Major League Baseball Returns To Las Vegas Saturday For Big League Weekend 2

March 18, 2023March 18, 2023 Alan Snel George Brett, Kris Bryant, Kyle Isbel

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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne

Big League Weekend used to be a fun time at Cashman Field in downtown Las Vegas where teams like the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets would play spring training games in March.

But now the ballyard is in suburban Summerlin in upscale Downtown Summerlin, not off Las Vegas Boulevard in an economically-depressed neighborhood, and Big League Weekend games play out within a new context — the backdrop of the Oakland Athletics throwing around “Las Vegas” as a potential place to move to while the MLB also negotiates with the city of Oakland on a new waterfront ballpark.

It was a pleasant day in the sun Saturday with temperatures plateauing around 60 degrees at the Las Vegas Ballpark, which drew some out-of-town visitors for Big League Weekend 2. Big League Weekend 1 was two weeks ago when the Oakland Athletics and Reds played each other in exhibition matches in Summerlin.

Typically, teams play with split-squads when they visit Las Vegas for these tourism-oriented baseball weekends. But there were some big names that fans would recognize.

Kris Bryant, a Las Vegas product and former National League MVP, traveled with the Colorado Rockies, while Hall-of-Famer George Brett watched Royals hitters carefully as he’s a special spring training hitting instructor and assistant to the general manager for Kansas City.

LVSportsBiz.com photographer Hugh Byrne documented both Bryant and Brett before Saturday’s exhibition.

Brett looked very loosey-goosey at the spring game.

The venue is called Las Vegas Ballpark because Las Vegas’ publicly-funded tourism agency, the LVCVA, gave $80 million to Summerlin master developer Howard Hughes Corporation in the form of a naming rights deal. It’s unclear how a local minor league baseball team would be a tourism draw, but Big League Weekend is an example where visitors from outside Las Vegas do travel to Sin City to attend games at the $150 million, 10,000-seat baseball park.

There are lots of family photos of kids settled in at the ballpark.

Former UNLV baseball player (2016-18), Kyle Isbel, who plays for the Royals, met the media to chat. Isbel, an outfielder, got two hits in three at-bats, including a double and a run scored.