Cananea Reyes
From BR Bullpen
Benjamín C. Reyes Chávez
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Born February 18, 1937 in Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
- Died November 11, 1991 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Cananea Reyes was a legendary Mexican League manager who guided his clubs to six championships. He began his career in a player in the lower Mexican minor leagues, hitting .316 for the San Luis Potosi Indians in the 1963 Mexican Center League, .278 for Campeche Pirates the next year in the Mexican Southeast League and .344 in limited time for Campeche in 1965. That earned him a shot with the Mexican League's Jalisco Charros. Playing third base and the outfield, Reyes hit .264/~.335/.352 with 20 steals in '65 and .226/~.292/.288 in 1966. After a .137/~.268/.200 line in 1967, Reyes returned to the lower minors.
In 1968 Benjamín found himself with the Fresnillo Mineros (.372) and Minatitlan Petroleros (.133) then in '69 was the player-manager of the San Luis Potosi Charros. He hit .290 in limited time and San Luis Potosi won the Mexican Center League pennant. Moving to the Puerto Mexico Charros in 1970 as a pitcher, he went 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA.
Even though Guillermo Garibay had guided Jalisco to a successful season in 1971, he was replaced as manager by Reyes. Under Reyes, Jalisco won their first Liga pennant that year. He wrapped up his playing career in 1973 with a .234/~.306/.312 batting line in the LMB.
By 1974, "Cananea" was with the Mexico City Red Devils and he led them to titles in 1974, 1976, 1985, 1987 and 1988. That left him one shy of Lázaro Salazar for the most LMB titles, but with twice as many flags as anyone else. Reyes also led the Hermosillo Naranjeros to the Caribbean Series title in 1976. He served as a Seattle Mariners coach in 1981 and some sources claim he was briefly an interim manager of the team when Maury Wills was suspended. In 23 years of managing between 1968 and 1991, his teams were 1717-1295
A year after he died in 1991 at the young age of 54, he was enshrined in the Salon de la Fama, Mexican baseball's Hall of Fame.
Minor League Wins by a Manager
[edit] Year-by-Year Managerial Record
Salon de la Fama site for Reyes
Sources include various Baseball Guides, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database and The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros
