New Mexico takes (Sports)Center stage as ESPN broadcasts live from Isotopes Park

New Mexico was more than ready for its close up.

With ESPN showcasing the Land of Enchantment on Wednesday as part of its ‘50 States in 50 Days’ promotion, Albuquerque’s Triple-A baseball team played gracious hosts to the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.”

And Isotopes Park took center stage — SportsCenter stage.

As the first pitch of Wednesday’s game between the host Isotopes and visiting El Paso Chihuahuas was being thrown, at 12:05 p.m. on Wednesday, ESPN’s flagship news show sent the live broadcast from its Bristol, Connecticut, studio — which was, at the time, breaking news on the NBA’s New York Knicks hiring Mike Brown, ironically an Albuquerque resident himself — across the country to anchor Christine Williamson, who welcomed the sports world into Albuquerque live with the game being played behind her.

“I know it’s a big day for New York Knicks fans,” Williams started off, clad in a crisp, white Isotopes jersey and sitting at a makeshift studio on the main concourse down the third base line with fans watching on. “But it’s also a very big day for fans of the Albuquerque Isotopes, as they take on the El Paso Chihuahuas in ‘Alb-o-kwor-kee’ (sic), New Mexico, our fifth stop in our ‘50 States in 50 Days’ tour.”

To be fair, pronouncing “Albuquerque” correctly one out of two times when reading it off a teleprompter, for a sports anchor from Tampa, Florida, who had never been to New Mexico prior to Tuesday, ain’t all that bad.

“They (ESPN) said they couldn’t be more pleased and impressed with everything while they were here and that’s all credit to our staff for getting all this ready and helping set things up for the show,” said Isotopes Vice President and General Manager John Traub. “I was very pleased with how it all went because I could tell how pleased they were and how impressed with our state they were.”

The Isotopes, by the way, tied a season high for runs scored, blasting the Chihuahuas 18-5 for their second win in as many games in the six-game homestand.

Over the course of the 60 minute SportsCenter, the show bounced back and forth between ESPN’s Connecticut headquarters — where no fewer than seven people were frantically covering all angles of the Knicks hiring — and Albuquerque — where Williamson aired some previously recorded segments about lowriders, hot air balloons and Isotopes players (Aaron Schunk and Sean Bouchard) explaining the Simpsons-based origins.

By the end of her first 24 hours in the state, and shortly after the SportsCenter show wrapped up, she was asked if she would ever visit New Mexico again.

“I would!” she said. “Every time I go to a new place, I’m always like, ‘Could I see myself living here?’ And I totally could. I always try to see what the locals are doing. I go to the stores and see that kind of thing. I’m like, this is a vibe. I would totally come back.”

The show also aired a segment that briefly sidestepped to break down Williamson’s good, but not great, ceremonial first pitch (more on that later) and the show ended with her standing in front of a table of chile-topped ballpark delights put together by Executive Chef Jim Griego for the occasion.

After Williamson tried Griego’s “pig candy” invention — burnt pork ends tossed in maple and brown sugar with chile added — she told reporters she looked forward to trying a lot more of the local cuisine before leaving town on Thursday.

Google to the rescue

So what does a young sports anchor who’s never been to, or really knew much about, the State of New Mexico do when she gets assigned the Albuquerque stop on the network’s summer-long cross-country tour?

“I Googled everything,” Williamson said in an interview after the broadcast. “I’ve traveled a lot in my life — played volleyball, traveled for volleyball when I was younger, and played volleyball in college as well. So I traveled (to) where I thought was everywhere, but I (had) never been to New Mexico. So when they told me I was going to New Mexico, I was like, okay, cool. What is there?”

And did she fall into the same trap some others who haven’t had our state on their radar sometimes do and research whether she’d need a passport to get here?

“I knew that,” she said with a chuckle. “I mean, it is a part of the ‘50 States in 50 Days,’ so that’s kind of a giveaway.”

About that first pitch

Williamson’s ceremonial first pitch was fine on Wednesday — a little high to Isotopes player Carson Palmquist, but it was fine.

But even she admitted it could have been better for a solid athlete and former college volleyball player at the University of Miami.

“I was just thinking, don’t embarrass myself, because that’s what everybody was saying,” Williamson said about the first pitch — one she admitted she let too many people get into her head about. “Last week I was on (ESPN’s) campus, my boss was walking by and I was like, ‘I think I’m throwing the first pitch.’ And he was like, ‘You need to practice. Do not embarrass yourself.’”

Well, when she got to Albuquerque, more advice came, including in the form of one tip from well-intentioned Isotopes play-by-play announcer Josh Suchon who warned her to just throw high. Often times, he warned, when someone throws out a first pitch, they throw it into the dirt and embarrass themselves, not unlike famous ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, whose 2023 first pitch at Yankees Stadium can still be found making the rounds online for bouncing several feet in front of home plate.

“If anyone is to blame about how high that was, it was him,” Williamson said of Suchon’s pregame advice, though she did note she was happy to say Smith wouldn’t have anything to say about her pitch.