Pericos de Puebla


The Pericos de Puebla are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Puebla. Their home ballpark is the Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán. Established in 1938, the Pericos have won five Mexican League championships in 1963, 1979, 1986, 2016 and most recently in 2023.

History

The state of Puebla came upon baseball in the early 1920s when returning Poblanos that had come from military service who were based in the north of Mexico brought back with them this new sport which they share with the locals. Which the natives practice in their spare time spurning up numerous of amateurs baseball teams around the state.
In 1922, General Andrés Zarzosa Verástegui founded an amateur baseball club Almazán de Puebla All former Puebla baseball clubs who went down to Mexico City to play exhibition games against the amateurs clubs from the state. In 1924 General Juan Andrew Almazán now owner of the club relocated in Mexico City. No one took charge of the club and so it was forgotten. Players from that first club were Ramón Artola, Jacinto Jaquinet, Ramón Montes de Oca, Felipe Cázares among others.
In 1925, with people excited and in love with this new sport a new baseball league was created founded by the General Alejandro Aguilar Gómez and so the state of Puebla had its first professional baseball club. Andrés Zarzosa was the founder and owner of 74 Regimiento baseball club that represent the state of Puebla which made its home in the city of Atlixco. The clubs that founded this new league were Agrario, Guanajuato, El Nacional de Bisckler, El México and Puebla's own 74 Regimiento. Some of the first idols in their first year were Center fielder Oscar Martínez, Catcher Hakino, Shortstop Javier Pérez and Pitcher Gómez coached by the Cuban Jesús "Matanzas" Valdez. 74° Regimiento was the first ever baseball champion in 1925. This club later was relocated in San Luis Potosí where they never again won a championship.
They have existed on and off since 1942 in various other leagues. They are one of the many clubs that have represented the state of Puebla since 1924, among them Almazán de Puebla in 1922, 74 Regimiento in 1924, who also was the first champion of the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, Club De Béisbol Hudson, in 1938, where they got their uniform colors green and white from. The club played in the Liga Invernal Veracruzana from 1949 to 1959. In 1958 they lost the title against Poza Rica and in 1959 won their first title. The clubs won a total of 4 Liga Mexicana de Béisbol: 1 in 1924 as 74 Regimiento, 2 as Ángeles Negros in 1972 and 1986 one as Pericos de Puebla in 1963. The club plays their home games in the Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán which is right next to the Estadio Cuauhtémoc were Puebla F.C. has made their home since 1972 when they left the old Estadio Ignacio Zaragoza where they played from 1942 to 1971. From 2002 to 2006 the Pericos shared their home park with the Tigres de la Angelópolis from Mexico City. The Tigres club won a championship in 2005 to later transfer in 2006 to Quintana Roo Yucatán with whom they keep a strong rivalry.
  • First Baseball tournament held in Mexico were 74 Regimiento was crown the champion in 1924.
ClubPositionGames wonGames Lost
74 Regimiento1106
México2106
Agraria 386
Nacional477
Guanajuato559
Águila6010

1940s

In 1938, a third recognized semi professional club existed in the state of Puebla: it was Club De Béisbol Hudson founded by Sir Delfino Pérez. The club's colors were green and white. In 1939 the club was sold to Don Castor a local car dealership owner who changed the club's name to Chevrolet and that same year entered the club in the Mexican League this was the first team that represented the city of Puebla. The club's uniform was white with the club's name Chevrolet in the middle of the shirt with blue numbers. They played from 1939 to 1941 when they won the Winter league title.
Players from that Chevrolet team were Roberto Villarreal, Beto Ávila, Colin, Pedro Meza, Leopoldo Cervantes el "Rábano", Ángel Castro, Guillermo Fritche, Bernardo López, Domingo Figueroa, Vidal Romero el "Chachapa", Rafael Pedroso, el "Zungo", Juan Luna, Mario Cruz, Fernando Galina, Apolinar Pulido "Polin", Emiliano Sarda and Mario Collazo
In 1942, the club changed its name to Pericos this name change was made in order to attract more people. They took up the name Parrots due to the customs of the upper class, which every wealthy household had a talking parrot at the front door.
Between 1942 and 1946 the league consisted of 6 teams from Mexico City, Veracruz, Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Tampico, and Puebla. More teams joined: San Luis Potosí in 1946 and Torreón in 1947. In 1948 due to the lack of championship titles the fans stop going to the games and so Sr. Delfino Pérez come to a decision where he retrieved the team from the league which lasted for 4 years.

1950s

In 1952, the club made its return with owners Don Alejo Peralta y Díaz Cevallos now playing in their brand new Estadio Ignacio Zaragoza which had a capacity of 25,000. The starting line up for the first game was Chuck Genovés as coach and Shortstop first basement Al Grunwald, Pitcher José Bache, The outfielders were Alejandro "Cañitas" Moreno, Gustavo Fernández, Chuck Buheller y Otilio Cruz. The pitching reserves were Michel Gabès, Memo López, Ramiro Caballero, Indio Beltrán, Emilio Ferrer and Porfirio Castillo catching Bob Knock.
Budddy Baker and Charles Drummond, respectively, joined the team in the middle of the season, as well as George and Esteve Boros who also joined the club at the end of the season. With a good quantity of star players, the cub finish in last place.
In 1957, Pericos de Puebla sign a work trade contract with Major League Baseball club Baltimore Orioles who send to Puebla as lone manager Jimmy Adair along with catcher Sam Hairston, shortstop Ron Hansen who stay was short before returning to play in the MLB where he became an icon playing for the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox.
In 1958, Puebla finally reach a final facing Poza Rica club from the state of Veracruz. The championship game was held in Puebla in the Estadio Ignacio Zaragoza in front of 25,000 fans waiting for Puebla to lift its first cup since 1925. But history would have it otherwise it was in the 10th inning when poza rica score the 2 winning runs that would give them the title. The final score was 5–3. The following year on February 15, 1959, Puebla finally won the awaited championship which also mark the last season puebla played in the Liga Invernal Veracruzana. Puebla played Liga Invernal Veracruzana from 1949 a 1959

