September 6, 2002

1:50 PM

Doh!Despite Homer Simpson's worst fears, the Albuquerque Isotopes will take the field next year. However, the team is not originally from Springfield, but from Calgary. The city's AAA baseball team will move to New Mexico next year.
posted by xmutex (21 comments total)

"A newly renovated stadium that features a drive-in section where fans can watch the game from their cars will open in April with the new season. "

That is so cool!
posted by me3dia at 1:56 PM on September 6, 2002

One of our (Canada's) national sports TV stations, TSN, broke the news by playing clips from the Simpsons episode in question. I thought they were joking at first, but when they assured us it was no joke, well, you get the idea.
posted by sillygwailo at 1:59 PM on September 6, 2002

More here.
posted by trox at 2:00 PM on September 6, 2002

To celebrate:

'Heh Heh Heh! Lisa! Vampires are make believe, just like elves and gremlins and eskimos!'
posted by poopy at 2:06 PM on September 6, 2002

"This isn't a second-rate city that should be taking our name from a cartoon show," Mayor Marin Chavez told reporters upon hearing the name for the new local team.

That guy should be slapped repeatedly. The Simpsons is THE best show on TV, and even la creme de la creme should be happy to be graced with such an honor.
posted by zekinskia at 2:21 PM on September 6, 2002

And I've been to Albuquerque, and it is a second-rate city.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:23 PM on September 6, 2002

"This isn't a second-rate city that should be taking our name from a cartoon show," Mayor Marin Chavez told reporters upon hearing the name for the new local team.


As I recall, the episode in question ended with a very sinister Mayor of Albuquerque showing himself to be a hostile character. More fact resembling fiction?
posted by thirteen at 2:45 PM on September 6, 2002

Take a look at their stadium. Now that is how baseball should be shown. True, you can't cram a hundred thousand people in there, but it makes the game much more enjoyable.
posted by benjh at 2:56 PM on September 6, 2002

This is how minor-leage baseball should be viewed.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:06 PM on September 6, 2002

k. one more... 'operator...get me thailand. t... i....... and so on'....hehe
posted by poopy at 3:15 PM on September 6, 2002

Heeeeeee, this made my day.

If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! The're about to announce the lottery numbers... --The Great Homer Simpson
posted by krazykity16 at 4:04 PM on September 6, 2002

Albuquerque is a great town. I grew up there and if it is second rate it is certainly one among many. Albuqerque has a long history of minor league play and is enjoyed by a large strata of the community. As far as I know everyone in town is very happy that they are getting a minor league team again after the financial shananigans of the former Dukes owner.

Mayor Chavez leaves much to be desired. Don't take too much of what he has to say seriously.

Considering the role New Mexico plays in nuclear development the name is probably spot on.
posted by filchyboy at 4:17 PM on September 6, 2002

If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! The're about to announce the lottery numbers... --The Great Homer Simpson

hehe...oh wait....

'Don't let Krusty's death get you down, boy. People die all the time, just like that. Why, you could wake up dead tomorrow! Well, good night. '

Screw Patriot Day....where's Homer Day?
posted by poopy at 4:20 PM on September 6, 2002

That's a beautiful stadium, Crash. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the Singe-A California League have a beautiful stadium called the "Epicenter" out there in the high desert. I was there on their first weekend of play in 1993.
posted by planetkyoto at 4:56 PM on September 6, 2002

the team is not originally from Springfield, but from Calgary
Not surprising since Homer Simpson IS Canadian
posted by ElvisJesus at 6:00 PM on September 6, 2002

A newly renovated stadium that features a drive-in section where fans can watch the game from their cars will open in April with the new season.

Sounds like an idea Homer would propose. I can see the baseballs lodged in windshields now.
posted by trioperative at 6:08 PM on September 6, 2002

"This isn't a second-rate city that should be taking our name from a cartoon show," Mayor Marin Chavez told reporters upon hearing the name for the new local team.


So Chavez does think that the city is a second-rate one, just not a second-rate one that should have a baseball team named after something from the Simpsons.

I kid because I love.
posted by drezdn at 8:10 PM on September 6, 2002

Crash, don't you be hatin' on 'Burque, now.

And the Mayor's name is Martin Chavez. Yes, he was mayor at the time that Simpson's episode aired, and at the time there were several (still unproven) rumors floating around that he had beaten his wife. He is a schmoe.

The team should have a big ol' Homer mascot. heh.
posted by whatnot at 8:22 PM on September 6, 2002

"Oh, there's a NEW Mexico?"
posted by billder at 7:58 AM on September 7, 2002

Sounds like an idea Homer would propose. I can see the baseballs lodged in windshields now.
In college I saw now-Padre Phil Nevin smack a baseball out of the stadium and through the windshield of his own truck.
posted by planetkyoto at 9:12 AM on September 7, 2002

Considering New Mexico's role in nuclear history, I think the name is quite appropriate. The first atomic bomb was designed in Los Alamos, New Mexico (North of Albuquerque) which was then tested at the Trinity Site (South of Albuquerque).

I suspect Mayor Martin Chavez is just bitter after having been portrayed as a Texan on Simpsons.
posted by gruchall at 3:16 PM on September 9, 2002