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But something is different this time. The Fiesta is the pre-party. It’s a sneak preview of something bigger and bolder.

The Tucson Baseball Team will begin its inaugural season as a relocated franchise about a week and a half after the Mexican Baseball Fiesta concludes. The impending arrival of the Tucson club was a major topic of discussion at a press event promoting the MBF at a downtown restaurant Monday.

“It’s a dream (for) us for that to be the story that we’re telling,” Frank Gamez, CEO of the Mexican Baseball Fiesta, said while introducing a panel of guests that included the owner of the Tucson Baseball Team, Victor Cuevas.

Several people in attendance used that word — “dream.” City officials and baseball enthusiasts have been working on bringing a professional team to Tucson for over a decade. It’s finally happening.

Now that the dream is becoming a reality, those same folks are working overtime to make the transition as smooth as possible — and the experience for fans equally enjoyable.

“I cannot wait to see where the season goes, but now what we need is the community to come out and to support (the team),” said Sarah Horvath, who runs the Kino Sports Complex. “When I took the position at Kino (in June 2024) what I constantly heard is, ‘When is baseball coming back? When are you getting a team?’ Oh my gosh, it got exhausting.

“We have a team. We have an amazing, professional, high-level baseball team here. And now what we need is the community to come out. Buy your tickets. Come out to (the) Mexican Baseball Fiesta. That’s where this all starts.”

The first official opportunity for fans to see the Tucson Baseball Team — the name is temporary — will come on the opening night of the MBF, on Oct. 2. Tucson will face the University of Arizona baseball team in the second game of a doubleheader.

The MBF continues through Oct. 5. Tucson will open the season Oct. 15 at Hermosillo. The Naranjeros will play at Kino the next night in Tucson’s home opener, the start of a four-game series running Oct. 16-19.

Tickets are available for opening day, and the club also is offering multiple season-ticket options. Prices for the opener range from $10 (outfield lawn) to $35 (box seats behind home plate).

Currently, the Tucson Baseball Team’s website, , only provides links to buy tickets and to see a calendar for the 68-game regular season. It’s still under construction, one of many projects Cuevas and his executive team are plowing through in the coming weeks in the areas of marketing, sponsorships and personnel.

Last month Cuevas hired Willie Romero as Tucson’s manager. Romero has been named Manager of the Year multiple times in the Mexican Pacific Winter League and other professional leagues in Mexico and his native Venezuela.

Romero previously served as the manager for the franchise when it was known as Mayos de Navojoa. In 2017-18, Romero led Mayos to the MPWL finals, where they lost in seven games to Tomateros de Culiacan.

Tucson’s roster is still being tweaked, but Cuevas stressed two points about that: (1) Tucson is not an expansion team; and (2) he intends to devote as many of the eight foreign-born-player slots as possible — if not all of them — to players from the United States.

Since nearly winning the league title in 2017-18, Mayos finished at or near the bottom of the standings in six of the next seven seasons. They won the regular-season crown in 2021-22 but got swept in the quarterfinals.

Still, Cuevas expects Tucson to compete from the outset.

“It’s already a proven team that has been around for 50 years,” Cuevas said. “So from Day One, the City of Tucson will have a really competitive team, fighting for that championship. It wouldn’t be a dream. It would be a possibility that Tucson debuts, this first year, with a championship.”

Adding U.S. players to the roster will serve two purposes: It’ll help from a marketing standpoint as Cuevas’ team tries to grow its fan base on this side of the border, and it’ll boost Tucson’s talent level.

“We play in the U.S., and the United States has some of the top players in the world,” Cuevas said. “So we’re working with MLB teams, to have their support and let their double-A or triple-A players join our team. That’s the period we are in right now.”

Cuevas said the Mexican Pacific Winter League’s version of spring training will begin the first week of September. Tucson will scrimmage against other league opponents and possibly the U of A as well.

Horvath and her team have been working out schedules for other teams and events that utilize the Kino Sports Complex while continuing to upgrade the stadium. They’re currently redoing the sound system after replacing the scoreboard and the entire field before the World Baseball Classic qualifiers earlier this year.

“We are growing in ways that at one point we just hoped possible but now they’re actually coming to fruition,” Horvath said.

“It’s been intimidating, scary, wonderful and exciting, all at the same time. It really has been a mix of emotions. I grew up here in Tucson. I remember going to the Toros as a kid. I remember going to spring-training games.

“I remember when baseball left. We all have that ... heartache of missing professional baseball here.

“All of it coming together has been amazing. We’re just really excited to see this happen for Tucson.”

City officials negotiated with Cuevas for about 10 months before the franchise move became official. He is hopeful that this season will be the beginning of a long-lasting partnership.

“I know Tucson loves baseball. I know that for a fact,” said Cuevas, who spent time here as a youth with his family. “Here’s your chance. Here’s a professional baseball team. Here’s your chance to never let it go. If you support us, we’ll stay here forever. This will be your team — not mine, your team.”