Every fall since 2011, the Mexican Baseball Fiesta brings the Old Pueblo a cultural celebration with great music and delicious food.
“But the main dish,” said Fiesta founder Francisco Gamez, “Is really good baseball that the people of Tucson enjoy.”
From the Arizona Wildcats (owners of four college baseball national titles), to the legacy of the old Tucson Toros (and latter-day Triple-A descendants like the Sidewinders and Padres) clubs and the countless All-Stars and Hall of Famers who came through for Spring Training, Tucson boasts a long and distinguished baseball history.
In 2010, however, the big-league Colorado Rockies wrapped up their final Cactus League season at Hi-Corbett Field. With Colorado’s move north, so ended Tucson’s presence in MLB Spring Training.
Gamez, who played against the Rockies at Hi-Corbett while part of the Milwaukee Brewers organization, moved to Tucson in 2006. He said the departure of the Cactus League, following the exit of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ AAA affiliate, was sad.
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A pack of youngsters try to get their hands on a ball tossed into the stands just before first pitch between Hermosillo and Obregon for the Day 3 night cap at the 2019 Mexican Baseball Fiesta at Kino Sports Complex, on Oct. 5, 2019.
But it was also motivating.
“To try to get baseball to our community — it was a must,” he said.
The Fiesta launching the next year seems poetic in that context, and has ushered in a new era of “spring” training for Tucson, even if it does come during the first few weeks of fall.
Gamez compared the Fiesta’s place ahead of the Mexican Pacific League to MLB Spring Training. It also doubles as fall exhibition opportunities for UA, which joins Mayos de Navojoa, Tomateros de Culiacán, Águilas de Mexicali, Naranjeros de Hermosillo and Yaquis de Obregón in the 2023 event.
The Tucson leg of this year’s Fiesta runs Thursday through Sunday (Oct. 5 through Oct. 8) at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Some of the clubs competing in this year’s Fiesta contribute to its cultural make-up. Cuidad Obregón in Sonora has been a sister city of Tucson since 1980.
“Everybody says that Tucson is another neighborhood of Hermosillo,” Gamez said of the connections between the cities.
While adding that element to the Fiesta’s cultural impact, both the Yaquis the Naranjeros have done their part in building the event’s on-field profile.
Both advanced to the semifinal round of last year’s MPL Winter League postseason. Hermosillo later landed a pair of alumni on MLB rosters in 2023: Irving Lopez with the St. Louis Cardinals, and Sahuaro High School-turned-UA product Cesar Salazar with the Houston Astros.
Salazar, the former Wildcats catcher who helped Arizona reach the 2016 College World Series, said Tucson’s embrace of the UA program made his time playing in city “the most fun I had, other than playing in the big leagues.
“You feel the love of the fans,” Salazar said, comparing the Fiesta to his time as a Wildcat.
In its 12th year, the Mexican Baseball Fiesta continues to dish out more baseball history to add to Tucson’s diamond legacy — while also helping shape the game’s future.
