Ramón "Diablo" Montoya Lerma (8 December 1940 – 24 January 2018) was a Mexican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Montoya spent all his career 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 ...

playing center field for 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 ...

. Nicknamed "Diablo" (Devil), Montoya also participated in the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (, or LMP), also known as the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons, is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league based in Northwestern Mexico. The league comprises 10 teams. It wa ...

and played one season, in 1964, for the

El Paso Sun Kings EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. After retiring, he coached for the Diablos Rojos. Montoya was inducted into the

Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano (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, inaugurated on 10 ...

as part of the class of 1990.

Early career

Montoya was born on 8 December 1940 in

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. Nicknamed "Diablo" since his early days in local Mexicali, Montoya was part of the Mexican squad that competed in the

1961 Amateur World Series The 1961 Amateur World Series was the 15th edition of the Amateur World Series of international baseball.It was the only one held in Costa Rica, taking place in San Jose from April 7 through April 21, 1961. The 1961 tournament was the first Am ...

played in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, where they placed second with a 7–2 record.

Professional career

Montoya started his professional career in 1961 as Rodolfo Montoya in the

of the

, playing eight games. In 1962, Montoya registered using his real name and became the Diablos Rojos starting centerfielder, a position he held for the next 15 seasons with the México squad. In 1964, Montoya played in the

for the

, where he appeared in 90 games, but he had to return to Mexico due to a clavicle fracture. "Diablo" won four Mexican League championships with the Diablos Rojos, in 1968, 1973, 1974 and 1976. Montoya retired in 1976; that same year, his number, 32, was retired by the Diablos Rojos. Montoya also played thirteen seasons in the

(LMP), debuting in the 1961–62 season for the

Naranjeros de Hermosillo The Naranjeros de Hermosillo () are a professional baseball team based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. They compete in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP). The team plays at the Estadio Fernando Valenzuela with a capacity of 16,000 seated spectators. ...

. He also played for the Rieleros de Empalme,

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

Yaquis de Obregón The Yaquis de Obregón () are a professional baseball team based in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico. They compete in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP). The team plays at the Estadio Yaquis with a capacity of 16,500 seated spectators. The team h ...

Tomateros de Culiacán The Tomateros de Culiacán () are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The ''Tomateros'' have won thirteen league championships and two Caribbean World Series in and . The team was founded in 19 ...

and

Ostioneros de Guaymas The Ostioneros de Guaymas were a professional baseball team based in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. The Ostioneros played in the Mexican Pacific League and used the Estadio Abelardo L. Rodríguez as their home ballpark. During its existence, the club wo ...

. During the 1963–64 season, while playing for the Rieleros, Montoya set the LMP single season record for most hits, with 130; as of 2023, the record is still active. On 13 July 1990, Montoya was elected to the

. Montoya is also part of his hometown's Mexicali Hall of Fame. During the seventies, the Diablos Rojos had a mascot named Ramoncito modelled after Montoya disguised as a red devil. The mascot made a comeback in 2024.

Coaching career

After retiring as player, Montoya kept working with the Diablos Rojos as a coach and was even considered as a successor to legendary manager

Cananea Reyes Benjamín "Cananea" Reyes Chávez (18 February 1937 — 11 November 1991) was a Mexican professional baseball player and manager who spent one season in 1981 as a coach for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. He served as their ...

. In his last years of life, Montoya worked as an instructor for the Alfredo Harp Helú Baseball Academy.

Death

Montoya died on 24 January 2018 in

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi language, Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state, state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican civilizatio ...

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

, aged 77.

Career statistics

Mexican Pacific League

Source:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montoya, Ramón 1940 births 2018 deaths Acereros de Monclova managers Algodoneros de Guasave players Baseball players from Mexicali Diablos Rojos del México managers Diablos Rojos del México players El Paso Sun Kings players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Naranjeros de Hermosillo players Ostioneros de Guaymas players Rieleros de Empalme players Tomateros de Culiacán players Venados de Mazatlán managers Yaquis de Obregón players