	Francisco Javier Arce	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
4	Luis Alberto Peña	Industriales de Monterrey
5	Ricardo Osuna	Cafeteros de Córdoba
6	Gregory Smith	Saraperos de Saltillo
7	Jesus Abrego	Leones de Yucatan
8	Miguel Hernandez	Sultanes de Monterrey
9	Manuel Cazarin	Petroleros de Minatitlán
10	Raul Martinez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
11	Marco Antonio Guzman	Piratas de Campeche
12	Manuel Bocardo	Acereros de Monclova
13	Eliseo Garzon	Olmecas de Tabasco
14	Aurelio Cantañeda	Charros de Jalisco
15	Armando Sanchez	Riablos Rojos del Mexico
16	Braulio Neri	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
17	Pablo Machiria	Tigres de México
18	Alejandro Ortiz	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
19	Florentino Morales	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
20	Alfonso (Alonso) Tellez	Industriales de Monterrey
21	Ruben Navarro	Cafeteros de Córdoba
22	Armando Valenzuela	Sultanes de Monterrey
23	Martin Antunez	Leones de Yucatán
24	Alejandro Carza	Sultanes de Monterrey
25	Terry Blocker	Petroleros de Minatitlán
26	Ricardo Rincon	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
27	Roy Johnson	Piratas de Campeche
28	Leo Valenzuela	Acereros de Monclova
29	Lorenzo Retes	Olmecas de Tabasco
30	Manuel Samaniego	Charros de Jalisco
31	Jose Luis Sandoval	Diablos Rojos del Mexico
32	Chris Knabenshue	Rieleros de Aguascalientes
33	Adulfo Camacho	Tigres Capitalinos
34	Luis Fernando Diaz	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
35	Carlos Gastelum	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
36	Armando Valdez	Industriales de Monterrey
37	Emigdio Lopez	Cafeteros de Córdoba
38	Eduardo Torres	Saraperos de Saltillo
39	Mercedes Esquer	Leones de Yucatan
40	Francisco Rodriguez	Sultanes de Monterrey
41	Horacio Valenzuela	Petroleros de Minatitlán
42	Dave Stockstill	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
43	Hediberto Vargas	Piratas de Campeche
44	Roberto Osuna	Acereros de Monclova
45	Jose Julian Quiroz	Olmecas de Tabasco
46	Fernando Valenzuela	Charros de Jalisco
47	Hector Estrada	Diablos Rojos del México
48	Salvador Lopez	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
49	Hector Alvarez	Tigres Capitalinos
50	Luis Trinidad Castillo	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
51	Raul Lopez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
52	Roberto Herrera	Industriales de Monterrey
53	Lazaro Tiquet	Cafeteros de Córdoba
54	Alfonso Pulido	Sultanes de Monterrey
55	Cornelio Garcia	Leones de Yucatan
56	Jaime Orozco	Sultanes de Monterrey
57	Eddie Castro	Petroleros de Minatitlán
58	Luis Alfonso Cruz	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
59	Alejandro Gomez	Piratas de Campeche
60	Isidro Morales	Acereros de Monclova
61	Jesus Antonio Barrera	Olmecas de Tabasco
62	Luis de los Santos	Charros de Jalisco
63	Vicente Verdugo	Diablos Rojos del México
64	Ali Uzcanga	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
65	Donald Heinkel	Piratas de Campeche
66	Gerardo Sanchez	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
67	David Dominguez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
68	Roberto Vizcarra	Industriales de Monterrey
69	Francisco Cervera	Cafeteros de Cordoba
70	Amado Peralta	Saraperos de Saltillo
71	Francisco Montaño	Leones de Yucatan
72	Antonio Aguilera	Sultanes de Monterrey
73	Miguel Angel Castelan	Leones de Yucatan
74	Jose Angel Villegas	Leones de Yucatan
75	Nelson Barrera	Piratas de Campeche
76	Guadalupe Leal	Acereros de Monclova
77	Manuel Baca	Olmecas de Tabasco
