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Albuquerque Dukes
The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Frank Huelman was the league leader in home runs, hitting 10 dingers for the season. These Dukes folded that same year.
Albuquerque was host to two other Class D minor-league teams (the Dons and the Albuquerque Cardinals, the latter for which Tingley Field was built) before the Dukes returned in 1942, this time with the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League. The Dukes went 24-30, but withdrew from competition in June of that year. The league was silent from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II, but play resumed in 1946 with the Dukes returning to the league, which was reclassified as Class C. In 1955 the West Texas–New Mexico League stepped up one more level, to Class B.
In 1956 the Dukes began play in the Class A Western League as an affiliate of the New York Giants (now San Francisco Giants). In 1958 they switched to being the Cincinnati Reds affiliate, but the Western League folded at the end of the season. The Dukes returned to Albuquerque in 1960, playing as an affiliate for the Kansas City Athletics (now Oakland Athletics) in the Class D Sophomore League.
In 1962 Kansas City management moved the team to the Double-A Texas League, but dropped the team at the end of the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers began what would be a 47-year relationship with the club in 1963, and changed the name to the Albuquerque Dodgers in 1965.[citation needed] In 1969, the team moved from Tingley Field to the Albuquerque Sports Stadium, a fully modern facility on the south edge of town, near the UNM area.[citation needed]
In 1972, the Dukes name was revived and the team moved up to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The Dodgers transferred the Spokane Indians to Albuquerque after the 1971 season. Ironically, that franchise was a charter member of the PCL in 1903 as the original Los Angeles Angels, who had been displaced by the Dodgers in 1958 to spend the next 14 years in Spokane.
With future Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda at the helm, the Dukes amassed a 92–58 record and won the PCL championship, the first of eight for the franchise. That 1972 team, featuring future big leaguers Charlie Hough, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey, Larry Hisle, Tom Paciorek, and Von Joshua (among others). Much of that team, including Lasorda, helped the Dodgers win pennants in 1977, 1978 and 1981, and a World Series in 1981.
The 1981 club, powered by sluggers Mike Marshall and Candy Maldonado and managed by Del Crandall, was also a dominant team, winning both halves of the South Division with a 94–38 record and sweeping the Tacoma Rainiers to win their third league title. Their .712 winning percentage was the second-best in PCL history at the time. The 1981 Dukes were recognized as the eleventh best minor league baseball team of all time, and the only team in the top 20 to play after 1943. During that season, KTLA, a Los Angeles-area television station, broadcast several games live from Albuquerque Sports Stadium during the players' strike that disrupted the season. The station even brought along Don Drysdale to be the announcer. In addition, when the 1981 players strike ended, the Dukes played an exhibition game against the Dodgers at Dodger stadium as a tune-up for the Dodgers, the Dukes won the game, 1–0. The game was televised in Albuquerque on KNAT-TV23.
Albuquerque Dukes
The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Frank Huelman was the league leader in home runs, hitting 10 dingers for the season. These Dukes folded that same year.
Albuquerque was host to two other Class D minor-league teams (the Dons and the Albuquerque Cardinals, the latter for which Tingley Field was built) before the Dukes returned in 1942, this time with the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League. The Dukes went 24-30, but withdrew from competition in June of that year. The league was silent from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II, but play resumed in 1946 with the Dukes returning to the league, which was reclassified as Class C. In 1955 the West Texas–New Mexico League stepped up one more level, to Class B.
In 1956 the Dukes began play in the Class A Western League as an affiliate of the New York Giants (now San Francisco Giants). In 1958 they switched to being the Cincinnati Reds affiliate, but the Western League folded at the end of the season. The Dukes returned to Albuquerque in 1960, playing as an affiliate for the Kansas City Athletics (now Oakland Athletics) in the Class D Sophomore League.
In 1962 Kansas City management moved the team to the Double-A Texas League, but dropped the team at the end of the season. The Los Angeles Dodgers began what would be a 47-year relationship with the club in 1963, and changed the name to the Albuquerque Dodgers in 1965.[citation needed] In 1969, the team moved from Tingley Field to the Albuquerque Sports Stadium, a fully modern facility on the south edge of town, near the UNM area.[citation needed]
In 1972, the Dukes name was revived and the team moved up to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The Dodgers transferred the Spokane Indians to Albuquerque after the 1971 season. Ironically, that franchise was a charter member of the PCL in 1903 as the original Los Angeles Angels, who had been displaced by the Dodgers in 1958 to spend the next 14 years in Spokane.
With future Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda at the helm, the Dukes amassed a 92–58 record and won the PCL championship, the first of eight for the franchise. That 1972 team, featuring future big leaguers Charlie Hough, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey, Larry Hisle, Tom Paciorek, and Von Joshua (among others). Much of that team, including Lasorda, helped the Dodgers win pennants in 1977, 1978 and 1981, and a World Series in 1981.
The 1981 club, powered by sluggers Mike Marshall and Candy Maldonado and managed by Del Crandall, was also a dominant team, winning both halves of the South Division with a 94–38 record and sweeping the Tacoma Rainiers to win their third league title. Their .712 winning percentage was the second-best in PCL history at the time. The 1981 Dukes were recognized as the eleventh best minor league baseball team of all time, and the only team in the top 20 to play after 1943. During that season, KTLA, a Los Angeles-area television station, broadcast several games live from Albuquerque Sports Stadium during the players' strike that disrupted the season. The station even brought along Don Drysdale to be the announcer. In addition, when the 1981 players strike ended, the Dukes played an exhibition game against the Dodgers at Dodger stadium as a tune-up for the Dodgers, the Dukes won the game, 1–0. The game was televised in Albuquerque on KNAT-TV23.