1960s

In 1960, Puebla buys out the franchise from Nuevo Laredo and this way they secure a spot in the Mexican League again. Which in 1961 they finish runner up to Rojos del Águila de Veracruz, in 1962 they finished 4th managed by José Guerrero "El Zacatillo".
In 1963, the club wins its first Mexican League title under the name Pericos managed by Antonio "Tony" Castaño with key players Ronaldo Camacho, Moisés Camacho, Daniel Bankhead, Jorge Fitch, Oscar Rodríguez among others. This was the club's third official title in all leagues they had taken part of. Later the club saw the arrive of their key pitcher, the Italian pitcher Carlos Minutti from the Italian commune and small city Chipilo de Francisco Javier Mina, Puebla although a second Sicilian generation, he originated from Palermo, Sicily.
In 1964 and 1965, respectively, the club finished runner up first to Diablos Rojos del México in 1964 and Tigres del México in 1965 also managed by Antonio "Tony" CastañoIn 1967 the team finished in last place under the management of José Luis García. In 1968 the team finished 4th under the management of Tony Castaño. In 1969 the club due once again to its poor play left Puebla to Yucatán for 3 years under the management of Tony Castaño.

Ángeles de Puebla

1970s

In 1972, the club return to the city of Puebla with new owners Emilio Tame and William Budid and with a new name Ángeles Negros de Puebla, under the management of Miguel Sotelo, and this was the last year the club played in the Estadio Ignacio Zaragoza where they had been playing on and off since 1952.
On June 16, 1973, the club played its first game in their brand new Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán against Piratas de Savinas, winning 6–0 with a shout out pitched by Arnulfo Adame, who finished the year with a record of 15–10. Teolindo Acosta had the first hit in the game. The first run was scored by Francisco Castro with Tomás Herrera as the first manager winning the first game. The club finished in 4th place that year. The club's player of the year was Acosta, who won the leagues batting title finishing the years with.366 batting average with 170 hits. Besides, Aurelio Monteagudo won the pitching title with an undefeated record of 12–0.
In 1974, Tony Castaño returned as manager, leading the club to the first playoffs played in the new Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán finishing 2nd in the south division. The club was disqualified after losing to Diablos Rojos del México in the first round.
In 1975, the club finished fourth with a record of 81–56 and qualified to the 1975 playoff where they faced the Diablos Rojos del México. The club was knocked out in the first round by the Diablos Rojos, managed by Castaño, in which would be his last year with the club.
In 1976, with new manager Clemente Carreras, once again the club won their division with a record of 88 wins 55 losses and an 11-game advantage over the runner up Rieleros de Aguascalientes. In the playoff they faced the Diablos Rojos del México for the third consecutive year and loss once again in the first round. The club had in their squad the rookie of the year in Alfonso 'Houston' Jiménez González who showed his abilities at shortstop and quickly became a fan favorite.
In 1977, the club once again won its division for the third time and qualified to the 1977 playoff with a record of 96 wins 54 losses best record in the league and the club's best record to date under the management of Raúl Cano. This time they faced Cafeteros de Córdoba in the first round who shock the league by knocking off the best club that year. That same year the club won for the second year rookie of the year with the pitcher Abraham Rivera who finished with a record of 12–4 and an era.
In 1978, the club finished tied in fourth place in the south east division and so did not qualify, the club finished the season with an 85–65 record. The manager was Cano, who was in his second and last season as manager of Puebla.
In the 1979 season, after a year off not reaching the playoffs, the club was again change owners and name as well from Pericos to Ángeles de Puebla. The club hires manager George Fitch in the off season as well. With a new name, new owners along with a new manager the club wins its third Mexican League title the third under a different name. The club won its 4th division title finishing second in the league with a record of 85–51. The club faces the Plataneros de Tabasco in quarterfinals and wins the series in 4 games. In the South division sires the club faces Cafeteros de Córdoba which they beat easily in 4 games and so gaining some retribution from the 1977 quarterfinal series. The final was played against Indios de Ciudad Juárez, the series began on September 6, 1979, in a game that the Indios won 3–0 over Puebla. The second game was played the following day. In a strong pitching effort, César Díaz hurled 12 innings, allowing seven hits, one walk and just one run. The final score was a 2–1 victory for Puebla, tying the series at one apiece. The third game was played in Ciudad Juárez, where once again Puebla came out with a victory. The fourth game went to the Indios in a 3–1 victory, and once again tying the series. The fifth game when to Indios as well in a 4–1 victory on September 10, 1979. Two days later, in a game played at home, Puebla came out with a 6–2 victory and so tying the series at three games, setting a dramatic game 7. This game was played on September 14 in a jam packed Estadio de Béisbol Hermanos Serdán, as Puebla won in a 3–0 shutout and gave the state its third championship.