Algodoneros de Unión Laguna
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueMexican League (North Division)
LocationTorreón, Coahuila
BallparkEstadio Revolución
Founded1940
Nickname(s)Máquina Guinda (Maroon Machine)[1]
League championships2 (1942, 1950)
Division championships5 (1974, 1976, 1978, 1990, 2023)
Former name(s)
  • Unión Laguna de Torreón
  • Vaqueros Laguna
  • Vaqueros Unión Laguna
Former ballparks
ColorsMaroon, white, gold
     
MascotPollo Algodonero (Cottoneer Chicken)
OwnershipGuillermo Murra Marroquín
ManagerJosé Molina
General ManagerFrancisco Méndez
Websitewww.unionlaguna.mx
Uniforms
Home
Away

The Algodoneros de Unión Laguna (English: Laguna Union Cottoneers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Torreón, Coahuila.

History

Early years

The team was established in 1940 under the name Algodoneros de Unión Laguna, named for the Compañía Jabonera la Unión (Union Soap Company), the team's first sponsor.[2] The team won its first pennant in 1942 under manager Martín Dihigo. The franchise moved to Nuevo Laredo in 1944, but an expansion club restored baseball to the region between 1946 and 1953. In the 1950 season, Laguna won their second and latest title to date, with Guillermo Garibay as manager.

1970–1981

With the creation of the Zona Norte in 1970, the Comarca Lagunera returned to the Mexican League. The new Algodoneros de Unión Laguna played their home games in Gómez Palacio, Durango from 1970 to 1974, and moved across the border to Torreón for the 1975 season with the construction of Estadio Superior, which reused the structure of the former Colt Stadium in Houston. The move coincided with new ownership, Don Juan Abusaid Ríos.[2] The team won the Zona Norte in 1974, 1976, and 1978, but fell to the Diablos Rojos del México (1974, 1976) and Rieleros de Aguascalientes (1978) in the league championship. After the 1981 season and a falling out between ownership and Governor José de las Fuentes, Abusaid sold the team to the Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la República Mexicana (Union of Oil Workers of the Mexican Republic), which moved the franchise to Tampico, Tamaulipas. While the stadium was taken down in Torreón and moved to Tampico, the franchise spent the 1982 season in Monclova, Coahuila, as the Astros de Monclova.

1985–2003

In 1985, the Indios de Ciudad Juárez were bought by Jorge Dueñes Zurita[2] and moved to Torreón, where the franchise has remained since. The team made the postseason in 1989, 1990, 1992, and 1994, but in their lone league championship appearance in 1990, they fell in five games to the Bravos de León. Unión Laguna was bought in 1997 by FEMSA-Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma,[2] which sold the team in 2002 to Ricardo Martín Bringas, the director general of Organización Soriana.[3]

Vaqueros Laguna

Vaqueros Laguna logo used between the 2003 and 2016 seasons

At the beginning of the 21st century, the new management opted to change the team's name and colors. The Vaqueros Laguna (Laguna Cowboys) donned orange uniforms beginning with the 2003 season. The team appeared in the playoffs in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2015, the latter two years as the wild card.

Vaqueros Unión Laguna

The 2017 season marked a return to tradition for baseball in Torreón as the franchise restored the Unión Laguna name and switched back to maroon as its primary color.[4]

Return to Algodoneros

The 2018 season further marked a return to tradition for baseball in Torreón, as the franchise restored the original name under which the club had been founded in 1940: the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna.[5]

Among their best players in history are Miguel Gaspar, Guillermo Garibay, Pedro "Charolito" Orta, Moisés Camacho,[6] Leo Rodríguez, Martín Dihigo,[7] Jesus "Chanquilón" Diaz, Antonio Pollorena, and Héctor Espino.[8]

Roster

Algodoneros de Unión Laguna roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 46 Omar Araujo
  • 55 Josh Corrales
  • 29 Marco Fregozo
  • 16 Alex Gallegos
  • 43 Luis Gámez
  • 57 Cristián Garza
  • 72 Santiago Gutiérrez
  • 54 Jeff Ibarra
  • 27 Jake Jewell
  • 79 Alberto Leyva
  • 65 Dahen Martínez
  • 95 Thomas McIlraith
  • 37 Aldo Montes
  • 96 Tim Peterson
  • 76 José Torres
  • 32 Joe Van Meter
  • 15 Braden Webb

Catchers

  • 14 Javier Figueroa
  •  5 Alejandro Flores
  • 25 Dean Nevárez

Infielders

Outfielders

  • 31 Francisco Hernández
  • 66 Edgar Robles
  • 35 Jorge Sesma
  • 10 Nick Torres

Manager

  • 24 Ramón Orantes

Coaches

  • 63 Antonio Aguilera
  • 48 Michel Enríquez
  • 33 Ernesto Espinoza
  • 52 Jesús Manso
  • 45 Alfredo Meza
  • 19 Javier Robles
  • 69 Arturo Ruiz


7-day injured list

~ Development list
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporarily inactive list
Roster updated December 20, 2023
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Mexican League

Retired numbers

  • 6 Pedro Orta
  • 11 Guillermo Garibay
  • 21 Héctor Espino

References

  1. ↑ Rodarte, Ernesto (20 May 2021). "LMB vuelve con más fuerza que nunca para su temporada 2021". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Luna Walss, Rodolfo (20 July 2005). "El negocio del béisbol". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Luna Walss, Rodolfo (27 July 2005). "El negocio del béisbol". El Siglo de Torreón. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Corpus, Salvador (17 February 2017). "Vaqueros presenta nueva imagen". LMB (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Regresan los Algodoneros Unión Laguna". LMB (in Spanish). 2 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Moises Camacho Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Martín Dihigo Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Héctor Espino Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
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