Cananea Reyes

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Reyes and the second or maternal family name is Chávez.

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 interim manager for two games, becoming the first (and only) Mexican native to direct an MLB team.

Cananea Reyes
Manager/Coach
Born: (1937-02-18)18 February 1937 Nacozari de García, Sonora, Mexico
Died: 11 November 1991(1991-11-11) (aged 54) Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Batted: Right Threw: Right
Career statistics
Win–loss record (managing)	1,685–1,329
Winning percentage	.559
Teams
As manager Charros de Jalisco (1971–1973) Diablos Rojos del México (1974–1980; 1983–1991) Azules de Coatzacoalcos (1982) As coach Seattle Mariners (1981)
Career highlights and awards
Diablos Rojos del México No. 10 retired Naranjeros de Hermosillo No. 10 retired
Member of the Mexican Professional
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1992

As a manager in Mexico, Reyes led his teams to 12 league pennants and two Caribbean Series titles, and is considered one of the greatest Mexican managers in history.^[1][2][3]

Playing career

Born in Nacozari de García, Sonora, Reyes was a third baseman, outfielder and pitcher. After playing amateur baseball and being selected to the Mexico junior national team, he abandoned his studies to pursue professional baseball and sign with the Piratas de Campeche of the Mexican Southeast League, where he batted .278 and stole 54 bases in 1964.^[2] Reyes was acquired by the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League the following year.^[2] As a rookie in 1965, he batted .264 with 26 RBI, three home runs and 20 stolen bases.^[2] Reyes also played with the Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Pacific Coast League.^[2] However, a leg injury ended his playing career.^[2]

Managerial career

Reyes began his managerial career in 1968 with the Mineros de Fresnillo, an affiliate team of the Charros de Jalisco playing in the Mexican Central League.^[2] In 1971 he took over as manager of the Charros. That season, he led the team to the Serie del Rey title, defeating the Saraperos de Saltillo in seven games after losing the first three games of the series.^[2][3] He switched in 1974 to the Diablos Rojos del México, whom he managed for 16 years (1974–80; 1983–91) and had only one losing campaign. He led the Diablos Rojos to five Mexican League titles in 1974, 1976, 1985, 1987 and 1988.^[3] In 20 years as a Triple-A Mexican League manager, Reyes compiled a winning percentage of .568.^[4]

Reyes' one season in MLB was the strike-shortened 1981 campaign. He was named the Mariners' third-base coach by Seattle skipper Maury Wills, whom Reyes had previously served under as a third base coach with the Naranjeros de Hermosillo in 1970–71.^[2][5] When Willis earned a two-game suspension in April, Reyes took over as interim manager for two games against the Minnesota Twins, becoming the first Mexican-born manager in MLB history.^[6][7] Wills was fired early in the year, on May 6, 1981, and replaced by Rene Lachemann. Reyes finished the season, then returned to the Mexican League, where he managed the Azules de Coatzacoalcos for one season in 1982.^[6]

In the Mexican Pacific League (LMP), he led the Naranjeros de Hermosillo to three league pennants in 1975, 1976 and 1980, as well as the 1976 Caribbean Series championship title – the first ever for a Mexican team.^[2][3] In 1986, he led the Águilas de Mexicali to an LMP pennant and a Caribbean championship Series title.^[3]

Reyes was diagnosed with cancer late in the 1991 season and replaced by Ramón "Diablo" Montoya.^[3] Reyes died on 11 November 1991 in Hermosillo, Sonora, at the age of 54. The following year he was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.^[8]

In 2020, Reyes was selected as the manager on the Mexican League Historic Ideal Team by a committee of baseball journalists and historians.^[8][9]

Career statistics

Mexican Pacific League

Season	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	BA
1963–64	Hermosillo	58	125	12	26	3	0	3	11	2	12	.208
1964–65	Hermosillo	68	239	37	62	10	1	5	16	10	21	.259
1965–66	Hermosillo	80	311	40	82	9	2	8	37	24	27	.264
1966–67	Hermosillo	59	208	20	48	4	0	4	16	8	21	.231
Total		265	883	109	218	26	3	20	80	44	81	.247

Source:^[10]

References

1. Gutiérrez, Juan Carlos (10 December 2021). "¡¡¡Hoy, 30 años sin el fantástico "Pelón Mágico"!!!". Peninsular Deportiva (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
2. Rubio, Jesús Alberto (11 December 2009). ""Cananea": en su recuerdo". ElChiltepin.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
3. Flores, Ivan (11 September 2019). "Cananea Reyes, el mejor manager mexicano de la historia". Con Bases Llenas (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
4. "Career statistics from". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
5. "'Cananea' Reyes fue manager con Marineros de Seattle". Minor League Baseball. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
6. González Gómez, César (12 February 2017). "Cananea Reyes, y el misterio de un mánager mexicano que sí dirigió Grandes Ligas pero que no lo registran los récords". Vice News (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
7. "An unscheduled 'debut' for Reyes". The News Tribune. 29 April 1981. p. 3. Retrieved 29 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Martínez Álvarez, José Félix (29 June 2020). "'Cananea' Reyes, mánager de la novena ideal". Vanguardia.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
9. "La LMB dio a conocer su Novena Ideal Histórica" (in Spanish). Major League Baseball. 28 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
10. Gastélum Duarte, Guillermo. Enciclopedia Conmemorativa del 75 Aniversario de la Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (in Spanish). Culiacán, Sinaloa: Moby Dick Editorial. pp. 462–463. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2023.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Retrosheet

Preceded by Bill Mazeroski	Seattle Mariners third base coach 1981	Succeeded by Chuck Cottier