'The Simpsons' inspires baseball team name

[The1calledTKE]

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) -- Doh! Homer Simpson's worst fears are coming true, sort of.

As you may recall, Simpson went on a hunger strike last year when it was revealed on the cartoon series that his beloved baseball team, the Springfield Isotopes, were moving to Albuquerque to become the Albuquerque Isotopes.

Now it's happening for real. The new team that will take the field in Albuquerque next year will be called the Isotopes in homage to Homer.

The Isotopes, however, will not be coming from Homer's hometown, the fictional Springfield, but from the real city of Calgary. The team called the Calgary Cannons is a Triple-A, Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Florida Marlins and will move to New Mexico next year.

"In bringing baseball back to Albuquerque, we wanted to bring something that was fun, that was playful," Cannons president Ken Young said on Wednesday.

Albuquerque had a Triple-A team called the Dukes, which left the city for Portland about three years ago. A newly renovated stadium that features a drive-in section where fans can watch the game from their cars will open in April with the new season. The stadium is a few miles from the Sandia National Lab, which the state's Environment Department said is home to a notorious nuclear waste site.

Although a local newspaper poll showed strong support for the Isotopes name, the mayor of Albuquerque was not amused.

"This isn't a second-rate city that should be taking our name from a cartoon show," Mayor Marin Chavez told reporters upon hearing the name for the new local team.

Writers for the long-running Fox series reacted with glee.

"I'd like to know how much money we make off it," said Al Jean, a writer and executive producer for "The Simpsons."

"And I hope we also get a Duff beer concession for the new team," he said, referring to Homer's favorite fictive refreshment.

"I hope they play better than Homer does," Jean added