Mexico 2, United States 1
Roger Clemens bid goodbye to baseball in uncharacteristic fashion - with a loss.
Oliver Perez and seven relievers combined to pitch a three-hitter, leading Mexico to a 2-1 victory over the Rocket and Team USA on Thursday night, eliminating the Americans from the inaugural World Baseball Classic and putting Japan in the semifinals.
Clemens pitched reasonably well, but received little offensive support as a lineup loaded with All-Stars failed to get the job done. He has said he would retire when the Classic was over. The 43-year-old right-hander did nothing to discourage that notion after facing Mexico.
“For me, right now, it’s goodbye,” he said in a brief statement issued through Team USA. “I felt great tonight and my body responded well. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to participate in this event. It made all the work I did in the last six weeks worthwhile.”
At least one of his United States teammates isn’t so sure.
“I just feel it,” Derek Jeter said with a smile when asked if he thought Clemens would return.
More: mercurynews.com
Should the United States shut the door to Mexico?
The history of the relationship between Mexico and the United States, especially since each country gained independence in 1821 and 1776 respectively, has seen more than enough ups and downs.
Geographic proximity has brought about an assimilation of neighbors, and when something important happens on one side of the border it has an effect on the other. Locally a cultural or social event, a birth, a wedding or death, they always transcend the border.
Yet sociopolitical affairs often make the two countries “distant neighbors,†as opposed to close friends.
This coming year will be
Borgetti, Marquez to play for Mexico against United States in World Cup qualifier
Jared Borgetti is expected to lead the attack when Mexico faces the United States in a World Cup qualifying match.
The Bolton striker was picked by Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe for the match in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 3, the Mexican Soccer Federation said Saturday.
FC Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez was also chosen.
Mexico leads the final round of CONCACAF qualifying with 16 points from six matches, followed by the United States with 15 points. The top three teams in the six-team group qualify for the 2006
Borgetti, Marquez to play for Mexico against United States in World Cup qualifier
Jared Borgetti is expected to lead the attack when Mexico faces the United States in a World Cup qualifying match.
The Bolton striker was picked by Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe for the match in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 3, the Mexican Soccer Federation said Saturday.
FC Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez was also chosen.
Mexico leads the final round of CONCACAF qualifying with 16 points from six matches, followed by the United States with 15 points. The top three teams in the six-team group qualify for the 2006 World
Brazilians flow in via Mexico
Braunas· For years, Jaider de Andrade, 35, a farm worker, talked about going to the United States to look for work, and early in March he finally agreed to a trafficker's offer to fly him to Mexico and have him guided across the border there. By month's end, though, he was back home again, in a coffin.
"His dream had always been for us to have a little house of our own, but he never could make enough here to get ahead," his widow, Nilce Aparecida Moreira da Silva, said at the couple's homestead. "He knew there
Mexico, United States Sign New Aviation Agreement
More airlines now can fly between U.S. cities and 14 Mexican destinations
The United States and Mexico have signed a new aviation accord that increases the number of airlines that can fly between U.S. cities and 14 destinations in Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said in a December 12 statement that the agreement, signed that day in Mexico City, increases from two to three the number of airlines that passengers in each country can select from when flying between the United States and the 14 Mexican cities, which include all of Mexico's major tourist destinations.
The
Mexico to play five exhibition games in U.S. next year before World Cup
Mexico will play five international friendlies in the United States next year before the World Cup, including a March matchup against Ghana, a first-round opponent of the U.S. team.
Mexico will play Ghana on March 1 in the Dallas area, Soccer United Marketing said Wednesday. The United States plays the Black Stars on June 22 at Nuremberg, Germany, in the final first-round game for the Americans at the World Cup,
Mexico meets Norway on Jan. 25 at San Francisco, four days before Norway plays the United States in Carson,
Mexico Readies First-Ever Absentee Ballot
Mexico Launches Effort to Register Migrants for First-Ever Absentee Balloting
A small army of electoral workers carrying absentee ballot registration forms was deployed Wednesday in airports, land crossings and customs checkpoints along Mexico's border with the United States.
Their mission is to get the thousands of migrants returning home for the holidays to register for the nation's first absentee ballot. Votes from millions of Mexicans living abroad, mostly in the United States, could swing July's presidential election.
Some Mexican migrants in the United States, however, complain a lack of information has made registration confusing and difficult. Many
Mexico overturns extradition ban
The Mexican Supreme Court has overturned a ban on extraditing suspects facing life sentences, allowing them to be sent to the United States.
The ruling followed a decision by the Chihuahua state government to modify its penal code to include life sentences for those convicted homicide and kidnapping, El Universal reported Wednesday.
Mexico will, however, refrain from sending suspects to U.S. states that have the death penalty, which was banned earlier this year.
Among those most likely to face trial in the United States are drug smugglers. It also applies to U.S. citizens who flee to
Mexico Urges US to Improve Cross-Border Security
Mexican migration experts are urging the Bush administration to press ahead with a temporary migrant worker program to improve cross-border security and save the lives of hundreds of people who are dying in their attempts to cross illegally into the United States.
U.S. border control statistics indicate that from January to the end of September this year, 464 people died while illegally attempting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. That is an increase of 43 percent from the previous year.
A heat wave during August is partly to blame for some
NFL seeks Hispanic demographic as sport grows in Mexico
By Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic
The NFL is the monolith of professional sports leagues, so powerful in its hold over fans and sponsors that it's hard to imagine that it could grow in popularity.
Yet that's the plan, and a chief target is Mexico and the Hispanic market in the United States.
The NFL sees those markets as vital to continuing the phenomenal growth the league has enjoyed over the past 50 years. That's why NFL officials view the Arizona Cardinals' game against the 49ers in Mexico City on Sunday as