78	Jesus Sommers	Charros de Jalisco
79	Daniel Fernandez	Diablos Rojos del México
80	Enrique Aguilar	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
81	Barbaro Garbey	Tigres Capitalinos
82	Pedró Mere	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
83	Andres Gutierrez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
84	Isaac Jiminez	Industriales de Monterrey
85	Ricardo Herrera	Charros de Jalisco
86	Alejandro Sanchez	Acereros de Monclova
87	Baltazar Valdez	Leones de Yucatan
88	German Rivera	Sultanes de Monterrey
89	Luis de Leon	Petroleros de Minatitlán
90	Hector Alvarez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
91	Felipe Gutierrez Delfin	Piratas de Campeche
92	Rodolfo Valdes	Acereros de Monclova
93	Andres Sanchez	Olmecas de Tabasco
94	Lauro Cervantez	Charros de Jalisco
95	Luis F. Martinez	Diablos Rojos del Mexico
96	Larry See	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
97	Eric Mahdi	Tigres Capitalinos
98	Ernesto Barraza	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
99	Carlos Miguel Garcia	Alacranes de Campeche
100	Scott Medvin	Industriales de Monterrey
101	Andy Araujo	Cafeteros de Cordoba
102	Avelino Barron	Saraperos de Saltillo
103	Fernando Villaescusa	Leones de Yucatan
104	Orlando Sanchez	Saraperos de Saltillo
105	Fernando Soto	Petroleros de Minatitlán
106	David Sinohui	Petroleros de Minatitlán
107	Isidro Herrera	Piratas de Campeche
108	Martin Garcia	Acereros de Monclova
109	Geraldo Beltran	Olmecas de Tabasco
110	Urbano Lugo	Charros de Jalisco
111	Salome Barojas	Diablos Rojos del México
112	German Jiminez	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
113	Wilfredo Tejada	Tigres Capitalinos
114	Ruben Estrada	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
115	Miguel Munoz	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
116	Porfirio Ochoa	Industriales de Monterrey
117	Abraham Macias	Cafeteros de Córdoba
118	Jesus Moreno	Saraperos de Saltillo
119	Juan Jose Pacho	Leones de Yucatán
120	Nick Castaneda	Sultanes de Monterrey
121	Marco Antonio Rubio	Petroleros de Minatitlan
122	Ramon Esquer	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
123	Herminio Dominguez	Alacranes de Campeche
124	Mario Alberto Cosio	Acereros de Monclova
125	Martin Morones	Olmecas de Tabasco
126	Ricardo Almodobar	Charros de Jalisco
127	Leobardo Moreno	Diablos Rojos del México
128	Juan Manuel Garcia	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
129	Matias Carrillo	Tigres Capitalinos
130	Enrique Ramirez	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
131	Matt Stark	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
132	Homar Rojas	Industriales de Monterrey
133	David Villagomez	Cafeteros de Córdoba
134	Raul Rodriguez	Saraperos de Saltillo
135	Jose J. Bellazetin	Tigres de México
136	Leo Perez	Sultanes de Monterrey
137	Francisco Estrada	Petroleros de Minatitlan
138	Jesus Valdez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
139	Luis E. Huerta	Alacranes de Campeche
140	Raul Perez Tovar	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
141	Rusty Tillman	Olmecas de Tabasco
142	Ricardo Renteria	Charros de Jalisco
143	Francisco Melendez	Diablos Rojos del Mexico
144	Jose Luis Valenzuela	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
145	Gerardo Gutierrez	Tigres Capitalinos
146	Marco Antonio Cruz	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
147	Ramon Sambo	Aguila de Veracruz
148	Ramon Abril	Industriales de Monterrey
149	Gerardo Garza	Industriales de Monterrey
150	Hector Osuna	Saraperos de Saltillo

