The Albuquerque Isotopes
are a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Albuquerque was previously represented in the PCL as a Dodgers' affiliate by the Albuquerque Dukes, who won several PCL championships in the 1970s and 1980s before relocating to Portland, Oregon, as the Portland Beavers in 2001. The Isotopes began play in 2003 when the Calgary Cannons relocated to New Mexico.
The Isotopes' mascot is Orbit, a big fuzzy electron.
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ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES TICKETS
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Name origins
The fictional Springfield Isotopes from the long running TV series
The Simpsons
were the influence for the new name of the team. In the episode "
Hungry, Hungry Homer", main character
Homer Simpson attempts to thwart the team's plan to move to Albuquerque by going on a hunger strike. Subsequently, when an
Albuquerque Tribune
online survey helped the team decide its new name, "Isotopes" received 67 percent of the 120,000 votes.
[1]
Though team president Ken Young admitted that the name came from the series,
[2] 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."
[3] 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 Albuquerque Dukes sold in any single season,
[4] and led minor league baseball in merchandising revenue in 2003.
[5] 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
Fox Broadcasting Company or
The Simpsons
.
[6]
The "Isotopes" name is appropriate, since New Mexico has a number of well-known scientific/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 hosting the
Trinity test.
Roster
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| Players
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Starting rotation
Bullpen
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| Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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| Manager
Coaches
† Disabled list
‡ Reserve list
§ Suspended list
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Cultural references
In the
USA Network series
In Plain Sight
, the character Raphael Ramirez (
Cristian 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.
References
- Doh! Go Isotopes!
- Team President Throws Isotopes Name Into Play
- To Attract Homer, Isotopes Need to Have Duff on Draft
- Isotopes Hit a Leadoff Homer at Cash Register
- In Search of Elusive Huntington Tapes
- 'Topes, Simpsons Aren't in the Mix