51s forced to up ticket prices by $1

Nick Christensen

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 10:35 a.m.

When Las Vegas 51s single-game tickets go on sale Monday, fans will have to pay a little more to watch a baseball game at Cashman Field.

The 51s raised single game ticket prices by one dollar in the offseason, to accommodate for the 10 percent live entertainment tax approved as part of last year's state tax increase.

"I don't like to deal in 50 cents, 25 cents. You have to deal in round numbers. It's a lot easier," 51s general manager Don Logan said. "We're still less than everybody else in town, and we're one of the cheapest in baseball."

Tickets will now range from $11 for field level seating to $7 for seats on the far edges of the ballpark. Most of the stadium's seats, in the reserved section, will cost $8.

The field level seats are about average in the Pacific Coast League for a team's most expensive seats. The general admission rate is the highest low price for a ticket in the PCL, but most teams offer outfield grass seating for around $5.

The rate hike was the first for the team since 2000. When the team first moved to Las Vegas in 1983, tickets at Cashman Field ranged in price from $3 to $4.50.

The matchup became less intriguing when the Rangers traded American League MVP Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for Alfonso Soriano.

The Rangers have been led by third baseman Hank Blalock, who's hit .353 with 12 runs batted in and four home runs in 15 spring training games so far. The Rockies' Todd Helton has been abusing Cactus League pitchers this March, racking up a 1.200 slugging percentage and a .467 batting average in 30 at bats. Helton is tied for the spring training lead in home runs.

Mike Rodriguez, the 51s' director of ticket operations, said about 4,500 tickets have been sold to each of the two games. He said the team expects crowds of between 6,000 and 7,000 for both games.

Position players Chad Hermansen, Daryle Ward, Larry Barnes and Calvin Murray, as well as pitchers Andrew Lorraine, Lindsay Gulin, Bryan Corey, and Victor Alvarez all left the Dodgers organization in the offseason.

Offensively, Yankees outfielder Bubba Crosby has had the best spring training, batting .378 with six runs in 37 at-bats. Crosby was traded to New York in July after hitting .361 with the 51s.

Pitcher Bryan Corey's had the best effort of ex-51s so far, logging eight strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA in nine innings pitched for the Cubs this spring.

First baseman Larry Barnes, as well as pitchers Lindsay Gulin and Scott Mullen, signed with Japanese teams in the offseason.