Peerman's Power Rankings: 10 tails to know from Isotopes Bark in the Park

Apr. 28—Welcome to Peerman's Power Rankings (PPR). Normally, this is the 10 athletes, teams and storylines that have Journal sports editor Lucas Peerman's attention. But not this week. This week, my human is handing the rankings off to me.

Who am I? I'm Beck, a 3-year-old heeler-Lab mix rescued about two years ago from the animal shelter in Las Cruces. I love hiking, fetching balls and chasing lizards. On Sunday, my human (Lucas) took me to my first baseball game — part of the Albuquerque Isotopes' Bark in the Park promotion.

We dogs (228 of us) and our humans took over the berm that looks over right field to watch the home team defeat the Oklahoma City Baseball Club 9-7 on a sunny, not-too-hot, not-too-cold afternoon (perfect weather for a ballgame, I'm told). With the score tied 7-7 in the eighth, the Isotopes scored two runs, one on a throwing error and another on a Jordan Beck (great name!) RBI single.

But I admittedly didn't watch much of the game. I was more focused on bringing the literal Bark (yep, that was me making all that noise) to the Park. In no particular order, here are 10 cool pups (and their humans) I met, plus one dog? human? that I would be happy never to see in my Orbit again.

Blue

Being a rescue myself, I'm a sucker for a finding-a-forever-home story. Blue, an 18-months-old boxer mix, was being housed at a city-run shelter Sunday morning and was one of six pups volunteers took to the ballgame with vests that read "Looking for Love. Adopt Me." Guess what? A family fell in love with Blue after meeting him at the ballpark and adopted him right then. Blue's new human, Dan Guevara, said one of their two family dogs was fatally struck by a car about nine months ago. The Guevaras, from Santa Fe, won tickets to Sunday's game via a radio station promotion and weren't aware it was a Bark in the Park afternoon. Guevara said when his children — 12-year-old twins and a 15-year-old — met Blue, they told dad they weren't leaving without him.

Harper and Oso

I met Harper, a collie-cattle dog mix, while walking into the ballpark and it was like looking into a mirror. We have similar black-and-white patterns with speckled legs. She's the girl version of me. Her humans — Janice Moughan and her adult son Jacob Moughan — said they adopted Harper, a collie-shepherd mix who is about 6 years old — from an Albuquerque shelter after she'd given birth. Hmm, I wonder? Later, I met Oso, who is a heeler-Lab mix like me but I look more like a heeler and Oso, who's just over a year old, looks more like a Labrador. Still, Oso's humans, CJ and Ashley Thompson, were amused at the similarities. We have the same boundless energy and we have nearly identical barks — and we had a lot to say to each other.

Cleo and Grimm

These two Great Danes — taller than six-feet if they stood on their hind legs — are gentle giants. "They're lap dogs," said their human, Amber Griego, who attended the game with fiancé Ben Steel-Bacon. Cleo, 3, is a Great Dane-German shepherd mix (pictured in the photo below). Grimm, 6, a pure breed, had a permanently broken tail. Griego said Grimm's tail was broken when they adopted him a couple years ago, possibly malformed from being in too small a cage when he was growing up. Grimm can't wag his tail, but his smile showed just how happy he was to be at the ballpark.

Kauai

This 7-year-old well-mannered husky with a UNM Lobos leash and collar is a veteran of barks in the park. His humans, Cory and Erica Muñoz, have been taking Kauai to UNM and Isotopes-sponsored barks in the park for years. "He's the unofficial Lobos mascot," Erica laughed. Fun fact: He was named after Kawhi Leonard, but when the NBA all-star left San Antonio, his Spurs-loving humans changed the spelling of his name. Follow @Kauai_the_husky on Instagram to see his adventures.

Mocha and Bindi

Speaking of huskies, I also met siblings Mocha and Bindi. They are 11 months old and curious of everything around them. I know some hand commands, but Mocha and Bindi are more literate in sign language because their human, Amberly Luna, is deaf. Luna's mom, Elisa Chavez, is the concessions manager for the Isotopes and helped translate this conversation for my human. Luna said Mocha and Bindi are are learning to communicate through eye and facial movements and Luna said she can differentiate between the "I'm hungry" look and the "I want to go for a walk" look.

Tipsy

Human Rachel Boston said she adopted Tipsy, a chihuahua, four days after her right front leg was amputated. Boston got hold of several mobility enhancers, such as stairs designed to help dogs get onto beds or couches, to help make life easier for Tipsy, but she mostly abstained from any special treatment. Now 6 years old, Tipsy's starting to show her age, Boston said, but in her prime got around just as well as any of her four-legged friends.

Luna

Luna, a 6-year-old Corgi, has an accessory that makes her stand out. Attached to her back is a GoPro. Her humans — John Miller and Kristen McPeek — said Luna's been wearing a GoPro when she's out and about at community events for about three years. The footage is uploaded to the Albuquerque Corgi Meet Up Facebook page.

Gwenny, Grogu and Gizmo

What is it with corgis and accessories? The 3Gs — as humans Lucille and Ernest Wells call them — each wear a backpack. Gwenny looked cute in her Tinker Bell pack, Grogu rocked a Spider-Man pack and Gizmo nerded out with an Ewok pack. Inside the packs are poop bags, treats and toys. Lucille explained how the Wells ended up with three corgis — two brothers and a sister: "We were only supposed to get one, but we went home with three. I guess we're collectors now."

Mookie

The smallest dog I met? That would be Mookie. Her human, Niccole Sosa, said she uses a food scale to weigh Mookie, a Yorkie weighing 4.13 pounds. Mookie — named after Los Angeles Dodgers all-star Mookie Betts — didn't like me snooping around and we had words. I told her my human's a Red Sox fan and Mookie's a four-letter word in our household. Yorkie sounds suspiciously like Yankee. Blech! But, there's no denying Mookie is a cutie.

Oscar

The largest dog I met was Oscar, a 142-pound Great Pyrenees. He's a teddy bear, calm as could be. His human, Peter Rhyins, said he's owned Great Pyrenees for the past 30 years and Oscar has the "best personality" among the lot.

Slink

Like me, this was Slink's first time at a Bark in the Park. Unlike me, Slink got to hang out in the dugout before the game because her humans are Kinsey Bartley and her boyfriend, Isotopes pitcher John Curtiss. Bartley said she got Slink, a dachshund and now 5 years old, before she met Curtiss but Slink's now "John's best friend." Bartley said she has wanted to take Slink to a bark in the park for a while but it had not yet worked out because Curtiss would get traded or called up the majors. Finally, with a bark in the park that worked with their schedule, Curtiss made sure to give Slink a full tour of the ballpark.

End of the bench

Before the game, dogs and their humans were allowed to parade onto Rio Grande Credit Union Field, going from first base to home plate to third base and then back to the concourse. Between home and third I saw some creature that I hope to never see again. The guys at the dog park won't even believe me when I tell them it was 7 feet-tall, orange with blond hair and walked on two feet — some sort of dog, human, bear, alien hybrid? I let this thing know that if he took one step toward us, it would not end well. I'm not sure why I was the only dog in the parade who barked at it. Maybe I was the only one brave enough to sound off? Regardless, I'm pretty sure my barking saved everyone in the stadium. Whew! You can thank me later with a treat.

Look for a new power rankings list every Sunday at ABQJournal.com and an abbreviated PPR in every Monday print edition. Have a suggestion, complaint or compliment? Email lpeerman@abqjournal.com.