“Sorry, Goose, but it’s time to buzz the tower.”
This line from “Top Gun,” spoken by Tom Cruise’s character Maverick just before he flippantly defies orders and flies uncomfortably close to the control tower, helped to inspire a new Minor League team’s identity.
At an unveiling event on Thursday evening, it was announced that Ontario, California’s team will be known as the Tower Buzzers. The franchise, replacing the Modesto Nuts in the California League amid a larger series of affiliation shifts within the circuit, debuts in 2026 as the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ontario, part of Southern California’s Inland Empire region, is located just 35 miles east of Los Angeles. Outside of the Ontario Orioles, who played their lone season in 1947, the city has never hosted a Minor League Baseball team.
The Tower Buzzers' aviation-themed identity is complemented by the name of their ballpark, ONT Field. This is the three-letter code for Ontario International Airport, a thriving transportation hub that welcomed over seven million passengers in 2024.
“The airport is a huge player in our market, transformational for the city and economy and we wanted to lean in,” said Tower Buzzers general manager Allan Benavides, who came to Ontario following 15 seasons with the Eugene Emeralds. “There were a lot of fun assumptions made about what the [team] name would be, like Aviators and Pilots. But those were already taken."
Ontario's airport was initially known as Latimer Field. In 1943 it was utilized as an Army Air Corps training and operations base, and the Tower Buzzers' identity is an homage to that era as well.
"We want to pay tribute to the mavericks who flew those planes," said Benavides. "It was a tiny little airport at first, and they made it into a much bigger thing."
Hence the team's mascot, Maverick, who was also unveiled on Thursday evening. Maverick, a bee who wears aviator glasses, is described in the team's press release as "Channeling the swagger of Hollywood's hotshot fighter pilot best known for pushing limits and buzzing towers." A bee-list version of Tom Cruise, in other words.
Celebrity Dodgers fan Mario Lopez emceed the rollicking launch event, which drew 8,000 people and included appearances by Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrín and former stars Steve Sax, Bill Russell, Eric Gagne and Joe Kelly.
Musical guest Ozomatli also performed, and the evening wrapped to a close with a drone show. It was all geared toward making an impact within the Greater Los Angeles area, where there are no shortage of entertainment options.
“We have to make a splash, and make our presence known quickly more than most [Minor League] teams do,” said Benavides. “Let’s go for it.”
The Tower Buzzers' color scheme consists of red, white, yellow and two shades of blue (Dodger and sky), with the primary logo featuring a bee buzzing past a control tower. The look was brought to life by Studio Simon's Dan Simon, a Louisville-based designer who has worked with dozens of Minor League teams.
“When you’ve got an aviation-themed identity, depending on the name there’s not a lot that’s quote-unquote ‘Minor League’ that you can do with it,” said Simon. “But because of the word Buzzers in the team name, that gave us a bee character to add a fun and whimsical Minor League element.”
The bee, donned in a pilot cap and scarf, features as a sleeve patch on both the home and away jerseys. Its flight path crosses the t in the Ontario wordmark on the away jersey; on the home jersey it zips through the bottom loops of a pair of z’s.
Prior to starting his own studio, Simon worked for the Dodgers for six seasons as an in-house designer (the first role of its kind in professional sports). He said that “bringing the Dodgers look and feel to an identity” was a task he innately understood. The connection between Minor League affiliate and parent club is made explicit via the Dodgers-inspired uniforms as well as the interlocking diagonal ONT logo featured on the hats.
“The Dodgers have the best uniforms in baseball. Why mess with perfection?” said Benavides, who grew up as a Dodgers fan. “We’ve got to lean into that theme.”
The Tower Buzzers make their on-field debut on April 3, 2026 at ONT Field, the centerpiece of the 190-acre Ontario Sports Empire complex.