Renovations at Cashman bringing old park up to date

Nick Christensen

Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.

Extensive renovations have begun at Cashman Field as the Las Vegas 51s, and the stadium's owner, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, try to make improvements in the baseball facilities for the Triple-A ballclub.

The visitor's clubhouse, on the first-base side of the stadium, is being completely renovated and turned into a new, expanded home clubhouse, complete with a weight room, batting cage, and room to stretch.

Workers have already torn out some of the stadium's original dark red tile in the locker room, which will total 2,600 square feet, compared to the old locker room's 1,200 square feet.

Improvements were necessary at the 21-year-old stadium after talk of Major League Baseball relocating the Montreal Expos to Las Vegas put off negotiations for the 51s to get a new ballpark, possibly in Henderson. When the Los Angeles Dodgers initially signed a player development contract with the 51s in 2000, the Dodgers expected that the 51s would be getting a new stadium.

That PDC expired this year, but the teams renewed the agreement through the 2006 season, with the understanding that improvements such as an indoor batting cage and a weight room would be made to Cashman Field.

"The LVCVA has been great. Rossi (Ralenkotter) is the president now, and he's a baseball guy. He wants to make that a better baseball facility. He's been tremendous," said Don Logan, the 51s' president and general manager. "Rather than wait and talk about a new facility, he wanted to jump in on it right away. What we have is going to be better all the way around."

But, Logan said, the changes will be limited to backstage improvements that won't be noticeable to fans. Those changes will have to wait until the team moves into a new stadium, talks for which have again begun.

"The mayor (of Las Vegas) has publicly endorsed the concept and that's a good thing," Logan said. "The folks in Henderson have paved the way for them to make a close examination of what they can and can't do. Triple-A baseball is going to get the type of place it deserves and should have in a community like ours and pave the way ultimately for Major League Baseball to get here."

Only three times in the 21-year history of the Las Vegas franchise had the team's major league affiliate made it to the postseason, until this year. All three of those times were when the Las Vegas Stars were affiliated with San Diego -- 1984, 1996 and 1998.

Logan said there's not much of a direct impact that trickles down from the big league club's success.

"To me, the positive is just the association," he said. "We're the Triple-A part of the family of the Dodgers, it's good for us. Antonio Perez scores the winning run (last Saturday)... the whole association I think is really positive."

The Edmonton Trappers are moving to the Austin suburb of Round Rock, Texas this offseason, so the PCL moved Colorado Springs out of the Central Division of the American Conference and into the Northern Division of the Pacific Conference.

The Southern Division in the Pacific Conference was the one division that was unaffected by the moves. Las Vegas, Tucson, Fresno, and Sacramento remain in the same alignment for the third consecutive season. The Sacramento franchise, affiliated with Oakland, has taken its division's lone playoff spot five times in the last six seasons, and has won the PCL championship in three of those years (including in 1999, as Vancouver in the Northern Division).

In the prior alignment, Iowa, Omaha, Colorado Springs and Albuquerque were in the Central Division, and Memphis, Nashville, Oklahoma and New Orleans made up the Southern Division. Now, the American Conference's Central Division has been renamed the Northern Division, and is Iowa, Omaha, Memphis and Nashville. Round Rock, Albuquerque, New Orleans and Oklahoma make up the Southern Division.

PCL teams play two home series against each opponent in their conference, and one series against each team in the other conference, alternating between cities each year.