The Algodoneros de Unión Laguna (English: Laguna Union Cottoneers) are 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

team in the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

(LMB). Based in Torreón, Coahuila, they play in the North Division of LMB.

History

Early years

The team was established on 31 March 1940 under the name Algodoneros de Unión Laguna, named for the Compañía Jabonera La Unión (La Unión Soap Company), the team's first sponsor. The team won its first pennant in 1942 under

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Martín Dihigo Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos (May 25, 1906 – May 20, 1971), nicknamed "the Immortal" and "the Maestro", was a Cuban pitcher, utility player, and manager. He played in the Negro leagues and Latin American winter leagues from 1923 to 1945 as ...

. The franchise moved to

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, Texas, Laredo, United States. The 2010 census popula ...

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, defeating

Charros de Jalisco The Charros de Jalisco () are a professional baseball team who compete in both the Mexican League (LMB) and the Mexican Pacific League (LMP), based in Zapopan, Jalisco, in the Guadalajara metropolitan area. Their home ballpark is Estadio Pana ...

4 games to 2 in the Final Series.

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 Gómez Palacio is a city and its surrounding municipality in northeastern Durango, Mexico, adjacent to the border of the state of Coahuila. The city is named in honor of former Durango governor, Francisco Gómez Palacio y Bravo. As of 2010, ...

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 Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The move coincided with new ownership, Don Juan Abusaid Ríos. The team won the Zona Norte in 1974, 1976, and 1978, but fell 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 ho ...

(1974, 1976) and

Rieleros de Aguascalientes The Rieleros de Aguascalientes (English: Aguascalientes Railroaders) are a professional baseball team based in Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes that competes in the Mexican League. Established in 1975, the Rieleros have won the Mexican League cha ...

(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 The Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la República Mexicana (STPRM) is a trade union of oil workers in Mexico. It is the union for workers at the Mexican, state-run oil company Pemex. History The union signed its first collective bargainin ...

(Union of Oil Workers of the Mexican Republic), which moved the franchise to

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

. While the stadium was taken down in Torreón and moved to Tampico, the franchise spent the 1982 season in

Monclova, Coahuila Monclova (), is a city and the seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. According to the 2015 census, the city had 231,107 inhabitants. Its metropolitan area has 381,432 inhabitants and ...

, as the Astros de Monclova.

1985–2003

In 1985, the

Indios de Ciudad Juárez Club de Fútbol Indios de Ciudad Juárez, commonly referred as Indios de Ciudad Juárez or simply Indios, was a Mexican football club. Founded in 2005 when CF Pachuca moved its Pachuca Juniors to Ciudad Juárez, it was promoted to the Primera Di ...

were bought by Jorge Dueñes Zurita 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 The Bravos de León (English: León Braves) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. History Cachorros de León (1979–80) Mexican League baseball in León began in 1979 when the Alijadore ...

. Unión Laguna was bought in 1997 by FEMSA-Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma, which sold the team in 2002 to Ricardo Martín Bringas, the director general of Organización

Soriana Organización Soriana is a Mexican public company and a major retailer in Mexico with more than 824 stores. Soriana is a grocery and department store retail chain headquartered in Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The company is 100% cap ...

Vaqueros Laguna

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.

Return to Algodoneros

The 2018 season further marked a return to tradition for baseball in Torreón, as the franchise restored the original name under which the club had been founded in 1940: the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna. Among their best players in history are Miguel Gaspar, Guillermo Garibay, Pedro "Charolito" Orta, Moisés Camacho, Leo Rodríguez,

, Jesus "Chanquilón" Diaz, Antonio Pollorena, and

Héctor Espino Héctor "El Niño" Espino (6 June 1939 – 7 September 1997) was a Mexicans, Mexican professional outfielder, first baseman and manager (baseball), manager. He has been called "The Mexican Babe Ruth". Born in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Chihuahua, ...

Roster

Retired numbers

* 6 Pedro Orta * 11 Guillermo Garibay * 21 Héctor Espino

Championships

References

External links

* {{Mexican League Baseball teams in Mexico Torreón Baseball teams established in 1940 Mexican League teams 1940 establishments in Mexico Sports clubs and teams in Coahuila