PHOENIX - Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) today announced that the sport will stage three different events in Monterrey, Mexico during the 2019 season, totaling six games and all featuring division rivals. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies will play a pair of Spring Training games on March 9-10.
The Arizona Diamondbacks will return to Mexico after appearing in 10 exhibition games from 1998-2015, all played in Hermosillo. The D-backs played the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998 and 1999, the Angels in 2000, the Oakland Athletics in 2001, the Padres in 2002, the Kansas City Royals in 2003, the White Sox in 2008, Team Mexico in 2009 in advance of the WBC and the Rockies in 2010 and 2015.
Since the organization's inception, the D-backs have regularly traveled to Mexico. Arizona executives have made over a dozen trips in the past four years including official state visits to Mexico City and Guadalajara with former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and various Valley dignitaries on a trade and protocol visit. The D-backs have also established a solid working relationship with La Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (Mexican Pacific Winter League) and its eight teams. Executives, employees and mascots from all eight teams have been invited and been a part D-backs Hispanic Heritage Day celebration for the past three seasons with a strong presence at pregame festivals and throughout that day's game, including the upcoming event on Sept. 8. Members of the D-backs front office have also been invited to visit LMP's offices in Mexico to share best practices. In 2016, the D-backs sponsored the second annual half marathon in Hermosillo where over 700 runners participated.
In 2016, the D-backs announced the hiring of former first baseman Erubiel Durazo as Special Advisor on Mexico to President & CEO Derrick Hall. The D-backs have always had a strong relationship with Enrique Mazón and the Hermosillo Naranjeros, who play their home games at Estadio Sonora. The franchise consulted on the planning and construction of that ballpark, which includes several features that resemble the award-winning Spring Training home of the D-backs, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The D-backs have also hosted Mexican League teams three times at Chase Field and the World Baseball Classic twice (2006 & 2013).
In addition to the D-backs-Rockies series in Monterrey, the Cincinnati Reds will host the St. Louis Cardinals for a two-game regular season set on April 13-14, and the Los Angeles Angels and the Houston Astros will play a two-game series on May 4-5. All games will be played at Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, which is the current home of the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League. The Spring Training games in Monterrey will be the first of the 2019 international campaign, which will also include games in Tokyo, Japan and London, England. Next season's spanning of the globe marks the latest example of the continued collaboration between MLB and the MLBPA to promote baseball around the world.