Nelson Barrera

Nelson Barrera Romellón (El Almirante – The Admiral) (October 17, 1957 in Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico – July 14, 2002 in San Francisco de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico) was a Mexican League baseball player, who at the time of his death in 2002 led the league in career home runs (455) and RBIs (1,927).

A right-hander and a native of the Mexican state of Campeche, Barrera entered the Mexican League in 1977 with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (Red Devils), after playing three years in the Mexican Center League. He hit only .235 as a rookie, with 2 home runs, but he continued to improve. He broke 20 home runs, hitting .354 with 101 RBI in 1984. This earned him a look by the Chicago White Sox, who placed him on their AAA Buffalo Bisons American Association team. He hit just .176 with 2 HR in 74 at bats, and was cut by the Bisons. He returned to Mexico with the Diablos Rojos, where he helped them win the pennant. He played for the Diablos Rojos for most of his career (1977-79, 1983-91, 1995).

He won his only league home run title with 42 in 1987. He led the league in RBIs that year and the following year, with 134 and 124, respectively. On April 22, 1997, Barrera drove in his 1,574th run, breaking the Mexican League record of Héctor Espino. In 1998 he was player-manager for the Oaxaca Guerreros (Warriors) when they won their only pennant. He contributed with a .321 average and 110 RBIs. This was his sixth season with more than 100 RBIs, something no one had accomplished before in the Mexican League. After he broke the career RBI record, his old team the Diablos Rojos organized an appreciation for him in the capital, at their old stadium, Seguro Social.

In 2001 he broken Espino's record for home runs, finishing the season with 455 to Espino's 453. Nevertheless, he was fired as the Guerreros' manager that year. He went on the disabled list as a player toward the end of the season.

Barrera was accused in 1988 of using a corked bat by the Mexico City Tigers. The umpires disagreed and the Mexican League fined the Tigers 1 million pesos for defaming Barrera.

In 2002, he returned to his hometown of Campeche, where he was player-manager with the Piratas de Campeche (Pirates), still in the Mexican League. (He had played there earlier, from 1992 to 1994.) He failed to homer in 2002. On April 13, 2002 he got his last hit, in Oaxaca against his old team.

On July 14, 2002 Barrera died instantly while trying to repair his roof. He was electrocuted when he accidentally touched a metal sheet that was in contact with some high voltage wires. He was 44.

On March 1, 2003 he was elected to the Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Profesional de México (the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame). Besides setting career records for home runs and RBIs in the Mexican League, Barrera is also:

• first or second on the list of most games played in the league, with 2,733
• third in runs
• second in hits, with 2,938
• second in doubles
• first in total bases

His 455 home runs are second in all of minor-league baseball, to Hector Espino's 484. And his 2,045 RBI in the minors is 10% more than second-place Nick Cullop's 1,857. Besides the Diablos Rojos, Campeche Piratas and Oaxaca Guerreros, he played with the Nuevo Laredo Tecolotes. He played 26 seasons in Mexican baseball.

Parque Nelson Barrera, the 6,000-seat baseball stadium in Campeche, is named for him.

References

• (Spanish) Treto Cisneros, Pedro, The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics (ISBN 0786413786)
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database

External links

• (Spanish) His (Mexican) Hall of Fame page
• Good article at Baseball-Reference.com Bullpen
• (Spanish) Obituary