High Desert Mavericks alums Marte, Bochy and Liddi make national baseball headlines
Seven years have passed since the High Desert Mavericks closed up shop in Adelanto. On Monday, four former Mavericks were at the center of the baseball world — another joined the mix Tuesday night.
Ketel Marte helped the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-2 victory in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday. Afterward, he was named the NLCS MVP, becoming the second former Mavericks player to earn the honor.
Los Angeles Dodgers utilityman Chris Taylor also earned the NLCS MVP award in 2017. Both Marte and Taylor played for the Mavericks in 2013.
Marte, who set the MLB's record for the longest hit streak (16 games) in the postseason with a seventh-inning double in Game 7, played in 19 games with the Mavericks in 2013. He hit .256 with a home run, four stolen bases, 18 runs and eight RBI as a 19-year-old for the Mavericks.
From the archives: Jose Quintero shares his thoughts on the departure of the High Desert Mavericks
While Marte had a brief stint for the Mavs, then an affiliate for the Seattle Mariners, the most notable former member is Bruce Bochy, the manager of the Texas Rangers, which host the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.
The Rangers are heading to the World Series after Monday night’s 11-4 victory over the Houston Astros. It’s the fifth time that a Bochy-led team will play in a World Series in his career.
Bochy, a three-time World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants, served as the first-ever manager for the Mavericks — then affiliated with the San Diego Padres in 1991 — and led the team to the California League title in his only year at the helm in Adelanto.
But Bochy and Marte aren’t the only prior Mavericks that were in the news recently.
Alex Liddi, one-time California League MVP, was among eight players selected in the first round of the inaugural draft of a Dubai-based baseball league Monday.
The 35-year-old Liddi and retired MLB stars Robinson Cano, Bartolo Colon and Pablo Sandoval, who played for Bochy with the Giants, headlined picks by teams in Baseball United — the first pro baseball league in the Middle East and South Asia.
Early investors in this new baseball venture include Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Barry Larkin, as well as Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez.
There will be an initial showcase in November at Dubai International Stadium. Baseball United is expected to play a 65-game season in 2024, with the number of franchises set to double to eight teams.
Other previous MLB players including Didi Gregorius, Andrelton Simmons and Steven Moya were also among those selected in Monday’s draft.
The Abu Dhabi Falcons selected Sandoval with the fourth pick, and then followed that up by selecting Liddi fifth overall.
Liddi will be joined by fellow Mavericks alum Gabriel Guerrero, who is the nephew of Vladimir Guerrero. He was selected 18th overall in the third round.
The 29-year-old Guerrero played for the Mavericks in 2014 where he hit for a .307 batting average with 18 home runs, 96 RBI and 18 stolen bases.
Juremi Profrar, the younger brother of Jurickson Profar, was the third former Mavericks player selected. He was taken in the sixth round by the Karachi Monarchs, which also selected the fan-favorite Colon, who earned the Cy Young Award winner for the Angels in 2005.
Profar played two seasons in the High Desert, including the franchise's final year in 2016. He hit for a .300 average with 13 home runs, 58 RBI and 66 runs while helping the Mavericks to the Cal League title in 2016.
Once a can't-miss prospect
As the third baseman for the 2009 Mavericks squad, Liddi’s breakout season saw him earn the Cal League MVP, hitting .345 with 23 home runs and 101 RBI.
That season the Mavericks won the California League South Division and advanced to the championship series in a record-setting year that included James McOwen’s historic 45-game hitting streak.
Liddi, a San Remo, Italy native, represented Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, as well as the Mavericks at the California League-Carolina League All-Star Game and the All-Star Futures Game, held at Busch Stadium.
Liddi, whose father was a professional baseball player in Serie A — an Italian baseball league — and his mother, Flavia, was a softball player who continued to play while pregnant with Alex, became the first Italian-born player to reach the big leagues since Reno Bertoia, who played from 1953-62.
He debuted with the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 7, 2011, after hitting .259 with 30 home runs, 104 RBI and 121 runs for the Tacoma Rainiers.
But things never really panned out for Liddi in the big league. He hit three home runs in 15 games, and then three more home runs in 38 games in 2012. Liddi appeared in just eight games in 2013 and never saw Major League action after that.
He made minor league stops with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Dodgers and Kansas City Royals. After his second stint with the Royals in 2018, Liddi went to play in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, followed by the Mexican League later in 2019.
This year, he hit .242 with 12 home runs and 35 RBI in 76 games for El Águila de Veracruz.
Daily Press reporter Jose Quintero may be reached at 760-951-6274 or JQuintero@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @J0seQuintero, and on Instagram at @VVDailyPress_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert Mavericks fans, remember these names?
