Manny Ramirez is bringing big crowds to Isotopes Park AP Photo/Craig Fitz
While the Los Angeles Dodgers are sitting in first place with a record of 47-24 while missing star slugger Manny Ramirez while he served his 50 game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs, his return could be very bad news for the Dodger’s NL west opponents.
However, Ken Young owner of the Albuquerque Isotopes thinks that Manny Ramirez returning to baseball is not only good news for his club, but for baseball fans as well.
Young has stated that the Isotopes cold generate an additional 200 to 300 thousand dollars in ticket revenue alone from Ramirez’s rehab stint with the Dodger’s Triple A affiliate.
In Game one of that stint the crowd at the Isotopes ball park was 15,321 fans. Considering the listed capacity of this facility, Isotopes Park nicknamed the lab, is 13,279 it seems that Owner Young was right.
This is a big payoff for the Isotopes who are in the first year as the Dodgers Triple A farm team, having spent the last several years in the same capacity for the Florida Marlins.
The Isotopes have been in New Mexico since relocating there from Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 2003. The name of the club is a homage to a episode of the popular Fox TV show The Simpson’s. A fan vote was held to name the club and considering its proximity to several scientific/military facilities the name made a lot of sense.
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