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08/28/2005 Archived Entry: "Mexican League News : Division Championship Series Coverage: "El Gato " Farewell"
By Carlos Fragoso
Yucatan Lions fought, up to exhaustion but the magic moments ,they´ve been handling comes to an end last night,when a 3 runs game winning monster shot by JORGE VAZQUEZ, brought them back to reality,thus were eliminated for the South Division , and Tigers celebrating their 50th anniversary get that title.
Vazquez home runs was his record 9th of the post seaseon and now shares this one with Saltillo´s Mario Valenzuela, who set this earlier this week off Tijuana.
It was not old bad game for Lions, actually they kept the lead in most of the game, but it seems that their pitching staff ,simply did not recovered from previous hard games and gave up in front of the Tiausegers great line up, leading by season batting champion,JAVIER ROBLES and HR King, JORGE VAZQUEZ, who has been rumored that at the end of the season, he will join some major league organization who are in the chase to this still young IF, because he displayed tons of power with his bat.
Game Result was 9-6, with reliever EDGAR HUERTA a San Diego Padres farmhand in loan to Tigers, won this game, and also reliever EDDY RAMOS, who in 2.2 innings was attacked with 5 runs, including Vazquez´s home run ,was the loser of this game and the guy who locked up the Lions door of this season.
SCOREBOARD
YUCATAN 005 100 000 6 9 0
TIGERS 100 124 01X 9 13 2
Rodríguez, Flores (2), Cámara (4), Ramos (6) , Vargas (8) and Gutiérrez.
Armenta, Garibaldi (3), Zambrano (4), Huerta (6) y Guzmán (8) and A. Muñoz.
WP: Edgar Huerta (2-0)
LP: Eddy Ramos (2-1)
SV: Jesús Guzmán (1)
HR: Tigers: Sergio Contreras (1), Jorge Vázquez (9), Javier Robles (5).
Tijuana won 7-3 to Saltillo ,last night and forced to the series breaking game this afternoon, at home.
NATE BLAND pitching and big cannons DERRICK WHITE (3 RBI) and LUIS FIGUEROA homered to lead Colts to this important victory off hometown boy .RIGO BELTRAN who lost for Saltillo.
Bland was simply unhittable ,in regardless that he allowed 3 runs in 6.2 innings, he fanned 14 Sarape Makers, 3 K´S short of league´s record for most strikeouts in a post season game.
ANDY SHIBILO come in rescue of Bland getting the 7 remaining outs, to resume the game, and TIED THE RECORD FOR MOST SAVES IN POST SESON GME WITH 6, set by the late ANTONIO PULIDO in 1983.
Today at 6 PM at Calimax Stadium in Tijuana, Hugo Castellano for them and Steve Bourgeois, will go to the mound to decide who continues to the Champioship series.
SCOEBOARD
SALTILLO 010 200 000 3 6 2
TIJUANA 230 010 01x 7 10 0
R Beltrán, O Rivera (5), Mendoza (5), Ruiz (7), M Pérez (7) and N Muñoz; N Bland , A Shibilo (7) and E Valdez.
WP: Nate Bland 3-1
LP: Rigo Beltrán 3-2
Sv: Andy Shibilo 6
"EL GATO" GASTELUM FAREWELL
It seems like destiny, because as same as Carlos Gastelum´s coffin was buried yesterday morning, also Yucatan Lions hopes to keep alive in divisional series against Tigers were also buried last night.
He is now resting in his adopted city of Obregon, since he was born in suburban Culiacan,Sinaloa little town, named Rosa Morada, but his home here, when he married a local girl while playing for the Yauis in the Mexican Pacific league.
A nice and easy going guy, was better known as the guy who always had an encouraging word for the fallen, a pumping up shouting while calling the game behind the plate, or talking jokes to boost those exhausting and long trips in Mexican League, in summary a man of friends, like those who accompanied him in his final tour to the Tomas Oroz Stadium , the home of his lovely Yaquis in Obregon,Sonora .
He managed himself to last 20 sesaons in Mexican League,plus 18 in the MexPac mainly for his good defense as catcher, a below Mario Mendoza´s line litter, will be remebered as that
Native players and former teammates, like Manuel Velez ,the Red Devils 3B, former big leaguer Tavo Alvarez, Omar Lopez, former Oriole, Luis Carlos Garcia, also former big leaguer,veteran Vicente Romo, Houston Jimenez, Paquin Estrada and many more friends and fans gave their tribute to El Gato.
His two closest friends and compadres, Vinny Castilla and Roberto Vizcarra, still a Mexican league player with Campeche,will surely miss him, actually it was rumored that Vinny would come to his funeral, but did not because his committment with Washington Nationals did not allowed him to come.
Personally speaking, I met Carlos while in his days in the Mexican Baseball Academy, back in 1985 playing for his team Pasteje, and myself for a team named Zacatecas, in the Mexico City Metropolitan League, a semipro league, and calling and shouting things like " swing the bat "paisano" (countrymen), here is a fastball coming, you won´t see anymore", catching to a then prospect and further major league pitcher, LH Narciso Elvira, and maintained that close relationship because I am also an Obregon native, and get along with him many times while enjoying Christmas holidays downthere.
Well enough to say, Farewell to El Gato, and hoping time heals his families from this lost.
