Last week, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos celebrated a historic series of games with the Mexican League’s Monterrey Sultanes.
In 2023, the Sultanes reached out to the Pensacola Blue Wahoosbaseball team to pitch the idea of an exhibition game. Days before the 2024 season-opening games, the Wahoos welcomed the Sultanes for a two-day series.
The Sultanes are the oldest operated team in the Mexican League, and one of the few in Mexico to play year-round. They’re part of a longstanding tradition in Mexican culture.
Baseball in Mexico goes back to the 1800s. Fandom is evident in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León where Estadio Mobile Super is filled on opening day. The nearly 22,000-seat stadium is the largest baseball stadium in Mexico. Popularly known as Palacio Sultán or Sultan Palace, the stadium is home to the Sultanes de Monterrey.
José “Pepe” Maiz García is a 50% owner of the team. He was also a member of Monterrey’s first little league team, Los Industriales de Monterrey, nicknamed "Los Pequeños Gigantes" (The Little Giants).
The story of the team is told in a movie called“The Perfect Game” starring Cheech Marin and Clifton (Collins) Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Jr. The movie depicts how, despite cultural, discrimination, and immigration hurdles, the team won the championship with Ángel Macías pitching a record-perfect game that has never been replicated to this day.
Coached by Cesar L. Faz, the inaugural team was the first team from outside of the United States to win the Little League Baseball World Series Championship. Faz passed away in 2017 at the age of 98.
Members of the Little League team are credited for their contributions to baseball in Mexico. Los Industriales Pitcher, Angel Macias, was recruited by the Los Angeles Angels at the age of 16 and then had a long career playing for teams in the Mexican League including the Sultanes. Macias was inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence in 2017. Jose "Pepe" Maiz was inducted in 2005.
During the two-day exhibition, the Blue Wahoos stadium was filled with supporting fans including many Pensacola area residents originally from Mexico and specifically Monterrey.
Latino Media Gulf Coast helped organize Pensacola Latino community entertainment including the area’s Latino-themed Mardi Gras crew Krewe de Karnaval. Announcements throughout the game were made by Mario Jimenez of Triple M Entertainment. The Mexican and American national anthems were sung by Amid Montelongo and myself, respectively.
The history-making series ended with exciting fanfare as live Spanish music was performed by the regional band, Golpe Latino during an exploding fireworks display.
Grace Resendez McCaffery is the owner of Latino Media Gulf Coast.