Baseball season is happily upon us once again

The Mexican Pacific League Baseball season has started. I can’t help but get ‘ball’-obsessed and tell you about Maz’s AAA team. It certainly isn’t a secret: the Venados (direct translation: the deer) are a draw for many Mexicans and ‘Norders’ alike.

Going to a game is like going to a party, tubas and tambori at no extra cost! But that isn’t all - this is what Major League Baseball calls ‘winter ball,’ where, as you may know, many top-name professionals come to hone their talents in the off-season. We’ve seen some of the best here over the years; Vinnie Castillo (Hubba, hubba!), Ricky Henderson, Dave Winfield, Mike Piazza and Fernando Valenzuela, to name a few. Some MLB teams have arrangements with teams in the Mexican league to reserve spots for players they feel will benefit by playing winter ball in Mexico. Each team has room for six non-Mexican players. Foreign players on the team this season include John Lindsey, Brian Bixler, Raphael Martin and Gabriel De Hoyos.

Opening night, usually the second Saturday in October and always against arch-rival, the Culiacan Tomateros, is an experience not to be missed. There’s much pomp, ceremony and beer; lots of beer! In the concourse of the stadium, you’ll find a Mexican food lover’s paradise. I think baseball fans have the digestive systems of a billy goat. You’ll find everything from tacos to bacon-wrapped hot dogs smothered in chopped onions, tomatoes and jalapeños, and many local restaurants have kiosks, too. It becomes difficult to choose between all the offerings. Food is also sold in the stands – and all at more-than-reasonable prices. Look for the guys in the sausage hats! Very conversational!

And, of course there are those ‘delightful’ skinny little bodies in the Pacifico costumes. But then, they’re almost everywhere you find a cool Pacifico. The local ‘Canal 7’ TV coverage includes sweeps of the crowd that show not only different kinds of gyrations resembling dancing to the blaring banda music, but also very involved or severely disinterested fans. The Jumbotron does not keep secrets! Cell phones to sleeping, we’ve seen it all!

Fun is the operative word, and it’s all fun. However, this ‘fun’ has a history. The Mazatlan Venados were founded in 1945 in the Pacific Coast League, where they won five titles in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Several years later, the name of the League changed to the Mexican Pacific League and since that time, until the end of last season, the Venados have stashed eight pennants under their collective belt. Included in that spate of talent was the coveted Caribbean World Series, won in 2005 right here in Mazatlán. Major mayhem ensued for days.

Games are played in the Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, where weekend games start at 6 p.m. and weeknight games at 8 p.m. The stadium seats about 14,000 fans and even then, it’s often a challenge to get tickets for Opening Night due to the game’s popularity. The League has teams from Culiacan, Navajoa, Hermosillo, Los Mochis, Obregon, Guasave and Mexicali. The teams play two, 34-game half-seasons beginning in October and ending in December. Post-season play includes the top six teams and occurs throughout January. The winner of that round becomes League Champion and advances to the Serie Caribe in February.

Each new Venados’ season brings with it lots of surprises, enthusiasm and anticipation. As Bill Veeck once said, “Every baseball crowd, like every theatre audience, has its own distinctive attitude and atmosphere.” At times, the game itself seems to play second fiddle to the people-watching or antics of the wiry mascot rhythmically churning his hips to Banda music.

Take yourself out to a ball game; buy some peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Chances are, you’ll have lots of fun!