Chaos Came to CDMX and It Was Called Campeche
Imagine this: the Red Devils, in their Alfredo Harp Helú fortress, undefeated in the postseason, feeling like the kings of the world. And suddenly, some guys with eye patches and a pair of balls (metaphorical, obviously) arrive to sink their ship. Thus, with that energy of “sorry, was the party here?”, the Piratas de Campeche appeared and ruined the night for half of Mexico with a 4-2 victory. Because of course, in baseball, as in life, he who does not risk does not win. And these buccaneers risked everything.
The Scarlet Ninth arrived with a streak of eight consecutive victories in these centennial playoffs of the Mexican Baseball League. They looked unstoppable, the favorites, the coolest in the park. Until they ran into the wall of a team led by Daren Brown that, apparently, did not receive the memo that they should lose. Bold, disrespectful and with an attitude that screamed “the only devil here is me”, those from Campeche stole the game in their own home. A mood.
A Rollercoaster Match (But Without the Thrill of the Line)
Everything started according to the script for the locals. The Dominican Robinson Canó, with all the experience in the world, sent an RBI single to put the first run on the board. The fans in their element. But, oh, surprise. In the top of the fourth inning, veteran Chris Carter decided that it was enough to play along with the Devils and hit a two-run home run that turned the score around. One of those moments that deserve slow motion and an epic soundtrack.
Like good villains who do not give up, the Devils tied almost immediately with Río Ruiz in the lower part of the same episode. For a moment, we thought, “well, it was nice while it lasted, Campeche.” Mistake. The pirates didn’t come to participate, they came to win. They broke the tie with a sacrifice fly by Cal Mitchell that allowed Christian Ibarra to score from third base. And if that were not enough, Ibarra himself extended the lead in the seventh inning, taking advantage of a fielding error that had more drama than a soap opera of the three, including a clash between outfielders. Pure chaos.
The post-match declaration of war was given by receiver Francisco Peña, who dropped pearls like: “We don’t care what they are thinking about us. That we are not going to win, that we are the dark horse. We have a positive mentality, the mind of warriors, of pirates who don’t care about anything.” I mean, basically the unofficial anthem of all of us who do strange things on a Sunday at 3 AM. A mindset that we would all like to have.
While this was happening in the South Zone, in the North they were getting ready for their own battle between Sultans of Monterrey and Charros of Jalisco. Mexican baseball is at its most dramatic moment and, of course, we are here, with the popcorn, watching the show.
The moral? Never underestimate a team with a pirate name. Because while you follow the rules, they are busy changing them. Or breaking them. Or ignoring them completely. And sometimes, that’s just what it takes to win.
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