Blue Wahoos Reach Expands With Owners Of Famed Mexican League Franchise Visiting Pensacola 

The Blue Wahoos’ renown reputation in professional baseball has now gone international.

Earlier this week, two team owners with the Sultanes de Monterrey, a pair of teams from Monterrey, Mexico, who play in the Mexican League and the Mexican Pacific League, made a one-day trip to Pensacola to visit the front office operations at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

They attended the Blue Wahoos doubleheader Thursday against the Montgomery Biscuits – a pair of games played amid a steady light rain and thick clouds.

That didn’t faze their impressions, however. They met with Blue Wahoos team president Jonathan Griffith, along with pro golf star and Blue Wahoos investor Bubba Watson and fellow co-investor Randall Wells.

They toured the stadium and gained insight into the Blue Wahoos fan experience success.

“I have never been here to Pensacola and it was a great experience,” said Francisco Gonzalez Albuerne, who speaks fluent English and Spanish. “I have never been to a (Minor League Baseball) Double-A stadium in the U.S. with the affiliation (Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins).

“My thoughts are an extraordinary performance by the staff, great stadium with a really extraordinary experience for the visit,” he said. “Also, I was impressed with the quality of installations regarding the clubhouse, the food areas, the people. Really impressed.”

The Sultans’ Guillermo Gonzalez Elizondo, who is the team president, said the quick turnaround plane trip from Monterrey to Pensacola, through Dallas, was worth the long day, little sleep and the unfortunate inclement weather Thursday.

“A great trip. You have a great stadium here,” he said. “We had a great time and we’re going to come back soon.”

A representative for the Monterrey Sultans reached out weeks earlier to the Blue Wahoos to schedule a visit. Francisco Gonzalez, an avid golfer, who read Watson’s recent book, “Up and Down,” learned through reading the book that Watson was actively involved in the Blue Wahoos team.

“They saw the cool things Bubba does with his social media and promotions and they wanted to learn more about our team,” Griffith said. “They saw things about how we emphasize fan experience and said, ‘Hey, we would love to talk and see what kinda cool things, you do and compare notes and see how can possibly partner and learn from each other.’

“This is the first time for us. We’ve never had a team from another country have people come here to see us. Their game (Wednesday) didn’t end until midnight and they were on a flight at 2 am (Monterrey time) to come here, so it’s very special.”

The Sultans were founded in 1939. They are considered the New York Yankees of the Mexican League. The franchise has won 10 championships.

The team’s third owner is Jose Maiz Garcia, best known as Pepe Maiz. He was a star on the 1957 Little League Baseball team from Monterrey which became the first international team to win the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Maiz was inducted in 2008 into the Little League Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as being a Hall of Famer in Mexico.

“We’ve been good friends for a long time,” Francisco Gonzalez said. “We are involved in many businesses. We are the first franchise in the history of baseball in Mexico that is playing both leagues (Mexican League, Mexican Pacific League) with two teams, so we are kind of the disruptors. We play with two different rosters and we play all year-round.”

The connection forged between the Blue Wahoos and Sultans can have far-reaching benefits.

“For sure,” Griffith said. “Monterrey is such a big city. We really enjoyed hosting these guys. They got to see our operations and how we do things. We talked about surveying and employee engagement and how we respond to the surveys, the food and they were really impressed with our storefronts.

“They said it reminded us of Disney and really that’s why we did it. To make it more of an experience about storefronts rather than concession stands.”

Before departing Pensacola on Friday, the two team owners spent some money at Dick’s Sporting Goods at Cordova Mall while waiting for a ride to the nearby Pensacola International Airport.

“We spent some time in there,” Francisco Gonzalez said, laughing. “We wanted to bring something back.”

It proved a memorable goodwill trip.