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.

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 46 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
2	Francisco Javier Arce	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
3
4	Luis Alberto Peña	Industriales de Monterrey
5	Ricardo Osuna	Cafeteros de Córdoba
6
7	Jesus Abrego
8
9	Manuel Carazin	Petroleros de Minatitlán
10	Raul Martinez	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
11
12
13	Eliseo Garzon	Olmecas de Tabasco
14	Aurelio Cantañeda	Charros de Jalisco
15
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
27	Roy Johnson	Piratas de Campeche
28	Leo Valenzuela	Acereros de Monclova
29
30	Manuel Samaniego	Charros de Jalisco
31
32
33	Adulfo Camacho	Tigres Capitalinos
34
35	Carlos Gastelum	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
36
37	Emigdio Lopez	Cafeteros de Córdoba
38	Eduardo Torres	Saraperos de Saltillo
39
40	Francisco Rodriguez	Sultanes de Monterrey
41	Horacio Valenzuela	Petroleros de Minatitlán
42
43	Hediberto Vargas	Piratas de Campeche
44
45	Jose Julian Quiroz	Olmecas de Tabasco
46
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
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
63	Vicente Verdugo	Diablos Rojos del México
64	Ali Uzcanga	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
65
66	Gerardo Sanchez	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
67	David Dominguez	Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz
68	Roberto Vizcarra	Industriales de Monterrey
69
70
71	Francisco Montaño	Leones de Yucatan
72
73
74	Jose Angel Villegas	Leones de Yucatan
75
76
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
83
84	Isaac Jiminez	Industriales de Monterrey
85	Ricardo Herrera	Charros de Jalisco
86	Alejandro Sanchez	Acereros de Monclova
87
88	German Rivera	Sultanes de Monterrey
89	Luis de Leon	Petroleros de Minatitlán
90
91	Felipe Gutierrez Delfin	Alacranes de Campeche
92	Rodolfo Valdes	Acereros de Monclova
93	Andres Sanchez	Olmecas de Tabasco
94
95	Luis F. Martinez
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
102
103
104
105
106	David Sinohui	Petroleros de Minatitlán
107
108	Martin Garcia	Acereros de Monclova
109
110
111	Salome Barojas	Diablos Rojos del México
112	German Jiminez	Rieleros de Aguascalietes
113
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
121
122	Ramon Esquer	Algodoneros de Union Laguna
123	Herminio Dominguez	Alacranes de Campeche
124
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
130	Enrique Ramirez	Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos
131
132
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
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
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
150	Hector Osuna	Saraperos de Saltillo

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

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!

2005 Liga Mexicana de Beisbol Cards

      In 2005, La Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, known to most gringos as the "Mexican League", began a big marketing push, thanks to a new league president, and part of that effort included a set of league-produced baseball cards (tarjetas de beisbol). I managed to pick up 55 cards from the set on Mercado Libre, and after three weeks of shipping, they have finally arrived. Until I can get them all scanned and documented, here is a sample:

1992 La Liga Mexicana de Béisbol tarjetas (Mexican League baseball cards)

     A little over a year ago, I posted a query about some Mexican League cards I'd found on MercadoLibre.com.mx, eBay's partner site in Latin America.  Well, I contacted the seller, initially through a Spanish-speaking friend, learned that he did, indeed, speak English, and negotiated the purchase of all of the 1992 Mexican League cards he had.  Unfortunately, by this time, he only had five cards left, with one being a double.  We worked out our sales details and he thankfully was glad to accept PayPal, and yesterday, I had in my mailbox, my five shiny new 1992 Mexican League cards.  Here they are in all their glory:

     I had really hoped the backs of the cards might help illuminate their origins a bit better, but aside from the usual biographical details and statistics, there's nothing terribly useful here. The backs have a decidedly Donruss flavor to them, with the card number in the baseball icon in the corner, and maxing out at 5 years of "statisticas" (which I think is more Spanglish than Spanish. That should probably be "estadisticas").   The logo in the lower left corner has the initials "TCI" and "EDM"  around a small, stylized logo of the western hemisphere and a couple of yellow, right-pointing chevrons.

    The seller did say these cards were very rare and he had not seen many of them.  I've asked that he let me know if he finds any more as I would be interested.  Pity that the other 10 cards had already sold when I finally got around to contacting the seller.

     I went ahead and posted the meager 14 cards to SportsCardForum.com's Inventory Manager system, so they are available to the world to search. The highest card number I found was 147, but I would suspect the set contains at least 150.  I'll ask the seller if he can remember any more details and post them here.

    In other news, I also worked out a deal with the seller of a lot of 2005 Mexican League cards that were produced when the league inked a deal with a new marketing company who updated the league's logo and embarked on a more aggressive advertising and licensing campaign.  Apparently that campaign wasn't hugely successful, as this seller has only about 50 cards (though he kept the wrappers, so I'll be getting a couple of those), but there haven't been any further league-wide sets issued.  I'll post details on those once they arrive.  Again, I probably grossly overpaid, but they aren't easy to find.  Once I get them all scanned and cataloged, I'll make them available for trade or sale if anyone is interested.

2000 Epoch Pro Baseball box break (pack 18)

     Again, more doubles than new cards, but at least one of the new cards was from the Leading Players insert set. Jason Jacome was a promising pitching prospect in the Mets organization and looked great in his first few seasons in the minors and even into his first stint with the parent club. Not sure what happened in 1995, but it was all downhill from there for his MLB career. He pitched poorly in subsequent promotions to the bigs, was dealt to the Royals, where he also pitched poorly in the majors. So KC dealt him to Cleveland where he pitched poorly so he headed to Japan and signed with the Yakult Swallows. He still had an ERA of 4.50 in that 1999 season, but somehow managed to assemble a 12-6 W/L record, leading the team in wins, which is presumably why he is in this set. In 2000, his ERA dropped by more than a full point, but Jacome wouldn't return for the 2001 season.

     After returning to America, he'd bounce around the minors, both at AAA in the Cardinals, Giants and Diamondbacks system, before heading to the Mexican and independent leagues to keep the dream alive for that possible return to the majors. He was actually out of baseball for a few years before returning to play for the new Tuscon Toros of the Golden League in 2009.



Doubles: A. Higashide, Y. Noguchi, T. Nishimura, T. Noguchi, T. Yamasaki, 086PZ (Ishii puzzle)