Baseball is back in the Duke City!
For a while it was unclear when America’s pastime would return to Major League Baseball parks, but the bitter 99-day lockout was never going to delay the Albuquerque Isotopes season, which began last week with six road games.
Never mind the five losses; it’s a long season with plenty of baseball, and today the ‘Topes play their home opener vs. Tacoma with a scheduled 6:35 pm start. It’s the first of a 75-game home schedule, expanded by three games as a result of the new collective bargaining agreement that ended the lockout and salvaged a full 162-game MLB schedule.
“MLB needs their Triple-A players playing as late in September as possible in order to provide as much depth for the Major League clubs at the end of the regular season and heading into the MLB postseason,” says Isotopes general manager John Traub.
The team’s final series is at home Sept. 26-28 against El Paso.
Between now and then, diehard fans (the ones keeping their own scorecard) and those more interested in a cold beer, hot dog and ballpark ambience than the score will converge on Isotopes Park and provide the soundtrack of summer. Tickets, promotions (fireworks, .50-hot-dog and Mariachis nights are among the must-do games), team stats and more are all online at milb.com/albuquerque.
The 10-millionth guest could pass through the turns during this homestand — a testament to the team’s drawing power since it started playing in 2003.
Don’t forget, if you head to the ballpark, Isotopes Park has gone fully cashless for 2022, not only for baseball but also NM United soccer games. So be sure to bring a bank card and enjoy old favorites or try the new items on the menu. Executive Chef Jim Griego came up with three new dishes for the season, a two-pound “I-Chee-Wa-Wa” pulled pork and green chile sandwich; sausage links made from alligator, elk or rattlesnake and rabbit; and a Green Chile Philly sandwich.
Home openers are always special, and the Isotopes could use some fan love after a rocky start.
Playball! And maybe bring an antacid.
This editorial first appeared in the . It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
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