Benjamín "Cananea" Reyes Chávez (February 18, 1937 — November 11, 1991) was a Mexican

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 ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

who spent one season — — as a coach for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. Born in Nacozari in

Sonora, Mexico Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

, Reyes was a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catc ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

during his six-year playing career in Mexican minor league baseball, including two seasons with the

Charros de Jalisco The Charros de Jalisco ( en, Jalisco Horsemen) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Their home ballpark is Estadio Panamericano, and has a capacity of 16,500 people. Their initial season was 2 ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. His managing career began in 1968 and in 1971 he became pilot of the Charros for three seasons, before switching in 1974 to the

Diablos Rojos del México The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their hom ...

, whom he managed for 16 years (1974–80; 1983–91) and had only one losing campaign. In 20 years as a Triple-A Mexican League manager, Reyes compiled a winning percentage of .568. Reyes' one season in MLB was the strike-shortened 1981 campaign. He was named the Mariners' third-base coach by Seattle skipper

Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part o ...

, but Wills was fired early in the year, on May 6, 1981, and replaced by

Rene Lachemann Rene George Lachemann (born May 4, 1945) is a retired American professional baseball coach, catcher and manager. He spent 33 years in Major League Baseball, including service as the manager of the Seattle Mariners (1981–83), Milwaukee Brewers ( ...

. Reyes finished the season, then returned to the Mexican League for the remainder of his career. He won five championships as a Mexican League manager. He died in

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the ...

, in Sonora, from cancer at the age of 54. The following year he was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.

References

1937 births 1991 deaths Baseball players from Sonora Caribbean Series managers Charros de Jalisco players Indios de Ciudad Juárez (minor league) players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Major League Baseball third base coaches Mexican League baseball managers Minor league baseball managers Piratas de Campeche players Seattle Mariners coaches People from Nacozari de García Municipality {{Mexico-baseball-pitcher-stub