As usual, thanks to Arturo for helping fill in the gaps in the checklist from his collection.

---- UPDATE - 1 April 2026 -----

Thanks to some new cards to surface on eBay, as well as a helpful collector on TCDB.com, I've been able to add another 20 names to the checklist.  Since beginning tracking this set, we've gone from 46 cards identified to 122!

There are currently a couple of complete boxes listed on eBay, for not a small price.  Apparently collation is extremely poor in the packs, and while the collector in question opened a whole box, he didn't get very close to a full set, but did report seeing a Fernando Valenzuela listing somewhere.

---- UPDATE - 1 April 2026 -----

Thanks to Von Spalding, the checklist is now complete here and at TCDB.

New Acereros de Monclova Stickers & Album

    The Mexican League's Acereros de Monclova have issued a new set of stickers and album covering their history from 1974 to 2015, to mark the team's 40th anniversary.  The new set looks very similar to the previous set issued in 2011, and if the images from their Facebook Page are any indication, some of the stickers may be repeats from the earlier set.  As before, there are both individual stickers of players, as well as 8-sticker puzzles, to fill out the 196-sticker set.

    This time around, instead of only offering the sets at the ballpark and through mail order, both the new and old sets are being sold on Mercado Libre, the main eBay-equivalent marketplace for most of Latin America.  The price for both sets, album included, is 200 pesos, which is about $13.50 US.  However, it would appear they are currently only shipping within Mexico.  Links to each album on Mercado Libre are below:

Álbum Y Estampas Acereros De Monclova 2015

Álbum Y Estampas Acereros De Monclova 1974-2011

Thanks to Mexican Super Collector Arturo for the news!

2012 Diablos Rojos del Mexico Roberto Kelly

     At the end of his playing days, when no Major League work could be found, Roberto Kelly finished out his career in Mexico City.  He played the 2002 and 2003 seasons with the Diablos Rojos, putting up respectable Mexican League numbers (batting .334 with 19 HR and 80 RBI in 78 games in 2002).  For the 2004 season, he stepped out of the line up and into his first non-player role as manager of the team.  Kelly was a mid-season replacement for Bernie Tatis, who had been sacked after the team occupied last place in the standings through May.  Once Kelly took over, the team went on a 17-4 run in June, putting them in 1st place.¹

     Kelly's team would ultimately lose in the playoffs to Los Piratas de Campeche, but the half season showing was good enough to attract the attention of the San Francisco Giants organization who put Kelly at the helm of their South Atlantic League affiliate, the Augusta GreenJackets for the 2005 season.  In any case, 2005 was to be the 65th anniversary of the Diablos Rojos, and they instituted a Mexicans Only policy as a way to commemorate the occasion, so being from Panama, Kelly would have been out anyway.

    Spring forward to June of 2012 and the Diablos Rojos, with a sponsorship of Banamex (the second largest bank in Mexico), produced a very nice set of baseball cards featuring both active and former team members from throughout the history of the team.  The cards are slightly more narrow than standard, but where available, are in full color and on about the same quality card stock as most modern minor league cards.  The set contains at least 88 different cards.  The set is not numbered, but many of the cards feature the subjects' uniform numbers on the front, next to their name.  The set was given out at the stadium in Mexico City in packs of 5 cards each.  Many of them have turned up on on Mercado Libre for sale relatively cheaply.

    Awhile back Arturo, that great friend of the blog from Mexico, sent me his checklist for the set.   (Thank you again, sir, for helping me pick up the Roberto Kelly card for my collection!) 

     The checklist has been posted to the SportsCardForum.com Inventory Manager and to TradingCardDB.com.  As the set was not numbered, the checklists presented at each site were arranged in roughly alphabetical order.

Sources:
1. http://www.espndeportes.com/news/story?id=242069

Album Oficial Acereros de Monclova 1974-2011

     In 2011, marking the 37th anniversary of the team, the Acereros de Monclova, a team in the northern division of the Mexican League, produced a 26 page album and 196 sticker set spanning their entire history.  The Album Oficial Acereros de Monclova 1974-2011 was arranged by decade, and featured team photo puzzles and stickers for several prominent players for each era of the team.

2005 La Liga Mexicana de Beisbol set update

     The more I dig, the more I keep finding on the 2005 Beisbol Cards set for the Mexican League.   Just yesterday, Google coughed up a listing on a site called Ofertopia.com for 158 different cards from the set.  I can't quite make out what the purpose of Ofertopia may be as there never seems to be any contact or payment information in the listings.  I don't know of these are just historical listings from MercadoLibre or what.  But taking that list and eliminating all of the cards Arturo and I have, left me with a list of 93 more cards.  Unfortunately, there are no images that are large enough to make out details, so I don't have any way to accurately number the cards yet, but here is the list of 93 cards, sorted by team:

****ACEREROS DE MONCLOVA****
AC?? Edgar Vega
AC?? Leobardo Arauz
AC?? Lino Rivera

****DIABLOS ROJOS DE MEXICO***
DR?? Roberto Saucedo
DR?? Oscar Robles
DR?? Víctor Bojórquez
DR?? José Luis "Borrego" Sandoval
DR?? Manuel Velez
DR?? Daniel Fernandez
DR?? Roberto "Metralleta"  Ramirez
DR?? Ray Martinez

***GUERREROS DE OAXACA***
GU?? Francisco Madero
GU?? Josmir Romero
GU?? José de Jesús Jiménez
GU?? José Montenegro
GU?? Jose Isaias Avalos
GU?? Abraham Valencia
GU?? Angel Peña                   
GU?? Juan Carlos Pulido

