Bundy, Branch Rickey III to enter Albuquerque Pro Baseball Hall of Fame

The Albuquerque Pro Baseball Hall of Fame will add two of the city’s most consequential baseball figures on June 27 at Isotopes Park, recognizing not just on-field success but the people who helped professional baseball survive here and become part of Albuquerque’s identity. Lorenzo Bundy and Branch Rickey III will be inducted in an on-field pregame ceremony that begins at about 6:10 p.m., before the Isotopes face Salt Lake at 6:35 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and the night will be staged as Dukes Retro Night, with a postgame drone show planned if weather allows.

Rickey’s induction carries the clearest civic weight. As the 17th president of the Pacific Coast League from 1998 to 2020, he oversaw construction of 10 new ballparks, including Isotopes Park, while helping steer the franchise move that brought the Calgary Cannons to Albuquerque. That relocation gave the city the Isotopes after the Dukes left following the 2000 season, with Albuquerque beginning its new era in 2003. Rickey also helped secure two of the city’s most visible baseball showcases, the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game and the 2011 Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game, events that pushed Albuquerque deeper into the league’s national spotlight.

Bundy’s case rests on what happened on the field once that franchise was in place. He was the sixth manager in Isotopes history and led the club from 2011 through 2013, winning 226 games and posting a .523 winning percentage, which ranks second in franchise history among the managers cited in the reporting. In 2012, Bundy was named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year after guiding Albuquerque to 80 wins, a franchise record-tying total that also marked the club’s most recent playoff appearance. For a team that has become a fixture on the city’s summer calendar, that run remains a touchstone.

The Albuquerque Professional Baseball Hall of Fame was created by John Traub and the Isotopes to honor the players, managers, teams, executives and media members who have contributed to baseball in Albuquerque, with inductees selected by a committee of local baseball experts. The hall’s focus on both the Dukes and Isotopes eras reflects how closely the game is tied to the city’s downtown-adjacent sports economy and its wider baseball culture. On June 27, the ceremony will celebrate that full history, from the ballpark itself to the people who kept the sport viable in Bernalillo County.