The Albuquerque Dukes logo — pointy beard, feathered yellow helmet and all — is celebrating its 40th birthday this season.

The familiar face will be everywhere tonight when the Albuquerque Isotopes play their annual Dukes Retro game against the Iowa Cubs.

Not only will the ’Topes be sporting throw-back Dukes uniforms, gear depicting Albuquerque’s former minor league franchise will be sold on the Isotopes Park concourse.

Cubs players will sport vintage Iowa Oaks uniforms for the occasion. It’s a promotion-filled night as four new members (ex-Dukes Greg Brock, Sid Bream, Kevin Kennedy and longtime sports writer Carlos Salazar) will be inducted into the Albuquerque Baseball Hall of Fame prior to the game.

Postgame fireworks also are on tap, and the Isotopes anticipate one of the season’s largest crowds.

No one figures to enjoy the evening more than Dick Moots.

It was Moots, after all, who came up with the Dukes logo back in 1972.

He also designed uniform lettering, program covers and schedule posters for the team’s first 10 seasons.

“It always feels great to see them wear those uniforms,” Moots said. “The old Dukes gear is still really popular. It’s amazing.”

Moots, 74, said he never anticipated the kind of staying power his Dukes designs would have. It took him less than a month to produce them.

The rush became necessary, Moots said, because then-franchise general manager Charley Blaney never thought the Dukes nickname would fly.

When Albuquerque was elevated from a Double-A affiliation to Triple-A after the 1971 season, the city’s two newspapers held a name-the-team contest, allowing fans to choose between the Double-A name, Albuquerque Dodgers, and a previous name used by the city’s minor league club, Dukes.

“Charlie Blaney couldn’t believe they wouldn’t pick ‘Dodgers,’” said Moots, who had developed a friendship with Blaney. “When they picked Dukes, it was already the preseason (of 1972). He said, ‘Dick, we’re going to need a logo, and we need it soon.’”

Moots, a commercial artist, came up with several sketches representing a Duke. The yellow-helmeted version got the nod.

Popular as he’s been overall, the good-natured Duke has taken a few shots over his tenure. The Journal once ran a story suggesting the logo was outdated and featuring alternative drawings.

“(The Duke) might not be mean-looking enough now,” Moots said. “Now, the UNM Lobo looks mean. All the logos do.”

Still, Moots’ Dukes designs have stood the test of time. Dukes gear outsells that of some active minor league franchises and remains remarkably popular in New Mexico.

It’s certainly been a blessing for Moots, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Dukes Retro Night three years ago.

That wasn’t his local sports highlight, however.

“The day before my 60th birthday I was picked to take the half-court shot at halftime of a UNM game,” Moots said. “I made it.”

Moots won a trip to Phoenix to attend a NASCAR race. It did not provide a thrill of victory.

“I’m not really a race fan,” he said, “and about half the race was run under a caution flag. Making that half-court shot in front of 18,000 people was a lot more exciting to me.”