Naranjeros de Hermosillo

The Naranjeros de Hermosillo (Hermosillo Orange Growers) are a professional baseball team based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. They compete in the Mexican Pacific League (LMP). The team plays at the Estadio Fernando Valenzuela with a capacity of 16,000 seated spectators.

The Naranjeros are one of the most successful teams in Mexican baseball and the most winning team in the Mexican Pacific League. They have won 17 LMP championships, the most recent during the 2023–24 season and two Caribbean Series titles. They were the first Mexico team to win the Caribbean Series, doing so in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1976.

History
The team was established in 1945 as Queliteros de Hermosillo (Hermosillo Quelite Growers). In 1947, the Queliteros won their first championship in the Liga de la Costa del Pacífico (Pacific Coast League), the competition that preceded the Mexican Pacific League. The club changed its name to the current Naranjeros in the 50s and won the Pacific Coast League back to back in the 1955–56 and 1956–57 seasons. The Naranjeros played in the Estadio de la Casa del Pueblo that was later renamed to Estadio Fernando M. Ortiz.

Hermosillo repeated the feat of winning the league championship twice in a row in the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons, both times under manager Virgilio Arteaga. They won the league again in the 1963–64 season. During these years, legendary player Héctor Espino was part of the team.

The Naranjeros won the 1970–71 season and therefore became the first Pacific League team to represent Mexico in the 1971 Caribbean Series. In 1972 the team moved to the Estadio Coloso del Choyal. They won the 1974–75 and 1975–76 seasons back to back and participated in the 1976 Caribbean Series.



The Naranjeros' victory at the 1976 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo was the first ever by a Mexican team. The club was managed by Benjamín "Cananea" Reyes and included players such as Héctor Espino (1B), Sergio "Kalimán" Robles (C), Celerino Sánchez (3B), Elliot Willis (2B), Arnoldo de Hoyos (CF), George Brunett (P) and Jerry Hairston Sr. (LF). Again under Cananea Reyes, the Naranjeros won the 1979–80 season. With Tom Harmon as manager, Hermosillo won the 1981–82, 1989–90 and 1991–92 seasons.

In the 1993–94, 1994–95 and 2000–01 seasons, the Naranjeros won the Mexican Pacific League, led by manager Derek Bryant. Under Lorenzo Bundy, Hermosillo won the 2006–07 season and were champions again in the 2009–10 season with Homar Rojas as manager.

In 2013, the Naranjeros moved to Estadio Sonora. During that season, the team won its seventeenth league title and the 2014 Caribbean Series with Matías Carrillo as manager defeating Indios de Mayagüez 7–1 in the final.

Ten years later, the Naranjeros won its eighteenth LMP championship in the 2023–24 under manager Juan Gabriel Castro, sweeping the Venados de Mazatlán 4–0 in the championship series. The team represented Mexico at the 2024 Caribbean Series played in Miami. The Naranjeros finished sixth with a 2–4 record, managing to defeat Tigres del Licey and Gigantes de Rivas, but losing their other four games, thus, being eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

Stadium
In its early days, the team played at Estadio Fernando M. Ortiz, also known as "La Casa del Pueblo." Since 1972, the Naranjeros played in their home stadium, Estadio De Beisbol Héctor Espino, named after the greatest Mexican baseball player in history, Héctor Espino. Since 2013 they have played their home games at Estadio Fernando Valenzuela, which was called Estadio Sonora until 2023.

Retired numbers
The Naranjeros de Hermosillo have retired the following numbers:


 * 3: José Luis Sandoval
 * 6: Sergio Robles
 * 9: Vinicio Castilla
 * 10: Cananea Reyes
 * 11: Francisco Barrios
 * 14: Celerino Sánchez
 * 19: Miguel Sotelo
 * 20: Miguel Flores
 * 21: Héctor Espino
 * 23: Cornelio García
 * 25: Maximino León
 * 30: Ángel Moreno
 * 44: Erubiel Durazo

Notable players

 * 🇲🇽 Alfredo Aceves
 * 🇲🇽 Ramón Arano
 * 🇲🇽 Francisco Barrios
 * 🇺🇸 George Brunet
 * 🇲🇽 Vinicio Castilla
 * 🇲🇽 Jorge de la Rosa
 * 🇲🇽 Elmer Dessens
 * 🇲🇽 Erubiel Durazo
 * 🇲🇽 Narciso Elvira
 * 🇲🇽 Héctor Espino
 * 🇲🇽 Luis Garcia
 * 🇲🇽 Daniel Garibay
 * 🇲🇽 Carlos Gastélum
 * 🇲🇽 Édgar González
 * 🇺🇸 Jerry Hairston Sr.
 * 🇺🇸 Rich Hinton
 * 🇺🇸 Trenidad Hubbard
 * 🇺🇸 Al Martin
 * 🇲🇽 Maximino León
 * 🇲🇽 Mario Mendoza
 * 🇲🇽 Ángel Moreno
 * 🇺🇸 Jerry Owens
 * 🇵🇦 Rubén Rivera
 * 🇲🇽 Chris Roberson
 * 🇲🇽 Sergio Robles
 * 🇲🇽 Homar Rojas
 * 🇺🇸 Gary Ross
 * 🇲🇽 Celerino Sánchez
 * 🇨🇺 Yunesky Sánchez
 * 🇺🇸 Curt Schilling
 * 🇺🇸 Dave Sells
 * 🇲🇽 Miguel Sotelo
 * 🇲🇽 Alex Treviño
 * 🇲🇽 Fernando Valenzuela
 * 🇲🇽 Sebastián Valle
 * 🇨🇦 Larry Walker
 * 🇺🇸 Jon Weber
 * 🇺🇸 Zelous Wheeler
 * 🇺🇸 Bump Wills
 * 🇺🇸 Maury Wills
 * 🇺🇸 Jim Wilson