It is hard to believe that it has been almost 60 years to date that the Costa del Pacifico Baseball league began. It all started around 1941 when Don Teodoro Mariscal took over the Stadium Committee and began restoring the run-down baseball park and bringing baseball games to the port of Mazatlán. The league at that time was composed of teams like the Cuban Stars, Comintra, Lechugeros de Leon, Puebla, Sep y Sap, and Tacuarineros de Culiacan. This league played between 1942 and 1945 and by rare coincidence throughout these years there was a rivalry between Mazatlán and Culiacán that lives on to this day. On June 6, 1945, in Hotel Moderno in Hermosillo, a group of business men met together, including Teodoro Mariscal from Mazatlán, Florencio Zaragoza from Guaymas, Fernando M. Ortiz & Juan Chavez E. of Hermosillo, Enrique Peña Batiz from Culiacán & Rogelio Rodriguez from Empalme. A few short hours later, they all came out with enthusiastic smiles on their faces. The Costa del Pacifico Baseball League had been born, and they were the founders of what has now become the best baseball league in Mexico. Jump to the present: October 2004, Mazatlán, Teodoro Mariscal Stadium. Season after season the Venados have taken on this perfect stage (Teodoro Mariscal Stadium) and given us vibrant emotions, memorable moments and passion for the favorite Mexican/American pastime. This season, however, is different from all others, as this year Mazatlán will host the Caribbean Series, which takes place February 1 – 7th, 2005. This should give our Venados extra incentive to be champions of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, which would guarantee them a straight ticket into the Caribbean Cup. With this in mind, the Venados jumped in front of the game and picked up the services of Joe Borchard, Jason Dubois, Danny Magee, Will Ohman, Jared Sandberg and Larry Sutton, filling up their foreign players list. Coming back for another season are the fans´ favorite players, including Francisco Campos, Daniel Fornes, Heber Gomez & Miguel Ojeda. It is said that at the moment the Venados have the

best lineup in the league. But you can never discount Culiacán and Hermosillo, who have always organized powerful baseball teams and who are feared during playoffs due to the number of Mexican baseball players on their teams who play in the Major Leagues. If any team feels obligated in being this year´s champions of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, it’s the Venados. The Liga Mexicana del Pacifico is made up of eight teams, playing a total of 68 regular season games, not counting the playoffs. Only the top four teams advance to the playoffs. Uniquely, the team which ends up being the champion of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico gets a direct ticket to the Caribbean Series representing Mexico. The championship team may choose as many players from the opposing team (the second place team) they wish in order to reinforce their own team. The Caribbean World Series of Professional Baseball —or Serie del Caribe del Beisbol Profesional in Spanish— is a baseball tournament that is played every year, usually during the month of February, in one of the countries of the Caribbean, Mexico, Panama, or Venezuela. The Caribbean World Series was an idea of Venezuelans Oscar Prieto and Pablo Morales. Every year, the championship team of each of the countries represented participates to try to win the Caribbean baseball championship. The series used to include Cuba and Panama, but those countries later withdrew for various reasons. Nowadays, participating teams are the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, although Venezuela had to withdraw from the 2003 series because the general strike there prevented their baseball tournament from being played. The Caguas Creoles, Puerto Rico’s runner up in their national tournament, played instead. The series is usually played up to six games per team. The winner of the series is the team with the most wins after each team plays six games. If you´ve never been to a Venados baseball game, this is the year to come out and support them. Let´s put Mazatlán on the map by winning the Caribbean Cup. I’ll see you at the games!