Columnist Ron Kantowski: 51s’ success could be alien concept

Thursday, April 5, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

Isn't this new affiliation for Las Vegas' triple-A baseball team supposed to be a good thing?

By the time Chan Ho Park completed his warm-up tosses prior to a Los Angeles Dodgers-Arizona Diamondbacks major league exhibition at Cashman Field last Thursday, that's exactly what it looked like. There were tens of thousands of fans in the grandstands -- or at least a ten of thousand -- celebrating the marriage between the Dodgers and their new triple-A partner, the team formerly known as the Stars.

But the true test of this blissful union didn't begin until the Dodgers and D'backs hopped on their McCarran Airport courtesy shuttles. Another triple-A campaign began this afternoon, and it'll be interesting to see if Las Vegas' new affiliation with one of baseball's most renowned franchises will make this season any more compelling/less tedious than the last several.

It was apparent to anybody watching last year (which wasn't very many) that the Stars and the only baseball beau they had ever known, the San Diego Padres, had grown apart. Maybe their differences weren't irreconcilable, but when the Dodgers ended their long run in Albuquerque and began batting their eyes for a new PCL suitor, the Stars were smitten.

It was like the Dodgers were that cheerleader in "American Beauty" and the Stars were Kevin Spacey. Within weeks, Annette Bening (the Padres) was out the door and the Stars were pumping iron out in the garage. With thousands of Los Angelenos having discovered affordable lodging in Southern Nevada, this was going to be a match made in heaven.

Perhaps it still will. But right now, I'd say it is somewhere between Purgatory and Limbo.

For years, the Stars thought their biggest problem was the hand the Padres dealt them. Bad players produce few runs and hits and lots of errors, and Stars brass felt their only recourse to draw a crowd was postgame fireworks. But if Baseball America knows what it is talking about, Las Vegas' won-loss record may get worse before it gets better. The newspaper ranks the Dodgers a horrid 28th among MLB's 30 organizations (FYI, the Padres are slotted 18th). "The farm system has little premium talent," wrote BA, "and the calling up of Luke Prokopec to keep him from playing with the Australian Olympic team (last season) was a bush league move, symbolic of the many ways the organization has lost its luster in recent years."

It also has lost any semblance of youth. Have you checked the 51s roster? When both second basemen are old enough for president (minimum 35 years old), these guys aren't exactly the stars of tomorrow.

Outside the lines, the Stars used the new affiliation as a reason/excuse to change their name and sell more T-shirts. But instead of calling attention to the fact they are the Dodgers' top farm club by adopting the parent club's nickname and colors, they decided to put goofy-looking alien characters on their caps and call themselves the 51s, as in the Area in the Southern Nevada desert where the government stashes little green men who can't hit or throw strikes.

Tommy Lasorda nearly choked on his Slim Fast shake.

There's still a lot of baseball -- all of it, for that matter -- to be played. But based on what I've seen so far, it's the top of the first and the 51s have already fallen behind.