Jeff German: LVCVA execs hit home run

Monday, March 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

IT never hurts to be lucky in Las Vegas. Just ask local officials looking to persuade major league baseball to embrace this growing metropolis.

They're definitely on a roll.

What better timing for the push to establish a spring training complex here than to be given a chance to help a big-league team (the Oakland Athletics) kick off its regular season.

This week, local leaders demonstrated the good that can be accomplished in public life when everyone comes together.

Manny Cortez and Rossi Ralenkotter of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, of course, were their usual aggressive selves in recognizing the marketing value of bringing the Athletics to Cashman Field April 1-7.

Ralenkotter has been working hard to lure a couple of teams into taking up residence at the proposed spring training complex in Henderson.

Getting the Athletics, still waiting for the Oakland Coliseum to be renovated, to play their first six home games at Cashman Field is likely to cement that deal.

Suddenly, Las Vegas has become a serious venue for professional baseball.

But that's not the only upside of this week's major league coup.

The national publicity generated by the A's deal alone may be worth the $900,000 in public funds it has taken to bring the A's here.

On April 1, Cashman Field will become the first minor league park in 40 years to host a major league team. News organizations across the country have been jumping on the story.

Once again, it seems, Las Vegas has proven that dreams do come true here.

Its well-coordinated effort beat out the city of New Orleans, which was offering more money to Oakland and had the Super Dome at its disposal.

Cortez and Ralenkotter, it turned out, weren't the only ones who moved quickly to seize upon this incredible stroke of luck.

Don Logan, general manager of the Las Vegas Stars, actually got the ball rolling by bringing in Cortez and Ralenkotter when he learned the Athletics were serious about coming to Las Vegas.

Then, he moved to straighten out any conflicts with the home schedule of his Stars the first week in April.

Cortez and Ralenkotter took over from there, involving Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates.

The two elected officials immediately lent their support to the big-league effort.

They promised to persuade their colleagues in the city and county (not that they're going to need to do much arm-twisting) to allocate $200,000 each to help the LVCVA come up with its $900,000 pot.

Though it's a possibility, few are likely to argue the A's deal is a waste of taxpayer money.

It's something the entire community can enjoy. It's what good government is all about.

Tickets, I'm told, were selling fast once they went on sale Thursday, making Cortez out to be something of a prophet.

"I think this community has matured to where we can support something of this stature," Cortez told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

The community has indeed matured. So has its leaders.

Keep rolling the dice, everyone. Las Vegas is on a hot streak.

* If running for governor is still his goal, Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren took a giant leap backward last week.

The eccentric Las Vegas neurosurgeon kept his reputation in tact when dealing with the media about the death of daredevil Butch Laswell and then getting involved in a much-publicized shoving match with an orderly at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Hammargren has proven he's a brilliant brain surgeon, but when it comes to politics and dealing with the public, he still looks wacky.

That reputation will haunt him as he enters the race for governor, where he'll face much media scrutiny.