The Tomateros de Culiacán () 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 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 ...

based in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The ''Tomateros'' have won thirteen league championships and two

Caribbean World Series The Caribbean Series ( Spanish: ''Serie del Caribe'') is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in ...

in and . The team was founded in 1965 as part of the Sonora-Sinaloa League.

History

Professional baseball in

Culiacán Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531 by the Spanish conquistadors Lázaro de ...

dates back to 1945, when the first team was created the Tacuarineros. This club played in the now-defunct Liga de la Costa del Pacífico (Pacific Coast League). Tomateros de Culiacán was founded in 1965 and started playing in the Liga de la Costa (Coastal League), this league is also now defunct. The Tomateros won their most recent championship on January, 30th 2021(2020-21 season). They defeated 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. ...

in seven games, bringing their total to 13 championships. It also marked the second time in their history that they won consecutive titles.

2001–2002 season

The 2001–2002 season was a gold year not only for the Tomateros, but also for México, as they won the 2002 Caribbean Series held at

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

with big leaguers as Rodrigo López, Oliver Perez, Luis Ayala, José Silva and Benji Gil, as well as with Adán Amezcua, who earned Series MVP honors.

Honours

Mexican Pacific League championships

The Tomateros have won 13

Championships. Their most recent one came in the 2020–21 season, when they defeated the

in seven games under manager Benji Gil.

Caribbean Series championships

The Tomateros have won the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series ( Spanish: ''Serie del Caribe'') is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in ...

twice in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, both under Francisco Estrada.

Roster

Notable players

* Adán Amezcua * Luis Ayala * Salomé Barojas * Rigo Beltrán *

Marlon Byrd Marlon Jerrard Byrd (born August 30, 1977) is an Americans, American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, ...

* Luis Cruz * Francisco Estrada * Eric Farris * Karim García * Benji Gil * Gorkys Hernández *

Esteban Loaiza Esteban Antonio Loaiza Veyna o-EYE-sa(born December 31, 1971) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher and current pitching coach for El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsbur ...

* Aurelio López * Rodrigo López * Joey Meneses *

Sid Monge Isidro Monge Pedroza (born April 11, 1951) is a Mexican former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who pitched from 1975 to 1984. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, San D ...

* Art Pennington *

Óliver Pérez Óliver Pérez Martínez (born August 15, 1981) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamond ...

* Dennys Reyes *

Vicente Romo Vicente Romo Navarro (born April 12, 1943) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Romo played all or parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball between 1968 and 1982, primarily as a relief pitcher. He had an exte ...

* Ricardo Rincón * Darrell Sherman * José Silva

Notes

References

External links

* Culiacan Tomateros Sports clubs and teams in Sinaloa Baseball teams established in 1965 1965 establishments in Mexico Sport in Culiacán {{Mexico-baseball-team-stub