Albuquerque Dodgers

Texas League (1965-1970)
Dixie Association (1971)

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The Texas League Baseball Almanac

By David King & Tom Kayser

Since forming in 1888, the Texas League has produced some of the most beloved American baseball players and seen more than its fair share of colorful events. In 1931, Houston pitcher Dizzy Dean pitched and won both ends of a double-header in Fort Worth, throwing a three-hit shutout in the second game. In 1906, center fielder Tris Speaker pitched for Cleburne to beat Temple 10-3. In 1998, Arkansas’ Tyrone Horne hit for the “homer cycle” in San Antonio, finishing to a standing ovation. “The Texas League Baseball Almanac” delivers day by day the record-breaking events, personal triumphs and memorable games that helped to shape baseball in the region. Join authors David King and Tom Kayser on a nine-inning trip down one of minor-league baseball’s most historic institutions, both in season and off.

 

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Background

Minor League Baseball struggled to survive the 1960’s in much of America. But in Albuquerque, New Mexico the sport set out on a steady upward trajectory throughout that decade that would culminate with a new ballpark and a rise into the ranks of Triple-A baseball

The Duke City’s ball clubs traditionally played under the “Dukes” name from 1942 onward, missing only the war years of 1943 to 1945 and the summer of 1959. Tingley Field went dark in ’59 after the Class A Western League folded and forced the Dukes out of business.

In 1960, local oilman Tom Bolack and his parters, who had owned Albuquerque’s Western League franchise of the 1950’s, re-launched the Dukes in the Class D Sophomore League. It was a humble new beginning. The Dukes of 1960 competed in organized baseball’s lowest classification and the club was affiliated with Major League Baseball’s dreadful Kansas City Athletics franchise.

Albuquerque’s fortunes started to turn in 1962. Bolack secured the Dukes’ entry into the Texas League. In the span of one winter, Albuquerque jumped up four classifications from lowly Class D to Class AA. It would be the highest level of competition ever played by an Albuquerque ball club.

The following year, Bolack engineered another huge leap forward. In 1963 the Los Angeles Dodgers replaced the Kansas City Athletics as Albuquerque’s parent club. The Dodgers would win go on to win the World Series that summer while the A’s recorded their 11th consecutive losing season. In 1964, Bolack persuaded Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley to purchase the Albuquerque franchise outright.

In January 1965, as the club prepared for its fourth season in the Texas League and third season in the Los Angeles’ farm system, officials announced that the team would drop the Dukes identity and play as the Albuquerque Dodgers.

Legacy

The Albuquerque Dodgers were a consistently strong Texas League entry between 1965 and 1971. The club won Texas League crowns in 1965, 1967 and 1970.

Notable prospects from this era included:

• Pitcher Jack Billingham (Albuquerque ’65)
• Pitcher Don Sutton (Albuquerque ’65)
• Pitcher Charlie Hough (Albuquerque ’67-’68)
• Pitcher Doyle Alexander (Albuquerque ’69-’70)
• First baseman/outfielder Bill Buckner (Albuquerque ’69)
• Third baseman Ron Cey (Albuquerque ’69-’70)
• First baseman Steve Garvey (Albuquerque ’69)

Sutton went on to win 324 Major League games and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. Another future Hall-of-Famer, retired Dodgers slugger Duke Snider, managed the Albuquerque club during the 1967 season.

In 1981, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in six games. Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager all shared the World Series Most Valuable Player award. Cey and Yeager were teammates a decade earlier on the 1969 and 1970 Albuquerque Dodgers teams.

Charlie Hough was the last active player of the Albuquerque Dodgers era when pitched his final game for the Florida Marlins at age 46 in 1994.

Dukes Redux

Prior to the 1969 season, Albuquerque opened a new 10,500-seat ballpark, Albuquerque Sports Stadium, to replace aging Tingley Field. The new ballpark clearly positioned Albuquerque for a further jump up the developmental ladder to Class AAA baseball. Following the 1971 season, the Dodgers agreed to shift their Class AAA Pacific Coast League operation in Spokane, Washington to Albuquerque.

With the move to the Pacific Coast League, the Albuquerque front office held a Name The Team Contest in December 1971. The only two choices were the keep the “Dodgers” name or to go back to the historic “Dukes” identity. Nostalgia won out, with Dukes outpolling Dodgers in a landslide by 2,297 votes (62%) to 1,418 (38%).³NO BYLINE. “It’s Albuquerque Dukes For First Time Since ’64”. The Journal (Albuquerque, NM). December 29, 1971

The Dukes remained the top farm club of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1972 until 2000. Following the 2000 season, the Dukes were sold and moved away to Portland, Oregon while the Dodgers shifted the Pacific Coast League partnership to Las Vegas.

Class AAA baseball returned to Albuquerque in 2003 with the Pacific Coast League’s Albuquerque Isotopes.

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