***LANGOSTEROS DE CANCUN***
LA?? Ruben Quinones
LA?? Langostino y Chirchie  (Mascots)
LA?? Raul Sanchez
LA?? Juan Jose Pacho
LA?? Oscar Salazar
LA?? Hector Chavarria
LA?? Conrado Garza

**LEONES DE YUCATAN**
LE?? Luis Navarro
LE?? Hector Castaneda
LE?? Juan Carlos Canizales
LE?? Willie Romero
LE?? Luis "El Rayo" Arredondo
LE?? Scott Bullet
LE?? Juan Manuel Palafox
LE?? Raul Rodríguez
LE?? Eddy Diaz

**PERICOS DE PUEBLA***
PE?? José Juan Nuñez
PE?? Luis Carlos Martínez
PE?? Omar Espinoza
PE?? Darrel  Sherman
PE?? Cristian Alaniz
PE?? Manny Martinez
PE?? Pedro Iturbe
PE?? Julio Miguel Trapaga
PE?? Armando Valdez
PE?? Jesús Arredondo

**PIRATAS DE CAMPECHE**
PI?? Roque Sanchez
PI?? Francisco "Paquin" Estrada
PI?? Hector Paez
PI?? Francisco Campos
PI?? Juan Jesús Alvarez
PI?? Willis Roberts
PI?? Roberto Vizcarra

****POTROS DE TIJUANA****
PO?? Cesar Peña
PO?? Randall Simon

****AGUILAS DE VERAZRUZ****
RA?? Amaury Garcia
RA?? Leobardo Moreno
RA?? Manuel Casarin
RA?? Eloy Arano

***RIELEROS DE AGUASCALIENTES***
RI?? Ildefonso Lara
RI?? Lino Urdaneta
RI?? Alex Taveras
RI?? Eduardo Ríos
RI?? Rontrez Johnson
RI?? Alexander Delgado
RI?? Grimaldo Martinez
RI?? Francisco Rivera
RI?? Flavio Orea

***SULTANES DE MONTERREY***
SU?? Demond Smith
SU?? Rigoberto Loya
SU?? Miguel Flores
SU?? Mario Valdez
SU?? Charles "Bubba" Smith
SU?? Heber Gomez
SU?? Isaura Pineda
SU?? Sergio Mora

***TIGRES DE LA ANGELOPOLIS***
TI?? Adan Munoz Rodriguez
TI?? Matias Carrillo
TI?? Jorge Vazquez
TI?? Cecilio Garibaldi
TI?? Guillermo Vazquez
TI?? Jesús Guzman
TI?? Carlos "Chispa" Gastelum
TI?? Javier Robles

***TUNEROS DE SAN LUIS****
TU?? Pat O'Sullivan
TU?? Darryl Brinkley
TU?? Luis Bustillos
TU?? Edgar Leyva
TU?? Nestro Renovato
TU?? Enrique Martinez
TU?? Sharnol Adriana
TU?? Dave Doster

****VAQUEROS LAGUNA****
VA?? Ramón Espinosa
VA?? Cornelio García

      If you add those to the updated list from my previous post (click here to see the earlier post), we have a total of 180 cards.  Combining the two lists, the per team card totals look like this:

Acereros - 14
Diablos Rojos - 11
Guerreros - 18
Langosteros - 13
Leones - 13
Pericos- 15
Piratas - 15
Potros - 13
Rojos del Aguilas - 13
Rieleros - 11
Sultanes - 13
Tigres - 14
Tuneros - 14
Vaqueros - 3

    With only three cards representing the Vaqueros, I'm willing to bet the set is closer to 200 cards.  Odd that the Guerreros have so many more cards that the rest of the set so far.   As always, more information will be provided as it is uncovered.  I have to travel to San Diego in January, so I may see if I can find any local card shops that have some history behind them and ask if they know anything about cards from Mexico.

    More to come!

Mexican Baseball Cards and Stickers

     I'm sure the few of you that read my ramblings have noticed that my interests typically lean toward the less-than-mainstream.  In this particular instance, however, it is rather surprising just how far outside the mainstream this subject happens to be.  Mexico has consistently had professional baseball since 1925, when La Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB) was organized. And since that time, it has had significant interactions with the sport north of the Rio Grande, at various times serving as a source for talent, an alternative to the Major Leagues, another venue for players of color to ply their trade during the days of racial segregation, a supplement to the minor league system, a place to play ball in winter (in La Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, LMP or the Mexican Pacific League) and a place for aging Latin stars (and in some cases, blackballed Americans) to finish up their careers.