Albuquerque Isotopes

Albuquerque Isotopes Founded in 2003 Albuquerque, New Mexico
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	Triple-A (2003–present)
Minor league affiliations
League	Triple-A West (2021–present)
Division	East Division
Previous leagues	Pacific Coast League (2003–2020)
Major league affiliations
Current	Colorado Rockies (2015–present)
Previous	Los Angeles Dodgers (2009–2014) Florida Marlins (2003–2008)
Minor league titles
League titles (0)	None
Division titles (3)	2003 2009 2012
Team data
Nickname	Albuquerque Isotopes (2003–present)
Colors	Black, red, white
Mascot	Orbit
Ballpark	Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park (2003–present)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Albuquerque Baseball Club
Manager	Warren Schaeffer
General Manager	John Traub

The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A West and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an elevation of 5,100 feet (1,555 m) above sea level.

In 2003, the Calgary Cannons moved from Alberta to Albuquerque and became the Isotopes playing in the Pacific Coast League. The team was affiliated with the Florida Marlins until 2008 and the Dodgers from 2009 to 2014. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Isotopes were organized into the ten-team Triple-A West. The team won division titles in 2003, 2009, and 2012; it has never won a league championship.

The Isotopes' mascot is Orbit, a yellow, orange, and red alien. In 2016, Forbes listed the team as the 14th-most valuable Minor League Baseball team with a value of $34 million.

Name origins

The team's name recalls the fictional 'Springfield Isotopes' from the long-running TV series The Simpsons, first appearing in the Season 2 episode "Dancin' Homer" (aired in 1990) in which the main character Homer Simpson temporarily becomes his local baseball team's mascot. In the episode "Hungry, Hungry Homer", which first aired on March 4, 2001, Homer attempts to thwart the team's plan to move to Albuquerque by going on a hunger strike. Subsequently, when the Albuquerque Tribune asked its online readers to help choose a new name for the Cannons, "Isotopes" received 67 percent of the 120,000 votes cast.

Though team president Ken Young admitted that the name came from the series, he said at the name's unveiling, "We picked it because over the past year it has become a popular name, and it does have something to do with Albuquerque." The "Isotopes" name was deemed appropriate, since New Mexico has a number of well-known scientific and military facilities dealing with nuclear technology, such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP), as well as the site of the Trinity test. In addition, uranium mining was a significant industry in the state during the Cold War.

In the three months after the team's name was announced in September 2002, before the team ever took the field, the team sold more merchandise than the previous Albuquerque Dukes had sold in any single season, and led minor league baseball in merchandising revenue in 2003. The team said they were able to tell when episodes featuring the Springfield Isotopes would air in different markets based on clusters of orders from different viewing areas. The team has no working agreements with the rightsholders of The Simpsons. However, statues of Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Marge Simpson (originally created as a promotional item for the 2007 film) are located at RGCU Field at Isotopes Park.

History

Albuquerque's previous minor-league team was the Los Angeles Dodgers-affiliated Albuquerque Dukes, which won several PCL championships in the 1970s and 1980s. The team was sold to Marshall Glickman and Mike Higgins, who moved it to Oregon in March 2000 and renamed it the Portland Beavers.

In January 2001, a group of businessmen led by Ken Young and Mike Koldyke agreed to buy the Calgary Cannons with the intention of bringing the team to Albuquerque for the 2003 season. But Young and Koldyke told the city of Albuquerque that they would only buy the team if the city would fund a new stadium or renovate the existing Albuquerque Sports Stadium. In May 2001, the city approved a vote to spend $25 million on a renovation. Ken Young and Mike Koldyke then bought the Cannons, moved to the team to Albuquerque, and renamed it the Isotopes.

The planned renovation eventually turned into the construction of a new baseball facility, Isotopes Park, around the old playing field.

The Isotopes played their first official game in Albuquerque on April 11, 2003, three years after the Dukes left for Portland. At Isotopes Park, the baseball team was greeted by over 12,000 fans in their opening day game. In the Isotopes' opening season, the baseball team saw over 575,000 fans enter their stadium to watch their newly acquired team perform. During the 2003 season, Albuquerque saw immediate success as their new team won the 2003 Central Division Title and in addition to that, entered the 2003 Pacific Coast League Playoffs.

In 2008, the Albuquerque Isotopes achieved a new feat when they reached a new franchise record in attendance with over 590,000 fans.

In July 2009, Albuquerque received an unusual amount of nationwide attention following the arrival of Manny Ramirez. The outfielder at the time was under intense scrutiny for a suspension he received after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, more commonly known as PEDs, and was slated to play a total of three games with the Albuquerque Isotopes before returning to the major league. The Albuquerque Isotopes ran multiple promotions for the arrival of Manny Ramirez including advertisements, wigs bearing an extreme similarity to the hair of Manny Ramirez, etc. which ultimately led to a then-attendance record with over 15,000 fans attending the outfielder's opening game with the Isotopes. In addition to this, there was a large amount of harsh criticism towards the team from numerous sports media outlets including ESPN and sports commentators such as Bob Costas.

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Isotopes were organized into the ten-team Triple-A West.

