Victor Cuevas and his son Victor Cuevas Jr. have a home in Tucson and have been supportive of the Mexican Baseball Fiesta operation at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium since its inception in 2011.
They know all about how starved Tucson is for professional baseball at a high level since spring training operations came to a close here in 2010 and the San Diego Padres moved their Triple-A affiliate from Tucson to El Paso following the 2013 season.
Cuevas Sr. is the owner of what was formerly known as Mayos de Navojoa and his son is the general manager.
They officially announced last month the move of the Navojoas de Sonora of the Mexican Pacific League to Tucson starting this October. It is the first time a team from the league (Liga Mexicana del Pacifica) will have a team based in the United States.
“Our league is growing really fast, and the city (Novojoa) where we used to play wasn’t, so we needed to move,” Cuevas Sr. said. “We needed to find a city of about 600,000 to 1 million in population, and to us, Tucson was really natural.
“It’s in our playing zone. We have working agreements with MLB. We meet every summer, and two years ago, they suggested, ‘We need a team from your league in Arizona.’ So the owners got together, we as an organization got together, and we started working to that goal.”
Cuevas mentioned that the team’s nickname will not be determined until into the first season in Tucson.
It will be known as the Tucson Baseball Team in its first year of operation.
The team colors will be blue, white and light gold. Another uniform combination will incorporate a tan color to symbolize the Southwest.
The younger Cuevas mentioned the team will have its summer training (opposite of spring training because the season is in the winter) in September with three preseason games in early October before the season begins Oct. 16.
The season runs through December with the playoffs in January.
The Cuevas and Mexican Baseball Fiesta CEO Frank Gamez III were in attendance at the Garmin Marathon Series Kickoff Event on Tuesday night at The Monica downtown.
The Cuevas want to build a relationship with the community and its leaders to gather more support for the new concept of professional winter baseball in Tucson.
“The big challenge is to have the community embrace their team,” Cuevas Sr. said. “It is going to be their team. We’re going to be playing for all of Tucson, not just Latinos or Mexicans. That’s going to be a challenge. That’s the goal we want to work toward.”
Cuevas Sr. emphasized the word “their” when saying “their team” because many players on the roster will remain from year to year, similar to major-league teams. That rarely, if ever, has happened with teams in Tucson. A player may be on Tucson’s roster for a decade, for example.
The University of Arizona has athletes for only up to a four- or five-year period if they stay until the end.
The minor-league baseball and hockey teams and FC Tucson soccer teams that have played here feature fluctuating rosters from year to year.
Another challenge is the logistics of nine other Mexican Pacific League (Liga Mexicana del Pacifica) teams and their fans traveling to Tucson and the Tucson Baseball Team and its fans venturing to Mexico regularly because of the length of travel and crossing the border includes obtaining visas.
Cuevas Sr. believes it’s a challenge that can be met with proper scheduling of games.
“The schedule will actually have some special modifications to accommodate the logistics of teams and fans traveling,” he said. “There’s a fan base in the community that goes to games. … They’re used to traveling.
“I think Tucson was a natural city to move to. The Southwestern culture can come together with Sonora, northern Mexico. That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we like about Tucson.”
The highly popular Mexican Baseball Fiesta, which consistently draws capacity crowds for games involving Arizona’s baseball team and teams from the Mexican Pacific League, played a part in Cuevas believing his team can flourish here.
The Mexican Baseball Fiesta includes a party atmosphere with live concerts. Don’t expect the same always at Tucson Baseball Team games, but promotions planned will strive for a lively atmosphere.
“We’ll do whatever it takes for people to show up,” Cuevas Sr. said. “If we need to do a dance or a concert, we’ll do it. But the essence is going to be baseball. It will be great baseball because the level of our league is at the top of the line.
“They will keep coming back because of the great baseball we’re going to have.”
Well-established current and former MLB and Mexican League players participate in the Mexican Pacific League.
Willie Romero, who has managed in the Los Angeles Angels’ farm system, will return to manage the Tucson Baseball Team after he led the Mayos de Navojoa last year.
The roster includes left-handed pitcher Robert Carlson (played with the New York Mets in 2012 and 2013) and left-hander Josh Outman (with Oakland A’s, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees from 2008 to 2014).
Ramon Mendoza, a second baseman in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, is on the Tucson Baseball Team roster. He is a teammate with former Arizona centerfielder Chase Davis with Double-A Springfield (Mo.).
The team name will be determined through the course of the season, according to Cuevas Sr.
“People at the games will write what they want the team name to be, also ask people on social media to vote,” Cuevas Sr. said. “We’ll get the media involved. We want to reach out to the community in that way.”
Noteworthy: Gamez will work with Tucson Baseball Team ownership to incorporate youth baseball with the organization with various team functions. … The headquarters for the team will be at Kino Stadium temporarily before a permanent move of the offices to downtown Tucson, according to Cuevas Sr.
