Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Allan Benavides, General Manager of the Ontario Professional Baseball Club, Minor League affiliate for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thank you for being with us today.
Allan Benavides
Yeah, thanks for inviting me.
Yvette Walker
Allan, you have a great story. Please share a bit about yourself and your journey to becoming the General Manager of the Minor League affiliate for the LA Dodgers.
Allan Benavides
Oh, well the story starts in East LA. I was born there in the early 70s, 1973. My parents are both Nicaraguan. I'm first generation. I did a stint at Fullerton College and Community College, and then I went to UC Santa Cruz, worked in Hollywood for a few years after graduating in 1999. I wanted to work in entertainment. It wasn't necessarily baseball, but entertainment. Baseball is very special to me. It's my favorite sport. I played it growing up, you know? It was something that connected my parents and my family, my sisters - going to Dodger games and wanted to work in the industry. In 2004, I went to work in baseball and worked in Lake Elsinore. In the last 15 years, I was recruited to take over the team in Eugene, Oregon, and then a few months ago, I was recruited to come back home to work for this brand new team, the Ontario Professional Baseball Team, which is the new Minor League affiliate of the LA Dodgers, who I am a massive fan of, and so it's just serendipitous that I get to work in the organization that I grew up loving.
Yvette Walker
In addition to being the LA Dodgers Minor League team, what is the Ontario Professional Baseball Club, and when can we expect opening day?
Allan Benavides
So we're going to open April 2 of 2026. It is going to be the nicest minor league stadium in the whole country. And I am not just exaggerating, regardless of classification, triple A, double A, single A... what Ontario is building is special.
Yvette Walker
That is so exciting, and I know that you're very deeply integrated into the community, Allan. What are some of the ways you hope to inspire and support the region through this minor league team that is currently called the Ontario Professional Baseball Club? But we have some news coming up.
Allan Benavides
We have some news coming. That is our temporary name. We will make a big announcement here in the next couple weeks. But look, we expect to and we will dive into the community, not just in Ontario, but the surrounding Inland Empire, whether it's Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, nonprofits, you know, helping out with kids that, you know, providing scholarships for youth sports, reading initiatives, working with the school districts like, we want to make sure that we are involved year round in this community, and it's not just baseball. So our staff will be available for events throughout the year. So whether it's the holiday events, whether it's community events, whether it's some sort of 10k at a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, whatever it is, right? Like, we want to make sure that people think of reaching out to us about whether they need an extra hand, whether they need some support. We want to be there for the community.
Yvette Walker
And I know you have some exciting announcements coming down the line. Tell us about that.
Allan Benavides
We have a big party coming up! So, September 18, which is a Thursday in Ontario Town Square, which is downtown, we are doing our brand launch, and so we're going to announce the name of the team, because it's not Ontario baseball, it will be Ontario something, but we will announce the name of the team on September 18. We'll announce the colors, the uniforms, and we'll open our team store for the first time. That day, we have a wiffle ball field down the left field line. We have a splash pad water feature. We have this giant airplane that's out in left field that turns on and the propellers turn on when we hit home runs, the lights will go on and off. It is going to be an experience that you haven't had in Southern California at a minor league game ever. Now, it's got to be a party, right? And so we're having Dodger legend show up, Eric Gagne, Steve Sax, Bill Russell, Joe Kelly, and my favorite, Jaime Jarrin, the Hall of Fame Spanish broadcaster for the Dodgers, is coming. He was somebody who I grew up listening to. So to me, it's like, I can't believe he's gonna be here. We're working with Mariachi Divas from Disneyland. And then to close out the evening, we're gonna have Ozomotli. And a drone show, and it's a free event. There's no cost. Come celebrate this new team. We hope to see everybody there.
Yvette Walker
So for everybody that's listening, what's the best way for the community to connect with you and the Ontario Professional Baseball Club and stay on top of these events and dates?
Allan Benavides
We're very active on Instagram and Facebook and Twitter. Just look up Ontario Professional Baseball, and over the next few months, we'll be posting lots of jobs for the team. So if they're interested in working for this new team, please follow us on social media, and we'll be making announcements as to when those opportunities arise.
Yvette Walker
Thank you so much for your time and for taking the lead on bringing this Ontario Professional Baseball Club to the region.
Allan Benavides
Muchísimas gracias, gracias por invitarme. Thank you so much.
Yvette Walker
Gracias a ti. Como siempre. Allan Benavides is General Manager of Ontario Professional Baseball Club, Minor League affiliate of the LA Dodgers, Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/ieLatinovoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media, and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE's Latino community. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
