Naranjeros de Hermosillo

The Naranjeros de Hermosillo (English: Hermosillo Orange Growers) 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.^[2]

Naranjeros de Hermosillo
Information
League	Mexican Pacific League
Location	Hermosillo, Sonora
Ballpark	Estadio Fernando Valenzuela
Founded	1945
Caribbean Series championships	2 (1976, 2014)
League championships	17 (1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2023–24)
Former ballparks	Estadio Héctor Espino (1972–2013) Estadio Fernando M. Ortiz (1945–1971)
Colors	Black, orange and white
Retired numbers	3 6 9 10 11 14 19 20 21 23 25 30 44
Ownership	Club Deportivo Triple A, S.A. de C.V.[1]
President	Enrique Mazón Rubio
Manager	Juan Gabriel Castro
Website	www.naranjeros.com.mx

The Naranjeros are one of the most successful teams in Mexican baseball and the most winning team in the Mexican Pacific League. They have won 17 LMP championships, the most recent during the 2023–24 season and two Caribbean Series titles. They were the first Mexico team to win the Caribbean Series, doing so in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1976.

History

The team was established in 1945 as Queliteros de Hermosillo (English: Hermosillo Quelite Growers). In 1947, the Queliteros won their first championship in the Liga de la Costa del Pacífico (Pacific Coast League), the competition that preceded the Mexican Pacific League. The club changed its name to the current Naranjeros in the 50s and won the Pacific Coast League back to back in the 1955–56 and 1956–57 seasons.^[3] The Naranjeros played in the Estadio de la Casa del Pueblo that was later renamed to Estadio Fernando M. Ortiz.^[4]

Hermosillo repeated the feat of winning the league championship twice in a row in the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons, both times under manager Virgilio Arteaga. They won the league again in the 1963–64 season. During these years, legendary player Héctor Espino was part of the team.

The Naranjeros won the 1970–71 season and therefore became the first Pacific League team to represent Mexico in the 1971 Caribbean Series. In 1972 the team moved to the Estadio Coloso del Choyal. They won the 1974–75 and 1975–76 seasons back to back and participated in the 1976 Caribbean Series.

Naranjeros de Hermosillo when they were champions of the Caribbean Series in 1976

The Naranjeros' victory at the 1976 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo was the first ever by a Mexican team. The club was managed by Benjamín "Cananea" Reyes and included players such as Héctor Espino (1B), Sergio "Kalimán" Robles (C), Celerino Sánchez (3B), Elliot Willis (2B), Arnoldo de Hoyos (CF), George Brunett (P) and Jerry Hairston Sr. (LF). Again under Cananea Reyes, the Naranjeros won the 1979–80 season. With Tom Harmon as manager, Hermosillo won the 1981–82, 1989–90 and 1991–92 seasons.

In the 1993–94, 1994–95 and 2000–01 seasons, the Naranjeros won the Mexican Pacific League, led by manager Derek Bryant. Under Lorenzo Bundy, Hermosillo won the 2006–07 season and were champions again in the 2009–10 season with Homar Rojas as manager.

In 2013, the Naranjeros moved to Estadio Sonora. During that season, the team won its seventeenth league title and the 2014 Caribbean Series with Matías Carrillo as manager defeating Indios de Mayagüez 7–1 in the final.^[5][6]

Ten years later, the Naranjeros won its eighteenth LMP championship in the 2023–24 under manager Juan Gabriel Castro, sweeping the Venados de Mazatlán 4–0 in the championship series.^[7][8] The team represented Mexico at the 2024 Caribbean Series played in Miami. The Naranjeros finished sixth with a 2–4 record, managing to defeat Tigres del Licey and Gigantes de Rivas, but losing their other four games, thus, being eliminated in the first round of the tournament.^[9][10]

Stadium

In its early days, the team played at Estadio Fernando M. Ortiz, also known as "La Casa del Pueblo."^[4] Since 1972, the Naranjeros played in their home stadium, Estadio De Beisbol Héctor Espino, named after the greatest Mexican baseball player in history, Héctor Espino. Since 2013 they have played their home games at Estadio Fernando Valenzuela, which was called Estadio Sonora until 2023.^[11]

Roster

Naranjeros de Hermosillo roster view talk edit
Players			Coaches
Pitchers 54 Raúl Barrón 75 Aníbal Cervantes 46 Danis Correa 62 Cristian Garza 65 Jake Jewell 48 José Manuel López 16 Ozzie Méndez 66 Luis Manuel Ochoa 35 Juan Pablo Oramas 59 Fernando Salas 55 José Samaoya 49 César Vargas		Catchers 51 Cesar Salazar 82 Andrés Figueroa 56 Andrés Sosa 34 Julián León Infielders 17 Isaac Paredes 57 Tayron Guerrero 18 Irving López 77 Ramón Mendoza 50 Agustín Murillo 13 Alfonso Rivas  8 Alejandro Robles 84 Javier Rodríguez Outfielders 40 Sean Bouchard 12 Ángel Camacho 33 José Cardona  4 Jimmy Herron 74 Ángel Ramírez 13 Nick Torres	Manager 27 Juan Gabriel Castro Coaches 81 Darryl Brinkley (hitting)  1 Adulfo Camacho (third base) 45 Elmer Dessens (pitching) 23 Cornelio García (hitting)  5 Carlos Gastélum (bench coach) 25 Maximino León (pitching) 72 Alfredo Meza (catchers)   Ricardo Navarro Jr. (Analytic) 41 Ricardo Solís (pitching) Roster updated on 21 October 2023

