Dodgers and Albuquerque to keep playing ball through 2012

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The Dodgers and Albuquerque have decided to continue their reunion.

Maybe love is lovelier the second time around.

The Dodgers and the Dukes -- check that -- the Isotopes have extended their triple-A partnership through the 2012 season, the teams announced Monday.

The Dodgers originally called Albuquerque home to the triple-A Dukes from 1972 to 2000. The Dodgers moved their triple-A club to Las Vegas the following season but returned to Albuquerque last year as the Isotopes.

Last season Tim Wallach guided the Dukes into the playoffs and was voted the Pacific Coast League manager of the year. This year the Isotopes are currently five games out.

‘We are excited about extending our partnership with the Albuquerque Isotopes,’ De Jon Watson, Dodgers assistant general manager, said in a statement. ‘The partnership has been outstanding, the fan base has been great and we’re really excited to be reacquainted with our great fans in Albuquerque.’

Tommy Lasorda managed the Dukes to the PCL title in their first year in Albuquerque in 1972. He joined the Dodgers as a third-base coach the following season.

-- Steve Dilbeck