PLAY BALL!
The Albuquerque Isotopes are ready for their home opener tonight
The not-so-well-kept-secret around minor league ballparks across the country is this: What happens on the field is often only a small part of the attraction.
The overall experience, baseball executives like Albuquerque Isotopes Vice President and General Manager John Traub will tell you, is what will keep the fans coming back year after year, far more than the wins and losses.
But having both doesn’t hurt. And for the 2018 edition of the Isotopes, who take the field at 6:35 tonight for their Triple-A home opener against the Las Vegas 51s after winning a five-game season-opening road series at Salt Lake, the action on the field will certainly be one of the biggest selling points.
“We’ve got some momentum off of last year and the focus has been real good in spring training,” fourth-year ’Topes manager Glenallen Hill said last week. He was referring to the great 2017 season the parent organization Colorado Rockies had, that has them a trendy early sea-
son pick to make the National League postseason.
Of last week’s opening-day roster for the ’Topes, eight players, including five position players, are on the Rockies’ 40-man roster, making their movement up and down to the big leagues in times of need more likely and, in turn, making their sense of urgency to always be performing at their best even more vital.
“They are one phone call away,” Hill said, “and time is something they can not get back.”
To be more clear, the ’Topes lineup has the potential to be as potent as just about any at the Triple-A level.
There’s 26-year-old catcher Tom Murphy, who two years ago put together one of the best offensive seasons for his position in Albuquerque professional baseball history and has appeared in 44 games with the Rockies in the past three seasons. All he’s done to open this season for the ’Topes is post a team-best 12 hits with a .571 batting average through five games with two home runs, five RBIs and 19 total bases.
All three opening-day starting outfielders are also on the Rockies’ 40-man roster — 26-year-old Noel Cuevas (.353 average and seven walks through five games), 24-year-old Raimel Tapia (.292, team-high eight runs scored) and 24-yearold David Dahl (.444 avearage, 4 RBIs in two games).
It might be Dahl who gets the first trip to the bigs, but he said looking at numbers — both his own and those of players in the loaded Rockies’ outfield that thus far have him still in the minors — isn’t conducive to giving him his best shot at actually being ready for the call up, whenever it might come.
“You definitely need to be patient,” said Dahl. “Especially because we have a really good team up there in the big leagues, so if I start trying to perform (like) I really want to get out of here, then I’ll probably end up struggling. You’ve got to pace yourself . ...
“Early on in the minor leagues, I would try to look ahead of me to kind of see how guys ahead of me (in the organization at the same position) were doing. … Once I realized I just need to play for the team I’m on — be where your feet are and just go out and play every day the right way and the rest just takes care of itself.”
Hill will tell you — and has for the past three years as the ’Topes manager — that wins and losses are secondary to player development. They are all, after all, employees of the Colorado Rockies and every day is about making the Major League roster its best.
But he also knows getting the best out of the players on his roster is a proposition that helps both teams.
“No matter where they are, they have to be the best baseball players they can be,” Hill said. “They can only control what they can control. Every day they come to the ball park is an opportunity. It is my job to get them focused and ready to take advantage of the opportunities.”
THE OTHER STUFF: In addition to a new slate of ball park food to try and a season full of the usual fan-friendly promotions, the ’Topes have a new party suite that can be rented out on a per-game basis and inseason jersey/name changes to the Green Chile Cheeseburgers for one game (in the second year of that promotion) and four games as Los Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico.
This opening homestand will include a beanie giveaway tonight, a fleece pullover giveaway Friday, a Saturday fireworks show and schedule magnet giveaway on Sunday.
PAYING THAT RENT: The ’Topes made their annual rent payment on Monday to the City of Albuquerque. The organization, as part of its agreement to use the city-owned Isotopes Park, delivered to Mayor Tim Keller a check for $1,550,880.41, which represents a set rent payment and additional surcharge based on the team’s prior season profits.
With Monday’s payment, the Isotopes have paid the City $26,592,355.75 (an average of $1,772,823.72) for use of Isotopes Park over the past 15 seasons (it opened in 2003).
The highest payment came in 2007 and the lowest in 2016. The franchise has seen upticks in the annual payment in the past two seasons since that 2016 season.