Retired numbers

The Naranjeros de Hermosillo have retired the following numbers:^[12]

José Luis Sandoval SS 1991–2011 Retired 21 December 2013	Sergio Robles C 1967–1986 Retired 9 November 2006	Vinicio Castilla 3B 2000–2011 Retired 9 December 2012	Cananea Reyes Manager 1974–1980 Retired 8 November 1992	Francisco Barrios P 1971–1982 Retired 12 September 2020	Celerino Sánchez 3B 1966–1978 Retired 24 November 1993	Miguel Sotelo P 1958–1967 Retired 20 November 2006
Miguel Flores 2B 1991–2001 Retired 6 November 2019	Héctor Espino 1B 1961–1985 Retired 29 November 1987	Cornelio García 1B 1985–2005 Retired 13 November 2009	Maximino León P 1970–1989 Retired 1 November 2000	Ángel Moreno P 1980–1985 Retired 26 November 2003	Erubiel Durazo 1B 1996–2009 Retired 2 December 2018

Championships

Season	Manager	Opponent	Series score	Record
1960–61	Virgilio Arteaga[13]	No final series		35–19
1961–62	Virgilio Arteaga	No final series		39–21
1963–64	Leonardo Rodríguez	No final series		47–33
1970–71	Maury Wills	Cañeros de Los Mochis	3–1	68–35
1974–75	Cananea Reyes	Mayos de Navojoa	4–0	58–34–3
1975–76	Cananea Reyes	Yaquis de Obregón	4–3	57–40
1979–80	Cananea Reyes	Tomateros de Culiacán	4–2	63–29
1981–82	Tom Harmon	Águilas de Mexicali	4–3	62–41
1989–90	Tim Johnson	Mayos de Navojoa	4–1	60–27
1991–92	Tim Johnson	Mayos de Navojoa	4–1	46–39–3
1993–94	Marv Foley	Mayos de Navojoa	4–0	49–36
1994–95	Derek Bryant	Tomateros de Culiacán	4–2	40–33
2000–01	Derek Bryant	Venados de Mazatlán	4–1	52–31
2006–07	Lorenzo Bundy	Venados de Mazatlán	4–0	53–30
2009–10	Homar Rojas	Venados de Mazatlán	4–3	53–31
2013–14	Matías Carrillo[14]	Mayos de Navojoa	4–3	54–33
2023–24	Juan Gabriel Castro	Venados de Mazatlán	4–0	59–22
Total championships			17

Caribbean Series record

Year	Venue	Finish	Wins	Losses	Win%	Manager
1971	San Juan	2nd	2	4	.333	Maury Wills
1975	San Juan	3rd	3	3	.500	Cananea Reyes
1976	Santo Domingo / Santiago	1st	5	1	.833	Cananea Reyes
1980	Santo Domingo	4th	2	4	.333	Cananea Reyes
1982	Hermosillo	4th	2	4	.333	Tom Harmon
1990	Miami	4th	1	5	.167	Tim Johnson
1992	Hermosillo	3rd	3	3	.500	Tim Johnson
1994	Puerto la Cruz	4th	0	6	.000	Marv Foley
1995	San Juan	3rd	1	5	.167	Derek Bryant
2001	Culiacán	2nd	3	3	.500	Derek Bryant
2007	Carolina	4th	1	5	.167	Lorenzo Bundy
2010	Margarita Island	3rd	2	4	.333	Homar Rojas
2014	Margarita Island	1st	4	2	.667	Matías Carrillo
2024	Miami	6th	2	4	.333	Juan Gabriel Castro
Total			31	53	.369

Notable players

• Alfredo Aceves
• Ramón Arano
• Francisco Barrios
• George Brunet
• Vinicio Castilla
• Jorge de la Rosa
• Elmer Dessens
• Erubiel Durazo
• Narciso Elvira
• Héctor Espino
• Luis Garcia
• Daniel Garibay
• Carlos Gastélum
• Édgar González
• Jerry Hairston Sr.
• Rich Hinton
• Trenidad Hubbard
• Al Martin
• Maximino León
• Mario Mendoza
• Ángel Moreno
• Jerry Owens
• Rubén Rivera
• Chris Roberson
• Sergio Robles
• Homar Rojas
• Gary Ross
• Celerino Sánchez
• Yunesky Sánchez
• Curt Schilling
• Dave Sells
• Miguel Sotelo
• Robert Stock
• Alex Treviño
• Fernando Valenzuela
• Sebastián Valle
• Larry Walker
• Jon Weber
• Zelous Wheeler
• Bump Wills
• Maury Wills
• Jim Wilson