Roberto Vizcarra

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vizcarra and the second or maternal family name is Acosta.
Roberto Vizcarra
Vizcarra in 2013
Infielder / Manager
Born: (1967-05-26) 26 May 1967 (age 57)
San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Member of the Mexican Professional
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2023

Roberto Eduardo Vizcarra Acosta (born 26 May 1967) is a Mexican professional baseball manager and former infielder. He made his professional debut in 1986 and played 23 seasons in the Mexican League and 17 seasons in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP). He retired in 2008 and started his career as manager in 2013 with the Tigres de Quintana Roo. Vizcarra won four Mexican League titles as player and has won seven titles as manager (four in the LMB and three in the LMP), making him the winningest manager in Mexican baseball in recent years.[1]

Professional career

Mexican League

Vizcarra was born on 26 May 1967 in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. He made his professional debut in the Mexican League (LMB) in 1986 with the Bravos de León as second baseman, the position he would play for most of his career. In 1988, Vizcarra became a starter for the Bravos and later won the 1990 Mexican League championship with León. In 1992, he signed with the Industriales de Monterrey. During the 1994 season, he was traded to the Rieleros de Aguascalientes, where he spent the rest of the season and played until 1999, where he, again, was traded during the season to the Tigres Capitalinos. Vizcarra was part of the Tigres team that won back to back LMB titles in 2000 and 2001. In 2004, he signed with the Piratas de Campeche and won the Mexican League title that same year. Vizcarra last played for the Piratas in 2008 and retired at the end of the season.[2][3][4]

Mexican Pacific League

Vizcarra played 17 seasons in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP). He debuted in 1987 with the Yaquis de Obregón, where he spent the next 12 seasons. In the 1999–00 season, he played for the Tomateros de Culiacán and the Venados de Mazatlán. In 2000, he was signed by the Águilas de Mexicali and in 2001 he returned to the Tomateros and played there until the 2002–03 season. In 2003–04, Vizcarra played his last LMP season with Mexicali.[4][5]

Vizcarra held the Mexican Pacific League record for single season doubles, with 27 achieved in the 1991–92 season, until 2008, when the record was beaten by Agustín Murillo with 28 doubles.[6]

Managerial career

Mexican League

On 23 July 2013, Vizcarra was hired by the Tigres de Quintana Roo as the club's manager, replacing Matías Carrillo. He won the 2013 and 2015 Mexican League championships with the Tigres. He left the team in July 2017.[7] In February 2018, Vizcarra was signed by the Leones de Yucatán as their new manager. Vizcarra led the Leones to the 2018 Mexican League championship, but left the team in November 2018.[8][9] Vizcarra was appointed manager of the Saraperos de Saltillo for the 2019 Mexican League season, winning the Mexican League Manager of the Year award in his first season leading the Saraperos.[10][11] Vizcarra was sacked on 29 May 2022.[12] He returned as manager of the Leones de Yucatán the next day, replacing Luis Matos and led the Leones to the 2022 Mexican League championship, winning the 2022 Mexican League Manager of the Year Award.[13][14][11]

In February 2023, Vizcarra was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2023.[15]

Mexican Pacific League

Vizcarra led the Águilas de Mexicali to win the 2016–17 Mexican Pacific League season, qualifying to the 2017 Caribbean Series, where the Águilas finished second after losing the final against the Criollos de Caguas.[16][17] Vizcarra also won the 2019 and 2022 Mexican Pacific League championships with the Charros de Jalisco.[18]

Managerial statistics

Mexican League

Year Team Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Tied Pct. Finish Won Lost Pct. Notes
2013 Tigres de Quintana Roo 12 7 5 0 .583 3rd in South 11 3 .786 Won Serie del Rey (Monterrey)
2014 Tigres de Quintana Roo 113 65 48 0 .575 1st in South 6 5 .545 Lost Championship Series (Puebla)
2015 Tigres de Quintana Roo 66 42 24 0 .636 2nd in South 12 7 .632 Won Serie del Rey (Monclova)
2016 Tigres de Quintana Roo 113 68 45 0 .602 3rd in South 0 4 .000 Lost First round (Puebla)
2017 Tigres de Quintana Roo 86 37 49 0 .430 – – – – –
2018 Leones de Yucatán 57 40 17 0 .702 1st in South 12 7 .632 Won Serie del Rey (Monterrey)
Leones de Yucatán 56 32 24 0 .571 1st in South 3 4 .429 Lost First round (Oaxaca)
2019 Saraperos de Saltillo 119 66 53 0 .555 4th in North 2 4 .333 Lost First round (Tijuana)
2021 Saraperos de Saltillo 66 36 30 0 .545 3rd in North 1 4 .200 Lost First round (Monclova)
2022 Saraperos de Saltillo 32 14 18 0 .438 – – – – –
Leones de Yucatán 50 28 22 0 .560 4th in South 16 9 .640 Won Serie del Rey (Monterrey)
2023 Leones de Yucatán 90 47 43 0 .522 5th in South 9 6 .600 Lost Championship Series (Puebla)
2024 Leones de Yucatán 85 45 40 0 .529 3rd in South 3 7 .300 Lost Zone Series (México)
Total[19] 945 527 418 0 .558 75 60 .556

References

  1. ^ Meza Bañuelos, Carlos (20 September 2022). "Roberto Vizcarra, el 'Rey Midas' del beisbol mexicano". Milenio (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  2. ^ "LMB: Roberto Vizcarra, poder y bateo oportuno llevados a la inmortalidad". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 9 November 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  3. ^ Arellano, Marco (26 May 2020). "'Chapo' Vizcarra, mánager de Charros, cumple 53 años". Cancha (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Inmortales 2023". Salon de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  5. ^ Rubio, Jesús Alberto (8 August 2020). "Al Bat: Chapo Vizcarra, OK!". El Sol de Hermosillo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Al principio y final". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 24 December 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  7. ^ Martínez Álvarez, José Félix (21 July 2017). "El Chapo Vizcarra dejó el timón de Tigres". Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Leones presenta a Roberto Vizcarra y la Pretemporada 2018". leones.mx (in Spanish). 20 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Roberto "Chapo" Vizcarra deja timón de Leones". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 14 November 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  10. ^ Cruz, César (5 April 2019). "Saraperos espera triunfar en su campaña 50 de LMB". AS.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  11. ^ a b "LMB: Chapo Vizcarra es el Manager del Año". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 18 November 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  12. ^ Juárez, Juan Alonso (29 May 2022). "Despiden Saraperos a Roberto Vizcarra". Noroeste (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Leones: Regresa Roberto 'Chapo' Vizcarra a la cueva". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 30 May 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  14. ^ Silveira, Gaspar (31 May 2022). "Roberto Vizcarra toma las riendas de los Leones de Yucatán en un momento crítico". Diario de Yucatán (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  15. ^ Hernández, Francisco (18 February 2023). "Dos peloteros sonorenses entran al Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano". El Sol de Hermosillo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Águilas de Mexicali es campeón de la LMP". Informador (in Spanish). Notimex. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  17. ^ "1-0. Los Criollos de Caguas vencen a los Águilas y ganan la Serie del Caribe". Los Angeles Times (in Spanish). EFE. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Vizcarra, el "Rey Midas" del beisbol". Informador (in Spanish). 23 January 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Quién es quién 2024" (PDF). Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. p. 547. Retrieved 23 July 2024.