Las Vegas faces tough road ahead in Sac-town

Nick Christensen

Friday, May 7, 2004 | 10:07 a.m.

As the Las Vegas 51s head to Sacramento for a four-game series, they prepare to face a team that didn't just win the Pacific Coast League in 2003 -- they prepare to face a team that dominated it.

Sacramento went 92-52 in the 2003 regular season, then won six more games in the PCL playoffs en route to its first championship since moving to Sacramento from Vancouver in 2000.

At 13-13, the River Cats haven't displayed the same dominance as last year, but Oakland's top affiliate started out slowly in 2003 as well, going 12-10 over their first 22 games.

"From opening day until the end, it was incredible," said Sacramento manager Tony DeFrancesco. "That group of guys that came through and did what they did, those teams come around once every 10 years, when you've got that kind of chemistry for a season, especially at the Triple-A level."

That team included nine players who are in the major leagues this year -- Oakland's Justin Duchscherer, Rich Harden, Adam Melhuse, Bobby Crosby and Billy McMillon, as well as the Dodgers' Jason Grabowski, Boston's Dave McCarty, Houston's Chad Harville and Cincinatti starter Aaron Harang.

The team's great run also overshadowed the decent season Las Vegas ended up having -- the 51s finished with the third-best record in the PCL, at 76-66, but were still 15 games behind Sacramento in the Southern Division.

"It's frustrating, but that's one of those things where we don't look at what other teams are doing; you can't control anything anybody else does," said 51s second baseman Joe Thurston, in his third year with the club. "It's frustrating because you want to get (to) the playoffs, but you can't control how well they do or how poor they do."

Those that didn't make the majors from Sacramento's 2003 team include PCL Most Valuable Player Graham Koonce and Esteban German, who is hitting .382 for the River Cats. Jose Flores, who in 2003 was an infielder for Sacramento, is now with the 51s.

Despite the high turnover and slow start, DeFrancesco said he's getting the feeling that this year's team can have the same kind of season his team had last year. Outfielder Mike Edwards is on a 17-game hitting streak, and catcher Mike Rose is starting to fit into the everyday role, replacing Melhuse. New arrivals Nick Swisher, Steve Stanley and Mike Rouse make for what DeFrancesco calls a "nice mix" of newcomers and veterans.

The constant transition is a byproduct of being affiliated with Oakland, a franchise that has to keep budgets low and instead focuses on player development. It's a formula that first-year Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta learned in his years with the Athletics.

For DeFrancesco, the flux is a positive.

"That's the fun part, to tell a kid he's going to the big league, whether he's getting back up there or going for the first time," he said. "It's about taking advantage of your time and opportunity. At times it's frustrating, when you've got everything all set and on a roll, then have to fill in."