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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Dukes of '81 Left Big Imprint

By Randy Harrison
Journal Staff Writer
       If winning makes playing fun, the 1981 Albuquerque Dukes had an absolute blast.
    "I just remember it was a great season and it went by so fast," says Mike Marshall, Triple Crown winner, a god among gods on a juggernaut that has been rated the 11th best minor league team of all time.
    "We were surprised when that team ever lost," says Patrick McKernan, son of the late Dukes' general manager.
    "We wouldn't allow anybody on that team if they didn't hit .300," laughs Del Crandall, then Dukes manager.
    As part of Dukes Retro Night at Isotopes Park, the most accomplished baseball team in the city's history is honored tonight en masse with an induction into the Albuquerque Baseball Hall of Fame.
    Crandall will be the sole representative of the 1981 Dukes in attendance. He and Marshall are also being inducted as individuals. Marshall was slated to be here but has scheduling conflicts with the Yuma (Ariz.) Scorpions team he manages in the independent Golden Baseball League.
    The '81 Dukes, Pacific Coast League champions with a 94-38 record, were largely a product of a huge bottleneck of talent in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system. Their remarkable numbers can't be desensitized even when graded on a PCL curve.
    n Marshall, at age 21, hit .373 with 34 homers and 137 RBI.
    n Second baseman Jack Perconte batted .346.
    n Outfielder Rudy Law hit .335 and swiped 56 bases. "An excellent talent, one of the players I would pay to watch play," says Crandall.
    n Pitcher Ted Power went 18-3. Four others won at least 11.
    n Closer Alejandro Peña saved 22 games and sported a 1.61 earned run average.
    n Candy Maldonado (.335), Wayne Caughey (.314), Ron Roenicke (.316). On and on and on.
    "That team was before minor league free agency," says McKernan. "Guys couldn't go anywhere, and some of them had played together for a while. And (the Dodgers) were great in Double-A that year too. It was just scary."
    They made it easy for Crandall to enforce his two most important rules for managing: 1) Create the clubhouse where players wanted to come. 2) Put players in positions where they are comfortable.
    Marshall was a call-up in 1981 and an established star in 1988 on Dodgers teams that won World Series under manager Tommy Lasorda. Yet he says Crandall was the best manager of his pro career.
    "Tommy was the best motivator, but with X's and O's and handling a team day in and day out, I try to model myself after Del," Marshall says.
    Of all the accomplishments by the 1981 Dukes, two stand out.
    One is a staggering 25-1 record against Tucson, including 23 straight wins after losing to the Toros on April 20. It led to Tucson pitchers throwing frequently at the Dukes as the frustration mounted.
    "It just seemed like no matter where they were in the ballgame, we would beat them," says Crandall.
    Another is a 1-0 exhibition win over the Dodgers, that season's eventual World Series champions, in Los Angeles after the major league strike was settled and before play had resumed.
    "Very fond memories of that," says Marshall. "It's noted on our (PCL championship) rings. I remember I was sick, (catcher Don) Crow homered and they couldn't touch our pitchers — Peña and Powers in particular."
    The 1982 Dukes repeated as PCL champions, not that it was the same. The congenial feeling of everyone accepting his lot in Triple-A broke down, in particular when some got passed over in the pecking order for big-league roster spots by Double-A players like infielder Steve Sax and pitcher Tom Niedenfuer. One, shortstop Gary Weiss, quit for that reason despite hitting .291 in 110 games in 1981.
    But for a season it was magical, and it was magic unmatched.
    "They weren't the kind of team that just wanted to beat somebody up with their ability," says Crandall. "They always showed up ready to play."
   
    Dukes Of '81 Left Big Imprint
   
    Manager will represent magic team in ceremony tonight
   
    See ‘81 DUKES on PAGE B3
   
    CRANDALL: Influenced Marshall as a manager
   
    MARSHALL: Won the Triple Crown in 1981
   
    from PAGE B1
   
    '81 Dukes Dominated in All Areas
   
    Hall of Fame
   
    'Topes Today
    Sacramento vs. Albuquerque, 7:05 p.m.
    Radio: KNML-AM (610)
    Pitchers: Isotopes RH Frankie De La Cruz (10-5, 4.33) vs. River Cats RH Brad Knox (6-2, 4.12)
    Promotion: Albuquerque Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, 6:45 p.m. at Isotopes Park, as part of Dukes Retro Night
    The 2008 Class: Tom Bolack, Del Crandall, J.D. Kailer, Mike Marshall, Hersh Martin, Pat McKernan, John McMullan and the 1981 Dukes.