The Los Angeles Dodgers’ new single-A California League affiliate, the Ontario Tower Buzzers, will begin play Thursday evening at the Ontario Sports Empire Complex.
The team is owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings, which was established in 2021 by the media conglomerate Endeavor and owns more than 40 minor league baseball teams, including five of the California League’s eight teams.
Diamond Baseball Holdings announced the purchase of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, then the Dodgers’ single-A affiliate, on Dec. 12, 2024, and said they would mover to Ontario for the 2026 season and retain the affiliation with the Dodgers.
In conjunction with the announcement of the Quakes’ move to Ontario, Diamond Baseball Holdings announced the San Bernardino-based Inland Empire 66ers, then the Angels’ single-A affiliate, would move to Rancho Cucamonga in 2026 and retain the Angels’ affiliation.
Diamond Baseball Holdings also announced the purchase of the Modesto Nuts on Dec. 12, 2024, the Seattle Mariners’ single-A affiliate, and their move to San Bernardino for the 2026 season to play as the Inland Empire 66ers.
Ontario’s Tower Buzzers nickname is a salute to the city’s aviation legacy and inspired by the following line from the 1986 film “Top Gun”: “Sorry Goose, but it’s time to buzz the tower.”
“The airport is a huge player in our market, transformational for the city and economy and we wanted to lean in,” general manager Allan Benavides told reporters at the Sept. 18 announcement at Ontario Town Square.
“There were a lot of fun assumptions made about what the (team) name would be, like Aviators and Pilots, but those were already taken.”
Furthering the tie to “Top Gun,” the team’s bee mascot is named Maverick, the code name for the character played by Tom Cruise.
The 6,000-seat ONT Field at the 160-acre Ontario Sports Empire Complex has traditional fixed seats, premium hospitality areas, a grass berm and terraced seating. It also includes a private club, exterior food hall and a kids zone with a splash pad.
The sports complex includes 20 multipurpose fields for soccer, lacrosse and other sports; 14 youth diamond fields and eight full-size diamonds for baseball and softball tournaments; four football/rugby fields; and a second “championship baseball field” for major regional and national competitions.
The Tower Buzzers are managed by John Shoemaker, who has been a manager, coach, coordinator or instructor in the Dodgers’ organization since 1981 after playing in their minor league system from 1977-80, reaching Triple-A.
Shoemaker was named the Dodgers’ Captain of Player Development in 2015 by then-Director of Player Development Gabe Kapler for displaying “superior teammate behavior over his coaching career.” Following the hockey tradition, he will wear the letter C on his uniform for the remainder of his career.
The roster includes 19-year-old shortstop Emil Morales, selected for top-100 prospect lists by Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, ESPN, The Athletic, and MLB Pipeline. He was selected as the Dominican Summer League MVP in 2024 after hitting .342 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs in 46 games with the DSL Dodgers Mega.
Morales split the 2025 season between the Rookie classification Arizona Complex Dodgers, hitting .300 with 9 home runs and 43 RBIs in 59 games, and Rancho Cucamonga, hitting .339 with 5 home runs and 27 RBIs in 30 games.
The 6:35 p.m. game against the Lake Elsinore Storm, the San Diego Padres’ single-A California League affiliate, will be streamed by MiLB.TV and Bally Sports Live.