Season-by-season records

Table key

League	The team's final position in the league standings
Division	The team's final position in the divisional standings
GB	Games behind the team that finished in first place in the division that season
	Class champions (2003–present)
	League champions (2003–present)
§	Conference champions (2003–2020)
*	Division champions (2003–present)

Season-by-season records

Season	League	Regular season					Postseason			MLB affiliate	Ref.
		Record	Win %	League	Division	GB	Record	Win %	Result
2003 *	PCL	74–70	.514	4th (tie)	1st	—	1–3	.250		Won American Conference Central Division title Lost American Conference title vs. Nashville Sounds, 3–1	Florida Marlins
2004	PCL	67–77	.465	12th	4th	​12 1⁄2	—	—	—	Florida Marlins
2005	PCL	78–66	.542	5th	2nd	​2 1⁄2	—	—	—	Florida Marlins
2006	PCL	70–72	.493	10th	4th	14	—	—	—	Florida Marlins
2007	PCL	72–70	.507	8th (tie)	2nd	2	—	—	—	Florida Marlins
2008	PCL	68–75	.476	10th	2nd	​7 1⁄2	—	—	—	Florida Marlins
2009 *	PCL	80–64	.556	2nd	1st	—	0–3	.000	Won American Conference Southern Division title Lost American Conference title vs. Memphis Redbirds, 3–0	Los Angeles Dodgers
2010	PCL	72–71	.503	10th	2nd	1	—	—	—	Los Angeles Dodgers
2011	PCL	70–74	.486	8th (tie)	2nd	17	—	—	—	Los Angeles Dodgers
2012 *	PCL	80–64	.556	4th	1st	—	2–3	.400	Won American Conference Southern Division title Lost American Conference title vs. Omaha Storm Chasers, 3–2	Los Angeles Dodgers
2013	PCL	76–68	.528	6th (tie)	2nd	6	—	—	—	Los Angeles Dodgers
2014	PCL	62–80	.437	14th	3rd	18	—	—	—	Los Angeles Dodgers
2015	PCL	62–82	.431	14th	3rd	16	—	—	—	Colorado Rockies
2016	PCL	71–72	.497	7th (tie)	2nd	2	—	—	—	Colorado Rockies
2017	PCL	68–73	.482	10th (tie)	3rd	​4 1⁄2	—	—	—	Colorado Rockies
2018	PCL	63–77	.450	14th	4th	​19 1⁄2	—	—	—	Colorado Rockies
2019	PCL	60–80	.429	15th	4th	23	—	—	—	Colorado Rockies
2020	PCL	Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)								Colorado Rockies
Totals	—	1,193–1,235	.491	—	—	—	3–9	.250	—	—	—

Roster

Albuquerque Isotopes roster
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 44 Tyler Anderson * 21 Shane Carle 22 Ryan Carpenter 38 Simón Castro 45 Yohan Flande 24 Matt Flemer 41 Nelson Gonzalez † 27 Jason Gurka * 30 Jeff Hoffman 16 Austin House 26 Jordan Lyles * 15 Sam Moll 40 Harrison Musgrave 36 Scott Oberg * 33 Brian Schlitter 10px		Catchers  9 Ryan Casteel 23 Tom Murphy * Infielders  6 Jeff Bianchi 10px  3 Chris Nelson 17 Ben Paulsen *  8 Tim Smalling  5 Rafael Ynoa * Outfielders 11 Brandon Barnes *  7 Stephen Cardullo 12 Alex Castellanos 14 Noel Cuevas 10 Jordan Patterson 18 Mike Tauchman		Manager 25 Glenallen Hill Coaches 20 Michael Ramirez (bullpen catcher) 43 Darryl Scott (pitching) 31 John Shelby (hitting) 10px 7-day disabled list * On Colorado Rockies 40-man roster # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporary inactive list Roster updated May 31, 2016 Transactions → More MiLB rosters → Colorado Rockies minor league players

Awards

Joc Pederson

• In September 2009, Mitch Jones was named the winner of the Joe Bauman Home Run Award, for the most home runs, 35, in minor league baseball.

• In 2014, Joc Pederson, after leading the league in OBP (.435), runs (106), home runs (33), walks (100), and OPS (1.017), and setting Isotopes single-season records for walks and runs scored, was voted the 2014 PCL Most Valuable Player, named to the post-season All-PCL team, and named the PCL Rookie of the Year, which is awarded to a player in his first year at the Triple-A level. He was also selected to Baseball America's 2014 Minor League All-Star team.

Notable broadcasters

• Mike Roberts, longtime (1966–2013) Albuquerque sports announcer on TV and radio for local news, professional baseball, college football and basketball, and high school sports broadcasts
• Bob Socci, 2003–2006
• Russ Langer 1996–2000, former Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles fill-in broadcaster

Cultural references

• In the USA Network series In Plain Sight, the character Raphael Ramirez (Cristián de la Fuente) plays for the Isotopes.
• In the AMC series Breaking Bad, which is set in Albuquerque, Walter White can be seen wearing an Isotopes hat.
• In the NBC series The Voice, music producer Adam Blackstone wore an Albuquerque Isotopes hat during Season One Battle Rounds preparations.
• In the AMC series Better Call Saul, prequel to Breaking Bad, an Isotopes air freshener hangs in a cab and Mike Ehrmantraut watches an Isotopes game on TV in the opening episode of Season 4.

External links

• Official website