D-Backs to Visit Hermosillo as Part of Arizona-Mexico Commission Delegation

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks and @LosDbacks) announced that a contingent of executives will travel to Hermosillo, Mexico next week along with executives from the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix International Raceway as part of a delegation from the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Among those in attendance will be D-backs legend and Special Assistant to the President & CEO Luis Gonzalez, former Phoenix Suns Mexico-born center Horacio Llamas and NASCAR Mexico Series driver Rodrigo Marban.

As part of the goodwill trip, the D-backs on Tuesday will host a clinic for 40 youngsters at Deportivo de Naranja and speak to more than 300 students at an expo at the Universidad de Valle de Mexico. The team will also host a news conference on Tuesday at 2 p.m. local time at the Sonora Press Room. 

On Tuesday evening, the D-backs contingent will attend a Winter League game of the defending Caribbean Series champion Hermosillo Naranjeros. The franchise plays its games in Estadio Sonora, a ballpark for which the D-backs consulted on the planning and construction. Estadio Sonora includes several features that resemble the award-winning Spring Training home of the D-backs, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. D-backs Spanish-language broadcaster, Oscar Soria, is the play-by-play announcer for the Naranjeros while fellow broadcaster Richard Saenz will also take part in the club’s visit. D-backs Spanish-language broadcaster Rodrigo Lopez is currently pitching for Culiacan in the Mexican Winter League. 

Last week, the D-backs signed Mexico-born infielder Walter Ibarra to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. The Sinaloa native has played nine seasons in the minor leagues, reaching Triple-A in 2013-14. He will attend big league camp alongside fellow Mexican Oliver Perez, a left-hander who was one of the team’s top pitchers in 2014.

The D-backs have a long-standing history in Hermosillo, having played exhibition games there on nine different occasions (1998-03, 2008-10). The D-backs have hosted Mexican League teams three times at Chase Field and the World Baseball Classic twice (2006 & 2013). The team has made five visits during the past three years to Hermosillo, which is also home to Descubre Phoenix, a Mexico-based tourism outlet that sells tickets to D-backs games and other Phoenix-based events.

Next week’s visit originated from the Arizona-Mexico Commission’s Plenary Session in June in which the Sports Committee reconvened in order to achieve the AMC’s mission – to improve the economic prosperity and quality of life for all Arizonans through strong, public/private collaborations in advocacy, trade, networking and information.