Wednesday, April 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
LIKE THE SONG says, there's a new kid in town. But whereas Don Henley and the Eagles didn't want to hear about it, Jerry Royster and the Las Vegas Stars have no choice.
With local fans and media going ga-ga over the Oakland Athletics' six-game, home-away-from-home stay in Las Vegas, the Stars' new manager and his players must be feeling pretty neglected.
On Thursday, when the Stars should be opening the 1996 Pacific Coast League campaign in front of what traditionally is the biggest non-fireworks display crowd of the season, they'll be in Canada, probably freezing their butts off against the Vancouver Canadians.
Even if there is an early frost, the Stars will return from British Columbia shy the four home games they gave up to accommodate the displaced A's and their opponents this week, the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers.
But perhaps the bigger concern for a first-year manager trying to make a quick mark in triple-A is that Royster and his troops have been idling since last Friday while the big leaguers have pretty much monopolized the Cashman Field batting cages.
The A's and the Cashman grounds crew were gracious enough to allow the Stars on the field Monday, but the Las Vegas players were limited to 90 minutes of hacks.
Royster said it wasn't quite to where the Stars were considering going down to the Scandia Family Fun Center and plunking a few quarters in the coin-operated cages, just to keep their hitting eyes focused.
But surprisingly, there was almost a palpable enthusiasm in the Cashman Field theatre -- the Stars' makeshift locker room this week -- prior to Tuesday's exhibition against UNLV.
In past seasons, the Stars have treated the annual fund-raiser between the city's two best baseball programs (although Green Valley High has been closing the gap) as a nuisance, if not a royal pain in the Assenmacher. But given the circumstances, this year's game served a purpose other than putting a few extra nickels in Fred Dallimore's ball bag.
In fact, had there been talk about scuttling the game in deference to the major leagues (it just happened to fall on the A's off day) Royster might have insisted it be played.
"This is something we welcome, especially since UNLV is such a good team," Royster said. "We needed this game, we wanted this game."
Royster said the idle period might have been a big problem for a young team, such as the one he had last year at double-A Memphis, Tenn. But he said a veteran-laced unit such as the Stars takes it upon itself to get ready. He was more concerned about the logistics of making way for the A's.
"It was a bad situation two weeks ago, I must admit. We didn't know what was going on, where we would be staying," Royster said. "Some of us had made plans for our families to be at this big homestand and now there's not one. So there were some adjustments that had to be made.
"But when we got here, Don (Logan, the Stars GM) had that pretty much under control."
Royster, who has been without an office since the A's hit town and has had little contact with the parent Padres, said if his primary goal was run a PCL pennant up the Cashman Field foul pole or put butts in its plastic seats, he might be more concerned about this week's change of scenery.
But, as he said, "I'm here to get these guys ready to play in the major leagues. If we go up there and win four games or lose four games, I'm not sure what the difference is going to be."
I, however, am. They'll sing the national anthems in reverse order, it'll be 30 degrees colder and the scenery will be spectacular. But not as spectacular as the price of a Labatt's.
archive
