 | This one has a slight awkwardness, as the whole zia couldn't show. Very nice that the "U" is in the middle of the word "albuq (5) U erque (5), so that it could bcome part of the upper rays. Good job, artist! |
| The Albuquerque Dukes are gone, but the logo lives on! There's a zia, there are good flag colors... but then some stuff happened.... |  |
| [T]he Dukes were growing dissatisfied with their longtime home, Albuquerque Sports Stadium. It was the oldest facility in the PCL, and was increasingly in disrepair.[3] In 2000, the Lozinak family, absentee owners who resided in Maryland, sold the franchise to an interest group in Portland, Oregon. Following that season, the Dukes were moved and renamed the Portland Beavers. The Dodgers traded Triple-A franchises with the San Diego Padres, who had the Las Vegas Stars franchise as an affiliate, but who had a history in Portland. San Diego took over the Beavers/Dukes, and Los Angeles took Las Vegas, renaming the team the Las Vegas 51s for the famed alleged UFO spaceport, Area 51, near Las Vegas. . . . . When the Dukes left Albuquerque in 2000, no replacement team had been found. In 2003, the Calgary Cannons were moved to Albuquerque as the Albuquerque Isotopes, a Triple-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins at the time. In 2009, the Isotopes became an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, reuniting Albuquerque's relationship with the Dodgers. The Isotopes play at Isotopes Park, the completely renovated stadium that now stands at the site of the Dukes former home field, Albuquerque Sports Stadium. This award-winning stadium[6][7] opened in 2003 and is shared with the University of New Mexico Lobos baseball team, resulting in approximately 100 home games each year. |
I lifted all that from Wikipedia. It's a long explanation for why Albuquerque borrowed their new team name from The Simpsons, and didn't have a zia anymore.
