By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
We’re still two weeks from the Vegas Golden Knights’ first preseason game, but Golden Knights hysteria hit Las Vegas Saturday — at the Las Vegas 51s’ ballpark.
A mob scene descended on Cashman Field for a free 51s jersey that had a Golden Knights “V” logo on the front as part of the Triple-A team’s Fan Appreciation Day festivities. The 51s are playing their final games at downtown Cashman Field before the minor league club owned by Summerlin developer Howard Hughes Corp. moves to Downtown Summerlin 15 miles to the west in 2019.
The 51s had 2,500 jerseys to hand out to a monster season-high sellout crowd of 12,512 before Saturday’s 51s’ 7-3 loss to the Sacramento River Cats. And some fans who came early and got their tickets stamped in order to pick up the baseball novelty item came away disappointed when there were not enough of the free thin-textured jerseys to hand out, 51s President/COO Don Logan told LVSportsBiz.com before the game.
“The timing got messed up,” Logan said as he stood outside the 51s dugout. He said the team will likely order some more Golden Knights-themed 51s jerseys for fans who had tickets stamped for the item but did not receive it. Logan said the team’s community relations director will work on that.
51s fan Nena Vasquez, who came at 2:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. game so that she could get the free jersey, said she thought a brawl would break out because some fans who were in the ballpark without their ticket stamped for the jersey were receiving the giveaway.
Vasquez said she and her friends saw a little boy crying because he did not get a free VGk-theme 51s jersey and the boy’s mom using the disappointing experience as a life lesson for her son.
So, Vasquez said her friend gave the little boy her jersey and his tears stopped after the nice gesture. Here’s Vasquez showing the jersey before the game.
51s fans Tommy DeGennaro and wife Rosette said they came early around 3 p.m., four hours before the game started, and could not believe the line of fans who had gathered even then.
“It was crazy here since three o’clock. It was not well thought out,” Rosette DeGennaro said.
“It got a little ugly,” Rosette DeGennaro said.
It was also Hometown Heroes Night at the ballpark, where Las Vegas police officers and firefighters were honored for their work at the Oct. 1 Strip massacre. There was a “Guns and Hoses” softball game before the 51s game, too.
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The 51s’ final games at Cashman Field are Sunday and Monday. They move into the $150 million Las Vegas Ballpark for the 2019 season.
Logan said it’s unclear whether the new 10,000-seat ball yard will be ready for the Big League Weekend in March when two Major League Baseball teams come to Las Vegas to play two preseason games.
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