By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The Las Vegas 51s said Monday’s Labor Day game was the final Triple-A baseball game at Cashman Field, but there is a timing issue facing the other professional sports team that shares the venue.
The 51s have not yet submitted their official 60-day termination notice to end their Cashman lease agreement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), so the Las Vegas Lights FC — which plans to make Cashman its permanent home — cannot make any permanent soccer improvements until that time, Lights owner Brett Lashbrook said Monday.
“We’re excited to become the primary tenant. The only thing that is keeping us from becoming that is the 51s have yet to give their 60-day termination notice,” Lashbrook said.
Lashbrook’s comments come the same day the 51s played their final game at Cashman Field, where many of the team’s old-time fans received freebies like packs of baseball cards and ball caps as they walked through the main gate to watch Triple-A baseball for the final time at Cashman. The 51s defeated the Sacramento River Cats, 4-3, thanks to a dramatic two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning by Peter Alonso with an announced attendance of 5,353 for the noon game.
Owned by Texas-based Summerlin master developer Howard Hughes Corporation, the 51s have argued for a long time the Cashman ballpark is sub-standard for a Triple-A baseball venue because of the lack of player training facilities and fan amenities you typically see in other Pacific Coast League ball yards. The team’s owners through the years have also said the poor, inner-city neighborhood that hosts Cashman Field is not conducive to maximizing attendance.
But while 1983-built Cashman Field is antiquated for Triple-A baseball, the downtown venue is ideal as a permanent soccer home, Lashbrook said.
Lashbrook, who has strong support from Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, wants to add permanent grass to the Cashman field surface and take down the right field to build more seating and VIP hospitality areas to complete a horseshoe-shaped seat configuration around the soccer field.
While Howard Hughes Corp. is building a $150 million ballpark in its Downtown Summerlin district in a much more affluent area, Lashbrook believes the soccer team’s improvements to Cashman Field can convert it into the Wrigley Field/Fenway Park of professional soccer in this country.
But there could be a timing issue with the opening of the new Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin because 51s President/COO Don Logan said it was unclear whether the new baseball park next to the Golden Knights training center will be ready to use for the annual Big League Weekend held in March. So, there’s a possibility that Cashman might be used for baseball again — for Big League Weekend when the Chicago Cubs typically play another MLB team for two preseason games. Maybe — maybe not. It’s unknown at this point, Logan said.
Logan said after Monday’s game that he plans to meet with Howard Hughes officials in the next few weeks to discuss the 60-day termination notice and the Big League Weekend situation in the event the new ballpark is not ready to open in mid-March when Big League Weekend is usually held.
Logan told LVSportsBiz.com that the ballpark builder advised him recently that the timing of the new ballpark’s opening depends on when the steel can be installed in the ground at the site off South Pavilion Center Drive. Here’s a look at the new ballpark construction site.
Logan said he wants a good partnership with Lashbrook of the Lights, but his first priority is the baseball team and making sure the new ballpark is ready to go for the Triple-A season in April.
Lashbrook would like to install permanent grass in the Cashman playing field and permanent advertising signs at Cashman with Howard Hughes Corp. moving the Triple-A team to Summerlin. But he won’t be able to do that if the Big League Weekend is held at Cashman in March 2019.
The Lights spend $50,000 every time they convert the Cashman baseball field into a soccer pitch by adding turf to the dirt infield and removing the pitcher’s mound. The soccer team will do it for the eleventh time this season as it prepares for a United Soccer League game with the LA Galaxy II Saturday. The Lights are staging one of their unusual promotions Saturday by having a helicopter drop $5,000 in cash to 200 fans at halftime.
But without the 51s submitting the lease termination notice, the Lights are in a holding pattern, Lashbrook said.
“We’re anxious and excited to make Cashman Field our long-term home,” Lashbrook said.
Logan said he understands Lashbrook’s situation, but he needs to talk with Howard Hughes officials in the upcoming weeks to get direction on the timing of submitting the lease termination notice at Cashman.
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It was old-school baseball Monday as the last 51s game at Cashman was played at high noon before a spirited crowd. LVSportsBiz.com photographed fans wearing the old 51s jersey giveaways that have been given to fans over the past few years. Let’s take a look.
That’s Jim Olson, a half-season ticket holder from Bunkerville near Mesquite who drove the 160-mile round trip to catch 51s games. He said he paid $500 for 35 games at Cashman Field, but cannot afford to pay the $2,000 for 70 games at the club level in the new ballpark. He’s wearing a free jersey showing the Major League Baseball team affiliations in Las Vegas through the years — the Padres, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Mets.
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Mark Ishikawa sports a free jersey with the Nevada Wildlife logo on the back.
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That’s Franceen Locks, enjoying her free Wally Backman 51s jersey. That’s how Franceen spells her first name. She likes the jersey paying tribute to Backman, known for his salty language with umpires and cigarette smoking.
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John Roberts received the most recent 51s jersey freebie Saturday, when a madhouse of fans hungry for one of the free 2,500 giveaways that had the Golden Knights logo on it descended on Cashman Field.
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You didn’t think we’d show the old 51s jersey giveaways without the famed Stars jersey? That’s Mark Reichle, left, with wife Rainy Reichle, center, and Kevin Yang, right, with the jerseys paying tribute to the old Las Vegas Stars.
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That’s a nice couple showing two jersey giveaways — the Hawaiian model sported by Al Rigaud and the Breast Cancer Awareness one worn by wife Kim.
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And finally, there’s the classic green “ugly sweater” 51s free jersey worn by Colleen Jannotti, a Centerplate concessionaire worker. The ugly sweater 51s jersey is both ugly and beautiful at the same time and that’s what makes it a classic giveaway.
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