The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

winter league based in

Northern Mexico Northern Mexico ( es, el Norte de México ), commonly referred as , is an informal term for the northern cultural and geographical area in Mexico. Depending on the source, it contains some or all of the states of Baja California, Baja California ...

. The ten-team regular season schedule runs from October to December and is followed by a playoff series in January to determine the league champion. The league's champion takes part in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

each year, representing Mexico.

History

In 1945, a group of people led by Teodoro Mariscal established the Liga de la Costa del Pacífico ( en, Pacific Coast League). The league's first season (1945–46) started with four teams:

Tacuarineros de Culiacán The Tacuarineros de Culiacán baseball club was one of the four original founding members of the Mexican Pacific Coast League, a minor league circuit that operated in Mexico in the seasons from 1945-46 through 1957-58. They were managed by Manuel ...

, Ostioneros de Guaymas, Queliteros de Hermosillo and

Venados de Mazatlán Venados de Mazatlán ( en, Mazatlán Deer) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. In 2016, the team won the Mexican Pacific League Championship and went on to win their second Caribbean Series ...

. Mariscal was appointed as the league's first president. In 1947 the league expanded with two new teams: Arroceros de Ciudad Obregón and Pericos de Los Mochis. In 1958, only four teams participated, all from the state of Sonora: Rojos de Ciudad Obregón, Rieleros de Empalme,

Naranjeros de Hermosillo The Naranjeros de Hermosillo ( en, Hermosillo Orange Growers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Hermosillo, Sonora. The Naranjeros are one of the most successful teams in the league with 16 titles and they we ...

and Ostioneros de Guaymas. Since all the participant teams were from Sonora, the league changed its name to Liga Invernal de Sonora ( en, Sonora Winter League). In 1959,

Mayos de Navojoa The Mayos de Navojoa ( en, Navojoa Mayos) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Navojoa, Sonora. They have been champions of the league twice. The first time was for the 1978–79 season, with Rickey Henderson ...

replaced Ciudad Obregón. In 1962, Ciudad Obregón and Los Mochis returned to the league. In 1965, Mazatlán and

Tomateros de Culiacán The Tomateros de Culiacán ( en, Culiacán Tomato Growers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The ''Tomateros'' have won thirteen league titles and two Caribbean World Series in and . The ...

joined the league, which changed its name for third time to Liga Invernal Sonora-Sinaloa ( en, Sonora-Sinaloa Winter League). In 1970, the league changed its name to the current Liga Mexicana del Pacífico ( en, Mexican Pacific League) and joined the Confederación de Béisbol Profesional del Caribe ( en, Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation), thus participating for the first time in the

1971 Caribbean Series The fourteenth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') baseball tournament was played in 1971. It was held from February 6 through February 11 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic, Tigres del Licey; Mexico, Naranjeros de ...

. In 2020, ARCO purchased naming rights to the league, thus it changed its name to Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico. Two teams joined the LMP for the 2020 season: Sultanes de Monterrey, that became the first team to play in the two professional baseball leagues in Mexico, and

Algodoneros de Guasave The Algodoneros de Guasave ( en, Guasave Cotton Growers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Guasave, Sinaloa. They won the league championship in 1972. The team was purchased in April 2014 by a group of inve ...

, that returned to the Mexican Pacific League after disappearing in 2014.

Teams

Champions

Teams in gold

champions

Championships (1945–1958)

* Mazatlán ''(Antiguos Venados)'': 5 (1946, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958) * Culiacán ''(Tacuarineros)'': 5 (1949, 1950,1951 1952, 1956) * Hermosillo ''(Queliteros/Presidentes/Naranjeros)'': 2 (1947, 1957) * Guaymas ''(Antiguos Ostioneros)'': 1 (1948)

Championships by team

Records

Single season batting

Single season pitching

Defunct teams

References

External links

LMP website
{{Professional Baseball Pac Winter baseball leagues Professional sports leagues in Mexico