The man who put Tabasco on the Mexican baseball map has something to say. Juan Navarrete, the manager who guided the Olmecas de Tabasco to their only Liga Mexicana de Béisbol championship back in 1993, reached out from the United States with a message of support ahead of the 2026 Serie del Rey — the franchise’s first trip to the final in 33 years. The Olmecas open the series on Tuesday, September 8, against the Toros de Tijuana.
«My vibe is that they pull it off»
«My vibe and my wish is that they pull it off,» Navarrete said. «I’m not in contact with anyone over there, but right now the most important thing is for all of us to want to win the championship.»
Those words land with real weight. Navarrete currently works as an infield coordinator in the Oakland Athletics‘ minor league system, but his legacy in Tabasco is untouchable. He’s not calling from the dugout — he said so himself — but his voice showed up at exactly the right moment.
What Navarrete actually did in 1993
This isn’t a casual observer talking. In 1993, Navarrete took an Olmecas team that had gone 14 years without reaching the postseason and finished the regular season in third place in the South with a 66-59 record. Nobody had them as favorites. He led them past the Tigres, then the Diablos Rojos, and finally past the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos — 4 games to 1 in the final — to claim the only championship in franchise history.
The baseball world took notice. Navarrete was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. He is, without question, the most important figure in Olmecas history.
The 2026 Olmecas have their own story to tell
To get here, Tabasco just eliminated the Pericos de Puebla 4-1 in the South Championship Series, closing it out with a 10-8 win in Game 5. It marks the first time in 33 years the franchise has reached a Serie del Rey — and the first time in LMB history that the Olmecas and Toros have met in the grand final.
This year’s Olmecas are managed by Luis Carlos Rivera, who — in a curious twist — managed the Toros de Tijuana themselves in 2024. His team now faces a Tijuana club that finished the regular season with a 60-31 record, the second-best mark in the LMB, and holds home-field advantage throughout the series.
- Games 1 & 2: Toros Mobil Park, Tijuana
- Games 3 & 4: Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero, Villahermosa
The Toros are the favorites on paper. But the Olmecas are arriving with something harder to quantify: the mystique of a team that already proved it can win a championship from third place in the South — just like they did in 1993. Navarrete isn’t in the dugout. He has no contact with the club. But his message is already out there, hovering over Villahermosa like a memory that suddenly became urgent again.
