Bobblehead giveaway, lowrider-inspired jersey unveiled for Isotopes upcoming Mariachis Night game

Short of sewing two or three of them together, the appropriately nicknamed Lorenzo “House” Otero said Wednesday he understands he probably won’t be getting gifted one of the lowrider-inspired Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico jerseys the Albuquerque Isotopes will be wearing in their July 5 home game at Rio Grande Credit Union Field.

“This jersey’s bad,” the massive figure said affectionately Wednesday at the West Gate Community Center, where the Isotopes unveiled details of a promotions-packed night at Isotopes Park on July 5, including the new jersey design players will be wearing that night.

“Of course they probably didn’t make a 10X for me. ... But one team, one dream.”

Otero, a towering man who is a towering presence in the lowrider community in Albuquerque is one of several people who had a hand in helping the Isotopes grow the annual Lowrider/Mariachis Night into a wildly popular annual party and celebration of a uniquely New Mexican cultural, which just so happen to be all centered around a baseball game.

Proceeds from an online auction of the game-worn Lowrider/Mariachis jerseys will benefit the Duke City Lowrider Bike Club after-school program that provides mentorship to Albuquerque kids grades 6-12 from officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office and members of the local lowrider community giving hands-on instruction in topics like car (or bike) paint and body customization.

Throw in a pregame concert and on-field lowrider show at Isotopes Park, plus the first 3,000 fans getting a paint-your-own lowrider bobblehead figure, and well over 10,000 fans are expected to be on hand for the annual party.

“It’s not like this in any other state, in any other city in the United States, and we’re blessed to have that,” Otero said. “When you have that impact, when you have the people around you that support and care about our kids, that care about our youth and care about our community, it’s what makes it work. So one team, one dream. Isotopes, we appreciate you.”

MORE ON THE JERSEYS: The Isotopes have designed new Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico jerseys for years — now approaching a dozen unique designs that have been worn by players during the special Mariachis Night games.

This year’s lowrider-inspired jerseys were designed collaboratively by in-house design guru Rebecca Zook and local lowrider artists Rob Vanderslice and Joseph “Blast” Leyba, who have been instrumental in growing the Lowrider nights at Isotopes Park and in design of the lowrider bobbleheads given away the past three years — figurines that often find themselves on E-Bay by night’s end, sometimes going for several hundred dollars.

This year’s jersey design includes a lowrider on the front of the jersey and pin-stripe designs all around the uniform similar to those you would see on a lowrider.

YOUTH PROGRAM: The Duke City Lowrider Bike Club has grown in three years from eight students meeting once a week to, this past year, featuring 60 students and a wait list.

Councilwoman Klarissa Peña, who fought for program funding, which is offered through the City of Albuquerque’s Youth and Family Services Department, and Dacia Vanderslice, who helps run it, both spoke about the benefits of the program that, like the July 5 event at Isotopes Park, seems to be very uniquely New Mexican.

As a handful of invited speakers addressed media and others from the community Wednesday, they stood next to a beautiful custom-made red and gold lowrider bike with an Isotopes logo on one side and Orbit, the team’s mascot, on the other — all the work of recent high school graduate Dominic Chavez, who said he learned how to do it all by being a part of the after-school program.

“I knew some stuff (the program taught), but I never learned about the painting and the taping and those things with the design part before doing this,” Chavez said. “... I was really happy they had something like this for me to learn (those things).”