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The Arizona Fall League is returning to town with a tripleheader at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, starting at 12:30 p.m.

Also on the docket: Arizona football vs. BYU. We don’t know what time that game will kick off. The guess here, with both schools being on the West Coast (well, close enough), is that it’ll be a night game.

So here’s what you can do on Oct. 11: Check out professional baseball — — during the day before heading to Arizona Stadium for Big 12 After Dark.

Sounds like fun to me.

“You want to have the ultimate sports day? That’s your ultimate sports day,” said Blake Eager, the executive director of the Southern Arizona Sports, Tourism & Film Authority.

Eager, among many others, has been working tirelessly to bring professional baseball back to the 520. The effort has succeeded and then some.

The AFL’s Tucson showcase is a tripleheader within a tripleheader. The gauntlet of pro baseball begins Oct. 2-5 with the Mexican Baseball Fiesta. The second game, on the night of Oct. 2, features the local debut of the Tucson Baseball Team — against the UA.

Two Saturdays later, the AFL returns to Tucson for the first time since 1994. Five days after that, the Tucson Baseball Team plays its home opener against Hermosillo.

Would it have been better to not schedule the AFL tripleheader on the day of a UA football game? Of course. But the options were limited.

The AFL season begins on Oct. 6. The league wanted to play on a Saturday. The Tucson Baseball Team’s season will be in full swing the following week.

It’s imperfect ... yet also kind of perfect. Eager described the AFL tripleheader as “the glue” binding the Mexican Baseball Fiesta and the start of the Tucson Baseball Team’s inaugural season.

“And to have all six teams coming down here, representing all 30 Major League Baseball clubs, it’s a dream scenario,” Eager said.

If the UA-BYU game somehow isn’t at night — I’d be willing to bet a hefty sum that it will be — would you skip it to attend an AFL game? That’s a tough sell.

Donna Petersen, league administrator for the AFL, made her pitch anyway — a 95-mph fastball on the black.

“I also love football,” she said. “But here’s the thing: You’ve got a good 15 or so more weeks. You only have one tripleheader to come to Tucson.”

From WBC to AFL

The AFL’s return wouldn’t have been possible if Sarah Horvath and her crew at the Kino Sports Complex hadn’t proved their worth earlier this year.

Kino’s expert handling of the World Baseball Classic qualifier in March provided proof of concept to MLB: Tucson was ready to host big-time baseball again.

“The conversation started at the WBC qualifier,” said Horvath, director of the Kino Sports Complex. “And from there, I think within a month, we had an official call with the Arizona Fall League: ‘What could this look like?’

“Then it was a couple of months of the waiting game, of everyone trying to get approvals on the back end. And then by the middle of summer, we finally went ahead and got this up and going.”

The AFL represents an upgrade in on-field talent. Thirteen of the top 100 MLB prospects dot the rosters of the six AFL clubs. They include three top-15 minor-leaguers: shortstop Kevin McGonigle (No. 2, Detroit Tigers), shortstop Sebastian Walcott (No. 2, Texas Rangers) and outfielder Josue De Paula (No. 12, Los Angeles Dodgers).

Did you know Derek Jeter played in the AFL? Albert Pujols? Max Scherzer? Mike Trout and Bryce Harper played in the same outfield for the Scottsdale Scorpions in 2011.

That’s another reason to come out to the ballpark on Oct. 11: You just might catch a glimpse of a future Hall of Famer. And you don’t have to drive two hours to do it.

“That’s the greatest story of the Arizona Fall League,” Petersen said, “finding that new player and just growing with them.”

One former UA player is slated to play in the AFL this year: right-handed pitcher Austin Smith.

Smith spent one season at Arizona, 2021, before being drafted. He was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Colorado Rockies this summer and had his best professional stretch with the double-A Hartford Yard Goats, posting a 1.69 ERA and four saves across 15 relief appearances. He’ll be repping the Salt River Rafters, who face the Surprise Saguaros in the opening game at Kino.

Spring training next?

Similar to how they viewed the WBC qualifier, local officials see the AFL tripleheader as another steppingstone.

Horvath is hopeful it won’t be a one-off — that MLB will elect to bring the AFL back annually. I’d bet a hefty sum on that, too.

What about a spring-training game or two? Tucson hasn’t had one since 2013, when the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs played at Kino to benefit the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation.

“Lots of efforts are being made,” Horvath said. “I don’t have any announcement to make, but I can tell you that everybody here is trying to make that happen.”

Eager is, well, eager to see spring training return to Tucson in any capacity. He was among those heartbroken when the Cactus League left town.

Ideally, Kino would host a pair of games over a weekend in mid-March. The Diamondbacks are a logical candidate to participate in those contests. There’s mutual interest.

“We’ve had conversations,” Eager said. “I hope it comes to fruition.”

Since the Diamondbacks and Rockies relocated their spring operations in 2011, the area around what’s now known as Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium has blossomed.

about their departure in 2010 described the location of what was then called Tucson Electric Park as “a dusty industrial area on the far east side of town.” One of those things might have been true back then.

Horvath’s father used to work nearby. She remembered accompanying him on weekends. When the stadium first opened, in 1998, Carl’s Jr. and Maria’s Café were about the only lunch options.

Eager, who grew up in Tucson, recalled Ajo Café (which is still operating) and not much else. Now? Multiple restaurants within a 10-minute drive, plus a movie theater, a Dave & Buster’s and, coming soon, a Bass Pro Shops and the , which will have three ice rinks, a fieldhouse and more.

“You have arguably the fastest-developing area in Southern Arizona,” Eager said. “That I-19 corridor is unbelievable. ... You have all these amenities that we did not have.”

The Mosaic Quarter is scheduled to open in 2027. For the time being, the stakeholders in professional baseball’s revival in Tucson are focused on Oct. 11, 2025.

“From a personal standpoint, it means the world,” Eager said. “From a professional standpoint, it’s the beginning of something, I think, that’s going to be really special.”