12 million and counting, Isotopes fans continue showing up for Albuquerque's Triple-A baseball team

Isotopes general manager John Traub shakes hands with Bo Nash from Angel Fire, who is celebrated as the Isotopes’ 12 millionth fan during the Isotopes’ home game against the Reno Aces at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park, on Saturday.

Bo Nash, of Angel Fire, is recognized as the Isotopes’ 12 millionth fan during Saturday’s game against the Reno Aces at Isotopes Park.

Geoff Grammer Geoff Grammer Geoff Grammer Journal Staff Writer

Published September 20, 2025 - 9:09 p.m. Modified September 21, 2025 - 10:20 a.m.

Bo Nash’s first-ever Albuquerque Isotopes game was supposed to be in May.

The New Mexico skies had other ideas. The game was rained out, but Nash managed to get two nice consolation prizes.

First, he was one of the 3,000 fans who arrived early enough to get one of the free Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico jerseys.

Second was a rain check — good for free admission to any home game the rest of the season.

The Angel Fire resident wasn’t able to come back until Saturday night.

He chose wisely. And he got another free jersey.

This one was an Isotopes jersey with the No. 12 on the back and where the name should go read “M-I-L-L-I-O-N.”

In a special middle of the 4th inning ceremony, Nash’s seat was selected as being the 12 millionth fan in Isotopes history. He was handed a basket full of Isotopes swag, a bundle of balloons surely not that popular with the fans sitting behind him the final five innings and that jersey.

“They do this at every game, right?” Nash joked.

“Yeah, these games are so much fun,” he added. “I’m jealous of the people who live close enough to come all the time.”

As the jersey indicates, quite a few of them do just that.

After Saturday night’s announced attendance of 9,014 — the Isotopes beat visiting Reno, 10-5 — the club has had 12,004,102 fans this season through 74 home games.

Barring just about nobody showing up to Sunday’s season finale — unlikely considering there is another Mariachis jersey giveaway, a pregame player awards presentation, and several other promotions — the Isotopes will finish the 2025 season leading the Pacific Coast League in average home attendance (6,719) for the fourth consecutive season.

Considering the organization has clinched its 11th-consecutive sub-.500 season, it’s clear to see the appeal of Isotopes baseball goes far beyond success on the field.

“When we moved the franchise and came to Albuquerque, I had been in the Pacific Coast League for 11 or 12 years prior to that,” said Isotopes General Manager John Traub, who has been with the organization since Day 1, Game 1 in 2003.

“It was very well known that Albuquerque was a great baseball community. This whole area had been very supportive of the Dukes, obviously. But then when we moved here, when we started that first year in 2003, everything that we heard didn’t do it justice. This is a tremendous baseball community that is steeped in history and tradition. People love this ballpark and they love the experience, and we never have taken that for granted, and we never will take that for granted.”

That fan love isn’t lost on the players, either.

They travel throughout the minors and throughout the PCL — seeing in Albuquerque the type of support rarely seen this side of the big leagues.

“It’s great crowds — Tuesday to Sunday there’s a lot of great crowds,” said outfielder Sterlin Thompson. “Fridays and Saturdays are obviously packed, but even on a Wednesday or whatever, there’s still like 6,000 coming to the stadium and they’re loud and committed.”

The Isotopes certainly try to give back to the community that shows them so much love, too. The team is one of a handful of the 120 Minor League Baseball teams nominated for a community service award that will be announced in October.

“It’s been incredible. We’ve had weekly team community events and when we do those, it’s really easy to see how much people here care about the Isotopes and how much the Isotopes care about doing good in the community,” said pitcher Gabriel Hughes, a 24-year-old prospect who was the first round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2022.

As for those wins, well, the Isotopes organization actually has very little to do with that (the managers, team staff and all players are members of the Colorado Rockies organization).

“Well, everybody wants to win — the guys in the dugout, in the clubhouse, they all want to win,” Traub said. “Our fans have proven to us is that they’re supportive, win or lose, but we would certainly like there to be a lot more wins for them.

“I think the fans deserve that. I think this city deserves it.”