Vaqueros Unión Laguna

Vaqueros Unión Laguna
Information
League Mexican League (Zona Norte)
Location Torreón, Coahuila
Ballpark Estadio Revolución
Year founded 1940
League championships 2 (1942, 1950)
Division championships 3 (1942, 1950, 1990)
Former name(s)
    • Jabonera La Unión
    • Jaboneros del Unión Laguna
    • Algodoneros del Unión Laguna
    • Vaqueros Laguna
Colors Maroon, white, gold
              
Manager Ramón Orantes
General Manager Francisco Méndez
Website www.unionlaguna.mx

The Vaqueros Unión Laguna (English: Laguna Union Cowboys) are a Triple-A Minor League Baseball team that plays in the Mexican League.[1]

History

Early years

The team was established in 1940 under the name Algodoneros de Unión Laguna, named for the Compañía Jabonera la Unión (Union Soap Company), the team's first sponsor.[2] The team won its first pennant in 1942 under manager Martín Dihigo. The franchise moved to Nuevo Laredo in 1944, but an expansion club restored baseball to the region between 1946 and 1953. In the 1950 season, Laguna won their second and latest title to date, with Guillermo Garibay as manager.

1970–1981

With the creation of the Zona Norte in 1970, the Comarca Lagunera returned to the Mexican League. The new Algodoneros de Unión Laguna played their home games in Gómez Palacio, Durango from 1970 to 1974, and moved across the border to Torreón for the 1975 season with the construction of Estadio Superior, which reused the structure of the former Colt Stadium in Houston. The move coincided with new ownership, Don Juan Abusaid Ríos.[2] The team won the Zona Norte in 1974, 1976, and 1978, but fell to the Diablos Rojos del México (1974, 1976) and Rieleros de Aguascalientes (1978) in the league championship. After the 1981 season and a falling out between ownership and Governor José de las Fuentes, Abusaid sold the team to the Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la República Mexicana (Union of Oil Workers of the Mexican Republic), which moved the franchise to Tampico, Tamaulipas. While the stadium was taken down in Torreón and moved to Tampico, the franchise spent the 1982 season in Monclova, Coahuila, as the Astros de Monclova.

1985–2003

In 1985, the Indios de Ciudad Juárez were bought by Jorge Dueñes Zurita[2] and moved to Torreón, where the franchise has remained since. The team made the postseason in 1989, 1990, 1992, and 1994, but in their lone league championship appearance in 1990, they fell in five games to the Bravos de León. Unión Laguna was bought in 1997 by FEMSA-Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma,[2] which sold the team in 2002 to Ricardo Martín Bringas, the director general of Organización Soriana.[3]

Vaqueros Laguna

Vaqueros Laguna logo used between the 2003 and 2016 seasons

At the beginning of the 21st century, the new management opted to change the team's name and colors. The Vaqueros Laguna (Laguna Cowboys) donned orange uniforms beginning with the 2003 season. The team appeared in the playoffs in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2015, the latter two years as the wild card.

Vaqueros Unión Laguna

The 2017 season marked a return to tradition for baseball in Torreón as the franchise restored the Unión Laguna name and switched back to maroon as its primary color.[4]

Among their best players in history are Miguel Gaspar, Guillermo Garibay, Pedro "Charolito" Orta, Moisés Camacho,[5] Leo Rodríguez, Martín Dihigo,[6] Jesus "Chanquilón" Diaz, Antonio Pollorena, and Héctor Espino.[7]

Current roster

Vaqueros Unión Laguna roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 67 Felipe Arredondo
  • -- Jose Barajas ∞
  • 17 Alejandro Chavarria
  • 30 Carlos Contreras
  • 14 Rafael Cordova
  • -- David Diaz ∞
  • -- Victor Espinosa ∞
  • -- Juan Omar Espinoza
  • 92 Francisco Gil
  • 31 Edgar Gomez
  • -- Stephen Landazuri ∞
  • -- Eder Llamas ∞
  • 28 Jose Manuel Lopez
  • 10 Jovany Lopez
  •  3 Alejandro Martinez
  • 50 John Millan
  • 36 Humberto Montiel
  • -- Matt Nevarez ∞
  • 27 Rafael Pineda
  • 25 Ramon E. Ramirez
  • -- Leo Rosales ∞
  • 33 Tomas Solis
  • -- Oscar Verdugo ∞
  • 96 Hector Villalobos

Catchers

  • -- Rogelio Del Campo ∞
  • 37 Francisco Esparragoza
  •  5 Alejandro Flores
  • -- Armando Lomeli ∞
  • -- Abraham Lopez ∞
  • 20 Carlos Mendivil

Infielders

Outfielders

  • 23 Ethan Chapman
  • 27 Welington Dotel
  • 13 Jonathan Jones
  • 43 Francisco Lugo
  • -- Roman Pena ∞
  • 34 Jesús Valdez

Manager

  • 24 Ramon Orantes

Coaches

  • 99 Hector Convarribias (third base)
  • 27 Javier Cruz (bullpen)
  •  3 Ramon Esquer (first base)
  • 16 Salvador Garibay (pitching)
  •  7 Santiago Gonzalez (coach)
  • 58 Vicente Palacios (bullpen)
  • 98 Jesus Ramirez (coach)
  • 63 Eduardo Rivera (bench)


7-day disabled list

# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated August 13, 2017
Transactions
→ More MiLB rosters

Retired numbers

References

  1. ↑ "Sitio Oficial Vaqueros Laguna - Vive ser un Vaquero" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Luna Walss, Rodolfo (20 July 2005). "El negocio del béisbol". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Luna Walss, Rodolfo (27 July 2005). "El negocio del béisbol". El Siglo de Torreón. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Corpus, Salvador (17 February 2017). "Vaqueros presenta nueva imagen". LMB (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Moises Camacho Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "Martín Dihigo Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Héctor Espino Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
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