Columnist Dean Juipe: Dodgers G.M. tried to do 51s a favor

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, April 29, 2003 | 10:05 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The quotes were there in black and white, but what wasn't seen was the nod and the wink that went along with them.

Dan Evans, the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was in Las Vegas last week to see his prospects on the 51s and he used the occasion to bash Cashman Field. A story on the subject appeared in print, but what seemed to be lacking was this caveat: Evans, somewhat blatantly, was trying to do the 51s' owners a favor.

He threatened, in a roundabout manner, to pull the Dodgers from their relationship with the 51s when their Player Development Contract expires next year.

But I honestly don't think he's going to do any such thing, and I believe his real intention was simply to lend support to the notion that Cashman should either be replaced or overwhelmingly remodeled.

The use of scare tactics such as the one Evans employed wasn't wholly unexpected; 51s general manager Don Logan alerted colleague Ron Kantowski in a conversation they had a month ago that such a thing could happen.

Evans' comments aside, for proximity and stability reasons the Dodgers are happy to have their top farm club in Las Vegas. So when Evans uses the press to complain and says he has made similar comments to city and county officials, it all has to be taken with a grain of salt.

I visited Cashman Field this week to get a firsthand look at the carnage, and, instead, came away once again marveling at the quaintness and beauty of the ballpark. Yes, some improvements can be made, but this is not a facility that needs to be replaced or subjected to extensive renovation.

Outwardly, the sun has taken a toll and faded some of Cashman's seats, but the field itself is in marvelous shape and remains colorful and attractive. Spectators are afforded a pleasant view, with plush landscaping and trees protruding beyond the outfield wall.

Removed from public sight but in need of a little work are the tight quarters of the locker rooms and the lack of a weight room, batting cage and, perhaps, a pitching mound or two. But the space exists to expand underneath the grandstands down the left-field line, and there's room to add amenities that weren't necessary when the park was built in 1983.

Cashman, which seats 9,334 and normally attracts an average crowd of approximately 4,500, is further bolstered by a convenient location, plenty of parking, sufficient concessions, a respectable restaurant and a serviceable press box.

Yet team owners Peter Guber and Paul Schaeffer, with Logan as their most visible mouthpiece, would have us believe the stadium is poorly located, in blatant disrepair and in need of implosion. They want the city, the county, the Convention Authority -- in other words, the taxpayers -- to build them a new park or at least fund the needed improvements.

I'd say -- and so has Oscar Goodman -- that a new park is out of the question, so the team owners should keep their demands to a minimum and focus on an agreeable upgrade.

They should also call off the dogs, er, Dodgers, and let Evans go back to worrying about his mediocre club in L.A.

But it was a nice try. It's just that demolishing Cashman is a hard sell and not too many of us are in the mood to buy.