FARMINGTON – With all six teams within the Connie Mack city league all slated for action over the several days, there figures to be a better sense of which team or teams may be headed for a berth in n.
That affiliation, however, wasn’t with the Dodgers but with the then-Florida Marlins.
At spring training in 2006, Traub, then as now the Isotopes general manager (he since has added the title of vice president), ran into Lasorda in Vero Beach, Fla. With the Isotopes planning to host the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game, Traub wanted Lasorda to bring his larger-than-his-midsection personality and countless funny stories to be the keynote speaker at the All-Star Game luncheon. Traub sweetened the offer by making Lasorda the first inductee to the Albuquerque Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, which is a franchise project.
“He committed to doing it, we exchanged phone numbers and we talked a few times,” Traub said Friday. Soon, Lasorda visited Isotopes Park, at the same site he used to manage the Dukes at what was the Albuquerque Sports Stadium. Or we should say, the same footprint, but made by much, much nicer footwear.