August 16, 1996, 30 years ago: For the 1st time, a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played in a country other than the United States of America and Canada.
It was the 1st game in a 3-game series between the New York Mets and the San Diego Padres at the Estadio de Béisbol de Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The reason was that the Republican Party was holding its National Convention at the San Diego Civic Center, and they wanted to use Jack Murphy Stadium, the 61,000-seat home field of the Padres and the NFL's Chargers, for the acceptance speeches for their nominations for President and Vice President, to get a bigger cheer than usual.
This had been done before: In 1960, the Democrats moved from the Los Angeles Sports Arena to the next-door 100,000-seat Los Angeles Coliseum to hear John F. Kennedy accept the nomination for President. And it has been done since: In 2008, the Democrats moved Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver to the 75,000-seat new Mile High Stadium, and considered moving his 2012 speech in Charlotte to the 75,000-seat Bank of America Stadium, but kept it indoors at what's now the Spectrum Center due to rain.
As it turned out, they didn't use "The Murph": It would have been available for the Padres, anyway. But the arrangements for Monterrey had already been made.
Why Mexico? Because Mexico is one of the few Latin American countries that loves baseball; and because the Padres' location, just 20 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border (reduced to 15 miles since their move to the downtown Petco Park), made them popular in Mexico. Why Monterrey? Because their stadium, built specifically for baseball, was deemed more suitable than Mexico City's multipurpose Foro Sol. Opened in 1990, it seats 21,803, and is home to the Sultanes de Monterrey (the Sultans).
Note: This stadium should not be confused with Estadio BBVA, a soccer facility in nearby Guadalupe, which was temporarily renamed Estadio Monterrey for the 2026 World Cup.
For the 1st MLB game in Mexico, the starting pitcher for the Padres was Fernando Valenzuela, whose tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1980 to 1990 made the Dodgers even more popular in Mexico than the Padres. The sellout (and then some) crowd of 23,699 gave him a massive ovation as he took the mound.
Robert Person started for the Mets, and the Padres got to him early, with Steve Finley hitting a 2-run home run in the 1st inning. The Padres made it 5-0 in the bottom of the 3rd. Home runs in the 5th by Ken Caminiti and John Flaherty made it 9-0. In the 6th, a Greg Vaughn grand slam was part of a 6-run inning that put the Padres up 15-0, and seemed to put the game away.
Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3 with a walk, before being replaced by his brother, Chris Gwynn. Rickey Henderson appeared as a pinch-hitter for the Padres, and drew a walk.
Valenzuela faltered, and lost the shutout in the 7th. He got another prolonged ovation. It was still 15-3 going into the 9th, when the Mets launched a comeback attempt. A walk, an error, a passed ball, 2 doubles, and a home run by Andy Tomberlin almost put the Mets back in the game.
Almost. It took the Padres 3 pitchers to finally put the inning and the game away. They won, 15-10. It was Valenzuela's 10th win of the season, and the 166th of his career. But he would win only 7 more: A nobody at age 19, a phenomenon at 20, and still a productive pitcher at 35, injuries caught up with him, and he threw his last major league pitch shortly before turning 37.
On August 17, 1996, the Mets won the 2nd game of the series, 7-3. The following night, the Padres won the finale, 8-0.
The series was such a success that MLB has returned to Monterrey. On April 4, 1999, the Padres lost 8-2 to the Colorado Rockies. It took until 2018 to return. On May 4, the Padres lost to the Dodgers, 4-0, as 3 Dodger pitchers threw a no-hitter. The Padres won the next 2, 7-4 and 3-0.
On April 13, 2019, the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Monterrey, 5-2. The next day, the Cardinals beat the Reds, 9-5. Later that year, on May 4 and 5, the Houston Astros swept the Los Angeles Angels, 14-2 and 10-4.
Since then, all MLB games in Mexico have been played at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in Mexico City. Built in 2019, it seats 20,000, is home to the Diablos Rojos del México (Red Devils), and is nicknamed El Diamante de Fuego: The Diamond of Fire.
On April 29 and 30, 2023, the Padres swept 2 games from the San Francisco Giants, 16-11 and 6-4. On April 27 and 28, 2024, the Houston Astros swept 2 games from the Colorado Rockies, 12-4 and 8-2. On April 25, 2026, the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-4; the next day, the D-backs won, 12-7.
Also, Estadio de Béisbol de Monterrey has been renamed Walmart Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment