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Enrique Reyes (baseball)

Enrique Reyes
Saraperos de Saltillo
Catcher / Manager
Born: (1962-10-20)20 October 1962
Perlas Negras, Veracruz, Mexico
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Career highlights and awards
  • 3× Mexican League Manager of the Year (2003, 2005, 2012)

José Enrique Reyes García (born 20 October 1962), nicknamed "Che", is a Mexican professional baseball manager and former catcher, currently managing the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League. Reyes had a modest playing career, spending nine seasons in the Mexican League, but is better known for his success as a manager. His accomplishments include a Mexican League championship, a gold medal at the 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup, gold at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games and a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games as manager of the Mexico national baseball team.

Playing career

Reyes was born on 20 October 1962 in Perlas Negras in the municipality of Tlalixcoyan, Veracruz.[1][2] He made his professional debut in the Mexican League in 1983 as a catcher for the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo, where he played for seven seasons. In 1990, he joined the Industriales de Monterrey for one season before signing with the Rieleros de Aguascalientes in 1991, where he played until 1992, retiring at the end of the season.[3][4]

In his Mexican League career, he recorded 472 hits, 169 runs, 18 home runs, 196 RBI with a .240 batting average in 706 games.[3]

Managerial career

Mexican League

Reyes is one of seven managers in the Mexican League history to surpass 1,000 career victories. He won the 2005 Mexican League championship with the Tigres de la Angelópolis and has been named as Manager of the Year three times: in 2003, 2005 and 2012.[5][6] He started his managerial career in 1998 with the Rieleros de Aguascalientes leading the team for two seasons before returning for a second stint from 2012 to 2013. In 2000, he took charge of the Pericos de Puebla, later managing them again in 2003 and 2004 and once more in 2019.[7] Reyes also had brief tenures with the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in 2001 and the Langosteros de Cancún in 2002.[5]

In 2005, he was appointed manager of the Tigres de la Angelópolis, guiding the team until 2008, during which time the team moved from Puebla to Cancún and changed its name to Tigres de Quintana Roo. He then managed the Rojos del Águila de Veracruz in 2009 before moving on to the Olmecas de Tabasco, where he had multiple stints: 2010, 2013–2014 and 2016–2017. Reyes also managed the Sultanes de Monterrey in 2011 and later took charge of the Guerreros de Oaxaca from 2016 to 2017.[5]

In 2024, Reyes was presented as manager of the Rieleros in his third stint with the team; he was dismissed at the end of the season.[8][9] On 13 February 2025, Reyes was announced as manager of the Saraperos de Saltillo ahead of the 2025 season.[10]

Mexico national baseball team

In 2018, Reyes was named manager of the Mexico national baseball team for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games held in Barranquilla, Colombia, where the Mexican team finished fourth with a 3–4 record, failing to win a medal.[11] In October that same year, Reyes led Mexico to win the 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup defeating Japan in the final.[12]

Reyes repeated as manager of the Mexican team for the 2020 U-23 Baseball World Cup, held in Sonora, Mexico (postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), where Mexico won the silver medal after falling to Venezuela in the final.[13][14] He led the Mexican squad at the 2022 U-23 Baseball World Cup, but the team was unable to replicate its medal-winning finishes from the previous two tournaments, finishing fourth after losing the bronze medal, to Chinese Taipei.[15]

In June 2023, Reyes was appointed manager of the Mexican national team for the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, leading them to win the gold medal after finishing the tournament with a 5–1 record.[16][17][18][19] Later that year, he led Mexico to a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games contested in Santiago, Chile, from 18 to 28 October.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ Castillo, Agustín. "A 60 años del primer campeonato". fahho.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  2. ^ "LMB: El convoy que se encarriló a la postemporada". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 12 August 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Estadísticas del beisbol mexicano – Enrique Reyes". estadisticaslmb.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  4. ^ "'Che' Reyes, un gran discípulo de 'Cananea'". Puro Beisbol (in Spanish). 11 July 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "MexicoBeis: Enrique ´Che´ Reyes, el manager que convierte talento mexicano en oro". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 3 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  6. ^ "Enrique "Che" Reyes quiere romper más marcas en la LMB". El Universal (in Spanish). 1 August 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  7. ^ González, Édgar (17 January 2019). "Confirma Pericos al "Ché" Reyes como manager". Milenio (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  8. ^ Torres Cruz, Rubén (12 February 2024). "Presentan a Enrique "Che" Reyes como manager de Rieleros". El Sol del Centro (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  9. ^ "Enrique "Che" Reyes sale de Rieleros". El Heraldo de Aguascalientes (in Spanish). 13 September 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  10. ^ Alvarado, Gerardo (13 February 2025). "Presenta Saraperos de Saltillo a Enrique ‘Che’ Reyes como su mánager". Periódico Zócalo (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  11. ^ "Mánager Enrique Reyes afirma que México es una potencia en beisbol". Mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 14 July 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Arriba, Mexico! Beats Japan, wins U-23 Baseball World Cup". wbsc.org. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  13. ^ "El Che Reyes volverá a dirigir". El Sol de Puebla (in Spanish). 20 August 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  14. ^ "Venezuela wins WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup". wbsc.org. 3 October 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  15. ^ "Sheng Ping Cheng leads Chinese Taipei to bronze medal". wbsc.org (in Spanish). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  16. ^ "Central American and Caribbean Games: 'El Che' Reyes to manage Mexico; Watch baseball and softball plus 36 other sports on GameTime". wbsc.org. World Baseball Softball Confederation. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  17. ^ "Enrique 'Che' Reyes, manager de México, afirma tener todo para ir a pelear la medalla de oro a Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe". ESPN.com.mx (in Spanish). 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  18. ^ "Ganar esta histórica medalla de oro es lo que le faltaba a México: Enrique Reyes". gob.mx (in Spanish). 1 July 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  19. ^ Briones, Jorge (3 July 2023). ""El béisbol me ha dado todo": Enrique "Che" Reyes tras el Oro en Centroamericanos". Esto (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  20. ^ "MEX: Triunfo sobre Panamá y medalla de bronce para la Novena México". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 28 October 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  21. ^ "Enrique 'Che' Reyes sobre el bronce de México en el béisbol: "Teníamos equipo para pelear el oro"". Claro Sports (in Spanish). 28 October 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2025.