​Another season of Isotopes baseball came to an end Sunday afternoon at Rio Grande Credit Union Field with a 14-7 loss to the visiting Salt Lake Bees.And, like so many seasons in recent memory, two things held true in 2026.First, with a 72-77 final record, the team wasn’t about finish with a winning record (the franchise’s last winning record was 2013).And second, fans didn’t seem to mind at all.An announced 502,073 fans walked walked through the gates of Isotopes Park this season, an average of 6,785 (0ver 74 home game days) — both proving for the fourth consecutive year to be the best attendance figures in the Pacific Coast League.The team finished tied for 5th in the 10-team PCL.2026 player awardsSaturday night, the team announced its annual player awards — a mix of team, front office and fan-voted-on recognition for the Isotopes (team-voted awards unless noted in parenthesis):*MVP: OF Zac Veen*Fan favorite: OF Sterlin Thompson (fan vote)*Power Hitter of the Year: OF/1B Charlie Condon*Pitcher of the Year: LHP Evan Shawver*Defensive Player of the Year: IF Chad Stevens*Mr. Hustle: OF Drew Avans*Jennifer Riordan Co-Most Community Minded: RHP T.J. Shook and RHP Patrick Weigel (chosen by Isotopes community relations manager Brandon Ortega)That’s so hot!While seeing the final PCL standings may have been a mere appetizer, the main course of fan anticipation on Sunday was clearly the finish of the 2026 Chile Races!And, as was the case most of the year, Salsa jar was on a roll, winning both Sunday’s hot mascot race and also the season long competition. It made Salsa the back-to-back champion in a race once dominated by Taco, who is a shell of its former self, finishing in dead last this season.Final chile race standings (73 races):*26 wins — Salsa jar*22 wins — Red chile*14 wins — Green chile*11 wins — TacoOn to the next…The 2027 season starts for the Isotopes on March 26 against Sacramento.Unlike this season, the Topes actually have holiday home games in 2027 (they, for some reason, didn’t have a single home game on a holiday in 2026, usually a built-in boost for minor league teams across the country).Geoff Grammer is the Sports Editor of the Journal, podcaster, columnist and primary beat writer for UNM Lobos basketball. Reach him at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.