Ronaldo Camacho Durán (born 26 October 1935) is a retired 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

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 ...

. Camacho played in 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 ...

, the highest level of professional baseball in Mexico, the

Mexican Pacific League 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 winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

and in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

. He had a brief career as politician in the eighties as

municipal president A ''presidente municipal'' (English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines under the Spanish and American colonization; it is comparable to a mayor of the town or city ...

of his hometown.

Career

Camacho was born on 26 October 1935 in

Empalme, Sonora Empalme is a city surrounded by a municipality located on the south-central coast of the Mexican state of Sonora. According to the 2005 census the population of the city was 40,630 inhabitants, while the municipality, which has an area of 708.53& ...

, Mexico. He started his professional career in 1953 playing for the

Águilas de Mexicali The Águilas de Mexicali ( en, Mexicali Eagles) are a professional baseball based in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. They compete in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP), a Mexican winter league. The team plays at Estadio Nido de los Águilas als ...

in the Mexican winter league. He also played minor league baseball with the

Fresno Cardinals Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

from 1953 to 1955. In 1956, Camacho returned to Mexico and signed with the

Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (''Owls of the Two Laredos''), formerly known as the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (''Owls of Nuevo Laredo''), are a Minor League Baseball team based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and Laredo, Texas in the Mexican Leagu ...

of the

. Camacho played for the Tecolotes from 1956 to 1959, then joined the

Pericos de Puebla The Pericos de Puebla (English: "Puebla Parrots") are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Puebla, Mexico. History The state of Puebla came upon baseball in the early 1920s when returning Poblanos that had come from militar ...

where he stayed until 1969. In 1970, Camacho was signed by the

Leones de Yucatán The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team play its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in , , , ...

, where he played for only one season. In 1971, he joined the

Broncos de Reynosa The Reynosa Broncos (''los Broncos de Reynosa'') were a Mexican team that played in the Adolfo Lopez Mateos stadium in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The Broncos de Reynosa played in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol and it was part of the Zona Nor ...

. From 1972 to 1974, Camacho played with the Tigres de México. On his last season, in 1975, he played with the

Rieleros de Aguascalientes The Rieleros de Aguascalientes (English: Aguascalientes Railroaders) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Aguascalientes, Mexico. History Baseball arrived in Aguascalientes in hand with the railroad at the beginning o ...

. Camacho also spent some games with the Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in 1973. Camacho became the first and only player to establish a single season home run record in both Mexican professional leagues. In 1963, Camacho hit 39 home runs in the

. In the 1963–64

season, Camacho hit 27 home runs. His record in the Mexican League was beaten the next year by

Héctor Espino Héctor "El Niño" Espino (6 June 1939 – 7 September 1997) was a Mexican professional outfielder, first baseman and manager. He has been called "The Mexican Babe Ruth". Born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Espino he played from 1960 through 1984 in b ...

, who hit 46 home runs with the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey ( en, Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monterrey, Mexico. They compete in the Northern Division. The team also joined the Mexican Pacific League for the 2019–20 season f ...

. His record in the Mexican Pacific League remains unbeaten as of 2022. In 1983, Camacho was inducted into the

Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León. ...

. Each season, the Mexican Pacific League awards the Ronaldo "Ronnie" Camacho Trophy to the home run leader of the league, named in honor of Camacho.

Political career

Camacho was elected as

of his hometown Empalme from 16 September 1982 to 15 September 1985.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camacho, Ronnie 1935 births Baseball players from Sonora Broncos de Reynosa players Fresno Cardinals players Leones de Yucatán players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Mexican League baseball managers Minor league baseball players People from Empalme, Sonora Pericos de Puebla players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Living people Municipal presidents in Sonora