The Tijuana Cimarrones were a professional independent baseball franchise based in

Tijuana, Baja California Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. They were originally a minor league baseball team in

Liga Mexicana de Béisbol The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

(Mexican Baseball League), but joined the

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

as an expansion team in 2009. The team started play at Estadio Nacional de Tijuana (Tijuana National Stadium) in 2010, which was the last year of play for the Golden Baseball League. In 2011, the Golden League and two others consolidated to form the North American League, but the Cimarrones did not participate in that league. The

Tijuana Embajadores The Tijuana Embajadores were a proposed independent professional team to be based out of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. They were to play in the North American League and were expected to play at Estadio de Béisbol Calimax in 2011. They were ...

was a proposed team from Tijuana that had at one time been scheduled to participate in the North American League (NAL), but that team also failed to start the season with the NAL.

History

Liga Mexicana de Beisbol

The team was originally known as the Tijuana Potros. Los

Potros de Tijuana The Potros de Tijuana were a baseball club that played in the Mexican Pacific League and later in the Mexican League. The Potros were based in Tijuana, Baja California, and played their home games at Estadio Nacional de Tijuana (Tijuana National ...

(Spanish for Tijuana Colts) originally played in the

(Mexican Baseball League). They played their home games at Estadio Nacional de Tijuana (Tijuana National Stadium) from 2005 to 2008. The franchise started as a Double-A team that played until 1991 when they folded. This team actually was a descendant of the Triple-A Los Toros de Tijuana (Tijuana Toros) before the Mexican League reportedly to have stripped the Toros owner of his franchise and gave it to new owners who renamed that team the Tijuana Potros after the original Double-A team that folded in 1991. The Toros ownership kept the team name, logo, uniforms and history as a result of the alleged political wrangling that went on in that league.

Golden Baseball League

The Golden Baseball League had originally planned on bringing the

Tijuana Toros The Toros de Tijuana (or Tijuana Bulls) are a Mexican Minor League Baseball, Baseball team based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. They are members of the Mexican Baseball League and play their home games at Estadio Chevron. Team history Ori ...

in as one of the charter teams, but that plan was dropped as a stadium agreement could not be reached between the Toros and Estadio Nacional de Tijuana. They had been playing in the Mexican League since 2005, but on December 15, 2008, the GBL signed a letter of intent to bring an expansion franchise to Tijuana after the 2008

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

franchise was disbanded and relocated to

Reynosa, Tamaulipas Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Met ...

. On January 13, 2009, the league officially welcome the Potros. They would join fellow expansion teams, the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

and

Victoria Seals The Victoria Seals were a professional baseball team based in Victoria, British Columbia. The Seals were a member of the North Division of the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball (MLB) or ...

. On May 7, 2009, the GBL announced the postponement of the Potros' inaugural season until 2010 due to Mexico's swine flu outbreak and the subsequent health risk and precautionary measures that resulted from it. Before the season was cancelled, the 2009 Potros had three Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame members on the coaching staff including Manager

Mario Mendoza Mario Mendoza Aizpuru (born December 26, 1950) is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder. Mendoza, a lifetime .215 hitter, is best known for being the source of the name for the threshold for batting ineptitude, the " Mendoza Line", ...

, Pitching Coach José Peña, and Bench Coach Jorge Fitch.

Name change

There were rumors floating around that the team is now being called the "Tijuana Cimarrones". These rumors were confirmed with the launching of the team's website, which was subsequently taken down. A "cimarron" may be many things - a wild or un-tamed animal; a rough or uncouth individual; a runaway slave (in Cuba & Latin America - see "El Ultimo Cimarron" by Miguel Barnet); or a fruit-topped snow cone (in Sonora, MX). In the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

(late 19th century western US) the Spanish word "cimarron" was used to describe a wild horse, wild cowboy-drifter, or a renegade Indian (i.e. Native American). Since the team is probably not named for snow cones or runaway slaves - and was formerly known as Los Potros (The Colts) - the most suitable translation would seem to be "The Wild Horses" or "The Wild Bunch." Due to not being able to maintain financial obligations with the stadium, the league took over the team and they played their remaining home games at the Ray Kroc Baseball Complex in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

. After the season ended, the team became inactive.

References

External links