Por Johnny McDonald

The San Diego Padres might best be described as Major League Baseball’s ambassadors to Mexico.

In past years they have made many visits and coming up on March 26-27 they’ll renew that role when they face the Houston Astros in a pair of spring training games at Fray Nano Stadium in Mexico City.

The two-game series was organized by Major League Baseball (MLB), the MLB Players Association, and the mayor of Mexico City, Dr. Miguel Mancera.

This marks the first MLB appearance in Mexico City since 2004.

“We’re very excited to be in Mexico City and bring our game to Mexican fans,” said Padres General Manager A.J. Preller. “Playing in Mexico isn’t a foreign concept for either team.”

The Padres have made seven spring training trips to Mexico and played regular season games in Monterrey against the New York Mets in 1998 and Colorado Rockies in 1999.

They have played exhibition games in Mexico City in 1972 and 1981, Tijuana in 1982, and Culiacan in 1997 and 2001.

This is the Astros first trip to Mexico since previous games in Mexico City — a two-game series against the Miami Marlins in 2004.

Fray Nano Stadium has a 4,500-seat capacity but will undergo a temporary expansion to accommodate roughly 8,000 fans for the Padres – Houston series in March.

The Padres hope to play another regular season game in Mexico. One potential site would be Mexico City again in 2017 for the opening of a new stadium.

A great influence in the Padres “across the border” activity comes from Mexican businessman and part-Padres owner Alfredo Harp Helú. He also owns the highly successful minor league team, the Mexico City Red Devils.

The Red Devils, or Diablos Rojos del Mexico, of the Mexican Baseball League, are highly regarded in the country. They have won 15 Mexican League championships, the most of any professional club in any sport in Mexico.

“The strategy with Mexico is evolving, but we’re going to have one,” said Padres president and CEO Mike Dee. “This is an example and a chance to work with Mr. Harp, one of our owners, to bring this together. There’s more to come.

“We’re working on a lot of different ideas and plans but this is a significant step,” Dee said.

“It is our hope that we can continue to present our game and its bright young stars to the fans of our southern neighbor for years to come,” added MLB Chief Operating Officer Tony Petitti.

“As the host of the 2016 All-Star Game and a long-standing supporter of baseball in Mexico, the San Diego Padres are uniquely positioned to promote baseball around the world,” said Chris Park, MLB senior vice president.

According to Donald Muller of the MLB office, Arizona has been the only team to maintain a schedule of Mexico games since 2008 against the Chicago White Sox and Rockies in Hermosillo.

Following the announcement of the games with the Astros, Dee and Tom Seidler, Padres’ senior vice president of community and military affairs, were in Tijuana to announce the organization’s expanded outreach efforts in the Baja region. They include the cross-border MLB All-Star Community Legacy project to focus on refurbishing Tijuana’s Boys and Girls Club facility; and a multiyear extension with the Padres’ Spanish radio partner Uniradio; which will continue to broadcast all regular-season Padres games in Spanish throughout San Diego and Baja. The games will be heard live on XEMO.

“The announcements are a continuation of the Padres’ renewed commitment to fans in Tijuana and throughout northern Baja California,” Dee said.

“I’ve always mentioned that the San Diego Padres are also Tijuana’s team,” said Tijuana Mayor Jorge Astiazarán. “And expanding what the Boys and Girls Club does is great news for us.”

In an effort to make it easier for fans south of the border to visit Petco Park, the Padres will expand its international bus program. Mexican fans can purchase a package that includes a game ticket and bus transportation from Tijuana to Petco Park.

Para más información visite padres.com.

—After an award winning, 38-year sports-writing career with the San Diego Union and authoring three books, Johnny McDonald now considers writing a hobby. You can reach him at [email protected].