Palindromes are popular in Mazatlan. A pair of Soto home runs lead to a rout in Los Mochis.
MAZATLAN 3, OBREGON 2 IN MAZATLAN
Obregon: Iker Franco was 2-for-4 with a double. Arturo Lopez (San Diego) pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Mazatlan: Issmael Salas was 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Oswaldo Morejon was 2-for-4 with a double. Walter Silva pitched six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and five walks with three strikeouts.
The game: It was tied at two after six. In the seventh, Salas hit a two-out double and scored on a single by Jesse Castillo. Obregon put runners on first and third with one out in the eighth.
CULIACAN 5, MEXICALI 2 IN MEXICALI
Culiacan: Alex Liddi (Baltimore) was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Ali Solis (Pittsburgh) was 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Amauri Sanit pitched seven innings, giving up one run on one hit and one walk with five strikeouts.
Mexicali: Mike Jacobs (Arizona) was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.
The game: Jacobs hit his home run in the second to give Mexicali a 1-0 lead. Three Culiacan singles tied it in the fourth. In the sixth, Emmanuel Valdez hit a two-run homer to put Culiacan ahead 3-1. Single runs in the seventh and eighth made it 5-1. Mexicali scored once in the eighth and got the tying run up to bat with one out. Four of the last five Mexicali batters struck out.
HERMOSILLO 6, NAVOJOA 0 IN HERMOSILLO
Navojoa: Jose Oyervidez pitched five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Hermosillo: Jose Aguilar was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Efren Navarro (Angels) was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Hector Galvan pitched five shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
The game: Hermosillo scored single runs in the first, fourth, and fifth. Navarro hit a three-run double in the sixth to settle matters.
LOS MOCHIS 18, GUASAVE 4 IN LOS MOCHIS
Guasave: Jesus Cota was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second), scoring twice and driving in two. Jose Felix (Texas) was 2-for-4.
Los Mochis: Sergio Perez was 4-for-4 with a double and a triple, scoring three times and driving in two. Saul Soto was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third) and five RBIs. Francisco Cordova pitched five innings, allowing one run on two hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
The game: Los Mochis led 2-1 after three, then scored seven in the fourth and six in the fifth. Soto homered in both innings, a three-run homer in the fourth and a two-run shot in the fifth.
While I tire of some of the American Names that got trendy in the 90s, I really do enjoy seeing what Latin American parents were naming their kids 20 years ago. I want Theo LeSieg to be reanimated just to write a sequel to Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him!
I'll ask Ali.
I'll ask Amauri.
I'll ask Breyvic and Ender and Audy.
I'll send invites in the mail,
To boys like Iker and Issmael.
We'll play baseball, have lots of fun.
So Hooper Humperdink? He can't come.
I'll ask every kid I can,
Like Gerson, Maikel and Niuman!
[Something something] Reynel
[Something something] Teoscar
I just hope, when I have a little fun with the names, that it never comes across the wrong way. I remember a few years ago during a Twins game when Jack Morris was having some fun with the name Shin-Soo Choo. I have no reason to think Morris is racist or anything, and I'm sure it was just intended to be funny, but it made for a very uncomfortable couple of minutes of radio. If anybody ever thinks I'm crossing a line, don't be afraid to let me know.
I don't know what names are common in Korea, but I'm pretty certain that I've got a handle on which names were common in the Spanish-speaking parts of the Americas up until, say 1970. It sure seems to me that since that time there has been a blossoming of creativity (for good or ill) in naming boys which has mirrored a similar change in the United States (but which often led to a lot of boys with the same new names. Hi Tylers!). The names I highlighted above all seemed new to me (well, Ali is common in Muslim nations, but it's the first time I've seen it with a Spanish surname).
Furthermore, you make little puns with the names. I can imagine a fine headline or pointing out of Choo's name, like when he's a free agent: "Shin-Soo Choo-ses Boston". Or for a Japanese player (with a Persian surname): "Twirling Darvish".
Morris probably said something like "I can't keep these players names straight, like is it Sin-Choo Shoo, or Shin-Soo Choo," with a little added, "Not like back in my day when everyone had good names like Bob and Jack and Mike," with a definite connotation of "that was better" which could be taken to mean "foreigners are ruining this game with their names."
Me? I think I'll keep these guys with unusual names more straight. Heck, I didn't know Mike Stanton from the pitcher until he switched to Giancarlo. And since I stopped watching the recap shows, some of these players with traditional English-language first and last names, Chris Davis and Mike Jacobs, just sort of blend into one another. If my surname were common, I might have been more interested in giving my children uncommon names.
I will admit that I can get tripped up on some East Asian names. I think I've got Japanese names down, if the numbers of Korean and Chinese players ever spike to the levels of Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Venezuelans, I may get confused, but I'm sure I'll adapt.