Cananea Reyes

Who was Cananea Reyes?

Benjamín Cananea Reyes Chávez was a Mexican professional baseball player and manager who spent one season — 1981 — as a coach for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.

Born in Nacozari in Sonora, Mexico, Reyes was a third baseman, outfielder and pitcher during his six-year playing career in Mexican minor league baseball, including two seasons with the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League. His managing career began in 1968 and in 1971 he became pilot of the Charros for three seasons, before switching in 1974 to the Diablos Rojos del México, whom he managed for 16 years. In 20 years as a Triple-A Mexican League manager, he compiled a winning percentage of .568.

Reyes' one season in MLB was the strike-shortened 1981 campaign. He was named the Mariners' third-base coach by Seattle skipper Maury Wills, but Wills was fired early in the year, on May 6, 1981, and replaced by Rene Lachemann. Reyes finished the season, then returned to the Mexican League for the remainder of his career. He won five championships as a Mexican League manager.

He died in Hermosillo, in Sonora, from cancer at the age of 54. The following year he was inducted into the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame.