Book excerpt: Duke City Diamonds is the definitive depiction of baseball that's been played in Albuquerque, going back to the short-lived 1915 pro team to the playoff-bound exploits of the 2012 Albuquerque Isotopes. Capsule summaries on every pro team, highlights, the team records and managers and photos highlight the first three chapters, while the rest are dedicated to the managers and coaches of the professional teams that played here, exhibitions and all-star games, the top high school players of the past few decades in the metro area, the all-time best Lobos and an exhaustive chapter on the 100-best pro ballplayers of all-time. Did you know old "Gashouse Gang" catcher Bill DeLancey managed the Albuquerque Cardinals for a few seasons? If you like baseball, and especially if you follow the game in the Duke City - and probably have fond memories of the old Sports Stadium - this is the book for you! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Author Gary Herron is a lifelong baseball fan, from his earliest memories of following the Detroit Tigers when he was growing up in the suburbs of Detroit. That love for the national pastime came with him when he moved to New Mexico in 1975 and adopted the Albuquerque Dukes as the team to follow ... and, thanks to his knowledge of the game and its rules, began filling in as an Official Scorer for the Pacific Coast League at the Albuquerque Sports Stadium in 1983. He became the full-time O.S. for the Dukes at the mid-point of the 1985 season, and just about "scored" every Dukes home game through the 1999 season - more than 1,000 games. When the Isotopes began playing at brand-new Isotopes Park in 2003, Herron was the O.S. for their debut and although others share the O.S. duties, he had worked 360 Isotopes' games by the end of the 2012 season. I have known Gary for more than 30 years and have, at times, shared a game in the press box with him. I have known him as a colleague, friend and fan of the game. He has been scorekeeper, historian, storyteller of good deeds done and those which have fallen short. His writing keeps the flame of the game alive in the hearts of young readers and those of us who are young at heart. But beyond stories well-told with prose well-written I have come to know Gary for who he is; a good friend to the game. - Terry McDermott, a former Albuquerque Duke and Los Angeles Dodger Gary Herron is a go-to resource for historical information on the history of Albuquerque baseball. I've known Gary for more than a decade and have found him to be a veritable encyclopedia when it comes to baseball in our community. - John Traub, General Manager, Albuquerque Isotopes