Arizona–Mexico League
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1955 |
| No. of teams | TBD |
| Countries |
 United States Mexico |
| Most titles | Cananea Mineros (2) |
| Official website | Official website |
The Arizona–Mexico League is an independent baseball league that had scheduled to begin in 2017, however, with the current political scenario, and the border issues within the league area, the league is currently working toward playing in 2018.
History
In 1955 the Arizona-Texas League became the Arizona–Mexico League. The league was a low-level circuit in American minor league baseball league that existed as an affiliated Class C league from 1955–58.[1] The Arizona–Texas League existed from 1930–32, 1937–41, 1947–50 and 1952-54.[2] From 1928 to 1930, it was known as the Arizona State League.
In 1955, when the league lost its lone Texas franchise, in El Paso, its name was formally changed to the Arizona–Mexico League.
In 1958, Phoenix was granted a Class AAA Pacific Coast League membership as it received the old San Francisco Seals club membership as the New York Giants moved to San Francisco.
That signalled the end of the Class C Arizona–Mexico League; its final champion in 1958 was the Douglas Copper Kings, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
During the four seasons more than 1,700,000 fans went through the gate. The Cananea Mineros was the only team to win more than one league title, taking two back to back, in 1955 and 1956. They drew 347,247 fans those two years.
The league restarted in 2003 and lasted three weeks before shutting down. A month prior to the start of the season Ciudad Juarez Hawks of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua moved to Tecate, Baja California and became the Tecate Cerveceros. The Juarez home stadium, Estadio Carta Blanca, was to undergo renovations, as agreed between the team and the stadium owner. The renovations had not began as of 30 days before the beginning of the season, and the league voted to move the team to the next viable city.
The league's highest profile player was former MLB outfielder Chuck Carr who signed with Bisbee-Douglas as a player/coach on May 7. The league folded on June 17 after both the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings and Nogales Charros ran out of money.
Standings
| 1955 Standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team-------------------------------------- | Affiliation | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Cananea Mineros | 86 | 53 | .619 | -- | |
| Yuma Sun Sox | 83 | 57 | .593 | 3.5 | |
| Phoenix Stars | BALT | 80 | 59 | .576 | 6 |
| Mexicali Eagles | STL | 78 | 62 | .557 | 8.5 |
| Tucson Cowboys | 66 | 74 | .471 | 20.5 | |
| Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings | 63 | 77 | .450 | 23.5 | |
| Globe-Miami Miners | 51 | 87 | .374 | 34.5 | |
| Nogales Yaquis | 49 | 87 | .360 | 35.5 |
| 1956 Standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team-------------------------------------- | Affiliation | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Cananea Mineros | 75 | 56 | .573 | -- | |
| Douglas Copper Kings . | PIT | 73 | 58 | .557 | 2 |
| Nogales Diablos Rojos | 71 | 59 | .546 | 3.5 | |
| Phoenix Stars | BAL | 70 | 59 | .543 | 4 |
| Yuma Sun Sox | CIN | 66 | 65 | .504 | 9 |
| Mexicali Eagles | STL | 63 | 65 | .492 | 10.5 |
| Tucson Cowboys | 57 | 71 | .445 | 16.5 | |
| Tijuana Potros | 17 | 59 | .224 | 30.5 |
| 1957 Standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team-------------------------------------- | Affiliation | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Phoenix Stars | BAL | 89 | 48 | .650 | -- |
| Cananea Mineros | 76 | 56 | .576 | 10.5 | |
| Douglas Copper Kings | PIT | 68 | 69 | .496 | 21 |
| Las Vegas Wranglers | 62 | 74 | .456 | 26.5 | |
| Tucson Cowboys | 62 | 77 | .446 | 28 | |
| Mexicali Eagles | 51 | 84 | .378 | 37 | |
| 1958 Standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team-------------------------------------- | Affiliation | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Douglas Copper Kings | PIT | 68 | 52 | .567 | -- |
| Tucson Cowboys | 66 | 54 | .550 | 2 | |
| Nogales Mineros | 59 | 59 | .500 | 8 | |
| Chihuahua Dorados | 56 | 62 | .475 | 11 | |
| Juarez Indios | 55 | 65 | .462 | 12.5 | |
| Mexicali Aguilas | 53 | 66 | .445 | 14.5 | |
| 2003 Standings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team-------------------------------------- | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Nogales Charros | 10 | 6 | .625 | -- |
| Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings | 9 | 7 | .563 | 1 |
| Tecate Cerveceroa | 9 | 7 | .563 | 1 |
| Cananea Mineros | 4 | 12 | .250 | 6 |
Champions
| Season | Winner | Runner-up | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Cananea Mineros | Yuma Sun Sox | no playoffs |
| 1956 | Cananea Mineros | Yuma Sun Sox | 3-0 (best-of 5) |
| 1957 | Phoenix Stars | Cananea Mineros | no playoffs |
| 1958 | Douglas Copper Kings | Tucson Cowboys | no playoffs |
| 2003 | none (league disbanded after 16 games) | --- | --- |
| 2018 | TBD |
References
- ↑ "Arizona-Mexico League (C) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ↑ "Arizona-Texas League (C) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 5 May 2016.