| Albuquerque Isotopes | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Triple-A (2003–present) | ||||
| League | Pacific Coast League (2003–present) | ||||
| Division | East Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team | Colorado Rockies (2015–present) | ||||
| Previous teams |
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| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles(0) | None | ||||
| Division titles(3) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Name | Albuquerque Isotopes (2003–present) | ||||
| Colors | Black, red, white | ||||
| Mascot | Orbit | ||||
| Ballpark | Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park (2003–present) | ||||
Owner/ Operator | Diamond Baseball Holdings[1] | ||||
| General manager | John Traub | ||||
| Manager | Pedro Lopez[2] | ||||
| Website | milb.com/albuquerque | ||||
TheAlbuquerque Isotopes are aMinor League Baseball team of thePacific Coast League and theTriple-A affiliate of theColorado Rockies. They play home games atRio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, at anelevation of 5,100 feet (1,555 m) abovesea level.
In 2003, theCalgary Cannons moved fromAlberta to Albuquerque and became the Isotopes playing in thePacific Coast League. The team was affiliated with theFlorida Marlins until 2008, theLos Angeles Dodgers from 2009 to 2014 and theColorado Rockies since 2015. In conjunction withMajor League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Isotopes were organized into theTriple-A West, which was renamed the Pacific Coast League in 2022. 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 (similar to theHouston Astros'mascot of the same name). In 2016,Forbes listed the team as the 14th-most valuable Minor League Baseball team with a value of $34 million.[3]
The Isotopes were preceded in minor league baseball play by theAlbuquerque Dukes of the 1915Rio Grande Association, followed by theAlbuquerque Dons andAlbuquerque Cardinals, who played as members of theArizona-Texas League from 1932 to 1941. In 1946, the Albuquerque Dukes began a long era of play as members of theWest Texas-New Mexico League.[4]
Albuquerque's previous minor-league team was theLos Angeles Dodgers-affiliatedAlbuquerque Dukes, which won severalPCL championships in the 1970s and 1980s. The team was sold to Marshall Glickman and Mike Higgins, who moved it toOregon in March 2000 and renamed it thePortland Beavers.
In January 2001, a group of businessmen led by Ken Young and Mike Koldyke agreed to buy theCalgary 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 existingAlbuquerque 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 the team to Albuquerque, and renamed it the Isotopes.
The team's name recalls the fictional 'Springfield Isotopes' from the long-running TV seriesThe Simpsons, first appearing in the Season 2 episode "Dancin' Homer" (aired in 1990) in which the main characterHomer 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 theAlbuquerque Tribune asked its online readers to help choose a new name for the Cannons, "Isotopes" received 67 percent of the 120,000 votes cast.[5] "Dancin' Homer" writerKen Levine said he was surprised when many Albuquerque journalists started calling him regarding the team name, as Isotopes had been chosen as "the funniest, goofiest name we could come up with" and he never thought it had potential for a real team, while adding that he had always liked the city's previous minor league team, theAlbuquerque Dukes, as it was the farm team of theLos Angeles Dodgers he supported.[6]
Though team president Ken Young admitted that the name came from the series,[7] 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."[8] The "Isotopes" name was deemed appropriate, since New Mexico has a number of well-known scientific and military facilities dealing with nuclear technology, such asLos Alamos National Laboratory,Sandia National Laboratories, and theWaste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP), as well as the site of theTrinity test. In addition,uranium mining was a significant industry in the state during theCold 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 previousAlbuquerque Dukes had sold in any single season,[9] and led minor league baseball in merchandising revenue in 2003.[10] 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.[9] The team has no working agreements with the rightsholders ofThe Simpsons.[11] However, statues ofHomer,Bart,Lisa, andMarge Simpson (originally created as a promotional item forthe 2007 film[12]) are located at RGCU Field at Isotopes Park.[13]
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.[14]
In July 2009, Albuquerque received an unusual amount of nationwide attention following the arrival ofManny 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 asBob Costas.[15]
In conjunction withMajor League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Isotopes were organized into theTriple-A West.[16] Albuquerque ended the season in fourth place in the Eastern Division with a 52–68 record.[17] No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular-season record was declared the winner.[18] However, 10 games that had been postponed from the start of the season were reinserted into the schedule as a postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch in which all 30 Triple-A clubs competed for the highest winning percentage.[18] Albuquerque finished the tournament tied for seventh place with a 6–4 record.[19] In 2022, the Triple-A West became known as the Pacific Coast League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.[20]
The franchise was purchased byDiamond Baseball Holdings following the 2023 season.[1]
| 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 (2003–2022) |
| 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[21] | Florida Marlins | [22] |
| 2004 | PCL | 67–77 | .465 | 12th | 4th | 12+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Florida Marlins | [23] |
| 2005 | PCL | 78–66 | .542 | 5th | 2nd | 2+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Florida Marlins | [24] |
| 2006 | PCL | 70–72 | .493 | 10th | 4th | 14 | — | — | — | Florida Marlins | [25] |
| 2007 | PCL | 72–70 | .507 | 8th (tie) | 2nd | 2 | — | — | — | Florida Marlins | [26] |
| 2008 | PCL | 68–75 | .476 | 10th | 2nd | 7+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Florida Marlins | [27] |
| 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 | [28] |
| 2010 | PCL | 72–71 | .503 | 10th | 2nd | 1 | — | — | — | Los Angeles Dodgers | [29] |
| 2011 | PCL | 70–74 | .486 | 8th (tie) | 2nd | 17 | — | — | — | Los Angeles Dodgers | [30] |
| 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 | [31] |
| 2013 | PCL | 76–68 | .528 | 6th (tie) | 2nd | 6 | — | — | — | Los Angeles Dodgers | [32] |
| 2014 | PCL | 62–80 | .437 | 14th | 3rd | 18 | — | — | — | Los Angeles Dodgers | [33] |
| 2015 | PCL | 62–82 | .431 | 14th | 3rd | 16 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [34] |
| 2016 | PCL | 71–72 | .497 | 7th (tie) | 2nd | 2 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [35] |
| 2017 | PCL | 68–73 | .482 | 10th (tie) | 3rd | 4+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [36] |
| 2018 | PCL | 63–77 | .450 | 14th | 4th | 19+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [37] |
| 2019 | PCL | 60–80 | .429 | 15th | 4th | 23 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [38] |
| 2020 | PCL | Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)[39] | Colorado Rockies | [40] | |||||||
| 2021 | AAAW | 52–68 | .433 | 8th | 4th | 19 | 6–4 | .600 | Won series vs.Reno Aces, 4–1 Lost series vs.Sacramento River Cats, 3–2 Placed 7th (tie) in the Triple-A Final Stretch[19] | Colorado Rockies | [17] |
| 2022 | PCL | 62–86 | .419 | 10th | 5th | 22 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [41] |
| 2023 | PCL | 68–82 | .453 | 7th | 3rd | 23 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [42] |
| 2024 | PCL | 58–92 | .387 | 10th | 5th | 35+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [43] |
| 2025 | PCL | 62–87 | .416 | 10th | 5th | 21+1⁄2 | — | — | — | Colorado Rockies | [44] |
| Totals | — | 1,495–1,650 | .475 | — | — | — | 9–13 | .409 | — | — | — |
| Players | Coaches/Other |
|---|---|
Pitchers
Catchers Infielders
Outfielders | Manager
Coaches
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