| Olmecas de Tabasco | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| League | Mexican League (South Zone) | ||||
| Location | Villahermosa,Tabasco,Mexico | ||||
| Ballpark | Estadio Centenario Orsan | ||||
| Founded | 1975 | ||||
| Serie del Rey championships | 1 (1993) | ||||
| Colors | Green, black, red, white | ||||
| President | Daniel Gómez Arellano | ||||
| Manager | Mario Santana | ||||
TheOlmecas de Tabasco (English: Tabasco Olmecs) are aprofessional baseball team in theMexican League based inVillahermosa,Tabasco, Mexico. Their homeballpark is theEstadio Centenario 27 de Febrero.
The Olmecas won their only Mexican League championship in 1993 undermanagerJuan Navarrete. The Olmecas have long been known for theirpitching, especially Emigdio Lopez, Tabasco Cecilio Ruiz, Juan Jesus Alvarez, Jesus "Chito" Rios, Ricardo Osuna, and Gaudencio Aguirre. Other well-known players who have played for the Olmecas includecatcher Elisha Garzón,first basemanJay Gainer,second baseman Joel Serna,third baseman Manuel Ramirez, andshortstop Heber Gomez.Rusty Tillman, Oscar Zambrano, Rosario Zambrano, Arturo Bernal, and Tabasco Carlos Sievers have all been stars in theoutfield in Villahermosa.
The Olmecas began playing in the Mexican League in 1975 and have had many nicknames over the years:Cardenales de Tabasco (1975), thePlataneros de Tabasco (1977–85), and theGanaderos de Tabasco (1985–89). They became the Olmecas in 1990. In 1998, they played as the Ganaderos for two seasons before returning to the Olmecas name for the 2000 season.
The Cardenales, the first team representing Villahermosa in the Mexican League, began play in 1975. Plagued with economic problems, they sat out the 1976 season before returning to the league in 1977.
When the club returned to play in 1977, they were renamed the Plataneros (the Banana Planters), a name they kept until 1985. The Plataneros found their first success in 1979, when they qualified for the playoffs under managerRaúl Cano. The team included Arturo Bernal, Rommel Canada, Joel Orquendo, and Nike Nagy. As the 1980s began, the Plataneros signed starsLuis Tiant and Jesus Sommers but did not find success on the field.
In 1984, Julian Manzur, the club president, decided to sell the team. Humberto Tapia purchased the club and changed their name to the Ganaderos for 1985. In 1987, they signedSteve Howe, who was attempting a return to the major leagues after a drug suspension. He had great success and was signed by theTexas Rangers after 13 games.
Mike Cole stole 100 bases in the 1989 season and there was hope of a playoff appearance, but poor road trips againstCampeche andYucatán to end the season left them out of the postseason picture.
In 1993 Juan Navarrete took over as manager and the club signed many foreign players including Rafael de Lima,Alexis Infante,Rusty Tillman, and Todd Brown. The Olmecas ended a 14-year playoff drought and won the Mexican League title. Don Diego Rosillo was named Executive of the Year and Ricardo Osuna won Pitcher of the Year.
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