BACK TO THE FUTURE
22 June 2007
TIJUANA, BC, Mexico — This is where it all began about a quarter–century ago for The Baseball Posse, in this town, in this stadium, with this team.
Back then, TJ was a border town best known to Americans for having a legal drinking age of 18. The team was los Potros de Tijuana, the Tijuana Stallions, a Double–A team in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico who played winter ball. Just finding their stadium, Estadio Cerro Colorado, was an adventure, as was your stadium seat, which was liable to collapse beneath you without warning.
The Potros eventually folded, too, years ago, amid scandal, at that. TJ went without beisbol for nearly 20 years.
Today, Tijuana has outstripped San Diego and is still growing. City maps here are outdated the moment they’re printed.
Estadio Cerro Colorado is now Estadio Calimax, after the Mexican supermarket chain that paid for its many desperately needed improvements. The Potros are back, too, this time as a Triple–A team in the Liga Mexicana.
We figured it was time to reacquaint ourselves with our baseball roots and see what else had changed.
First stop was for dinner at La Leña, a restaurant next–door to the Gran Hotel de Tijuana (aka the twin towers) and the Agua Caliente golf course. If you’re a vegetarian, cross this place off your list. These guys are beef artists.
The Potros were playing host to Los Pericos de Puebla. The Puebla Parrots. Sounds like a mismatch, no? I mean, com on — stallions versus budgies?
The stadium is still tricky to find. Few signs exist. Watch instead for stadium lights in the distance and try to turn off the main boulevard in the right place.
Nowadays, a Potros game is a kaleidoscope of sights and a cacophony of sounds:
Massive billboards touting everything from cell phones to elected officials. Ear–shattering music. Giant inflated beer cans. Cheerleaders in painted–on uniforms. Kids working as vendors, holding up signs to tell you what they’re selling.
Not one, but two costumed home team mascots, including a guy wearing six–pack abdominals under his horse head.
We saw a Potros fielder with an absolute howitzer for a throwing arm. His throws from deep center reached the catcher on the fly! We saw a Potros second baseman make a diving stop on a sharp ground ball and fire it from his back to first, in time.
We also saw a lot of hitting, mostly by the visiting Parrots. The home side would make a fight of it, but ultimately fell 8–7.
As we were leaving, there was a band warming up on a stage outside the stadium as we were leaving. Silence is not golden around here.
Check out the AUDIO SLIDESHOW!
©Gregory Alan Gross,
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