Home and Away: American Ballplayers Are Flooding the Mexican League
A recent rule change allows American-born players to go pro in Mexico—and they’re fielding a familiar backlash
Manny Barreda is the last to arrive when he pulls his Mustang into the players’ lot a bit after 5 p.m. on a warm July night. He left his downtown San Diego apartment an hour and a half earlier, heading south on Highway 5 along the San Diego Bay, past the border towns of Chula Vista and Imperial Beach, before crossing into Mexico at San Ysidro. He drove through Tijuana Centro, then swung a left off the Boulevard de los Insurgentes onto the pock-marked residential roads that lead up to the stadium. He walked by the still-closed concession stands, high-fiving the security guard before taking the stairs down to the field. Now he silently enters the dugout, a rare state of serenity for the 30-year-old pitcher. He’s on the mound today. Baseball’s unwritten rules say the Tijuana Toros’ starting pitcher must be left alone.
The blast of pyrotechnics near the scoreboard breaks the relative calm at Estadio Chevron, and the crowd of roughly 5,000 stands and cheers. The eight Toros fielders take their positions on the grass before Barreda jogs to the mound. Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” begins to play.
