Desert rain portends surreal night for 51s

Nick Christensen

Friday, July 29, 2005 | 10:10 a.m.

Oklahoma RedHawks (51-54) at Las Vegas 51s (46-60)

Cashman Field 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday; 12:05 p.m. Sunday Radio: all games on 1460-AM, 820-AM

Probable Starters

Two hours before the first pitch of Thursday's game at Cashman Field, some Las Vegas 51s players stood in the clubhouse doorway and stared in awe at something they haven't seen much of -- rain in the desert.

They thought that was weird, but they hadn't seen anything yet.

Thursday's contest quickly descended into the land of the bizarre, as quirky plays, ill-timed roster moves and seven errors characterized an 11-8 win in front of a paid crowd of 3,289 fans. The game lasted 3 hours, 27 minutes.

Harold Eckert nabbed a line drive that was headed right for his head and had Matt Clement repeat written all over it. Then he tossed it to third for a rare 1-5 double play.

New Orleans first baseman Rick Short leaped about three feet to catch a line drive, but at least twice, the Zephyrs outfielders lost foul balls in the gray skies over Las Vegas.

The madness continued into the darkness. Norihiro Nakamura watched as a popup in the vicinity of first base slammed the ground six feet down and one foot behind his glove.

Three 51s players hit home runs, including Mike Nixon, the backup catcher who started the year at Single-A and who started Thursday's game. It was Nixon's first career home run at Triple-A. The 51s also had two triples, both by Willy Aybar.

So much for the thin desert air making Cashman Field hitter-friendly. The game-time temperature was in the 80s but the air remained thick as rainstorms hovered over the area.

But Thursday's strangest twist was yet to come. Las Vegas catcher Dioner Navarro left the game with his wife, Sherley, in the third inning, to join the Dodgers, and less than a half-hour later Nixon, the only other catcher on the roster, was hit in the head when Zephyrs outfielder Tyrell Godwin tossed his bat at home plate.

Nixon lay unconscious at home plate for a minute before staggering back to the clubhouse. Las Vegas manager Jerry Royster said Nixon was taken to a local hospital and was diagnosed with a Grade III concussion -- the most severe type.

As of early today, Nixon was not listed as a patient at Valley Hospital or University Medical Center. His condition was unavailable, and 51s trainer Jason Mahnke could not be reached for comment.

As soon as he saw Nixon go down, Nick Theodorou headed back to the 51s clubhouse to grab his catcher's mitt. And with Navarro in transit to the big leagues and Nixon in transit to the hospital, Theodorou got the call to finish the game behind the plate.

"Theodorou catching, that qualifies for bizarre. My guy getting knocked unconscious on a thrown bat, that's bizarre, too," Royster said. "He (Godwin) almost got the umpire twice before that. It just happened. He does that on contact every time."

Aside from bullpen sessions, it was the first time Theodorou had caught since 2001, when he was at Double-A Jacksonville. The 2-spot was the seventh position Theodorou has played defensively this year, with first base and pitcher the only exceptions.

Theodorou gave up one passed ball, and Eckert was charged with one wild pitch. One Zephyr stole a base on the battery after Nixon's injury, but Jose Valentin, playing left field, made a dead-on throw to Theodorou at the plate, who tagged out Tony Blanco to end the fifth inning.

After the game, Theodorou was soaked with sweat as he sat in front of his locker in the corner of the 51s clubhouse.

"You don't do it often and you get so tired," he said. "You don't have any legs. At the end of the first inning, the bottom of my toes just started cramping because they're not used to being up like that.

"You pitch bullpen, it's only five to 10 minutes. By the third inning I was doing it, I was beat already. But it's fun. You're involved in every aspect of the game. It allows you to think through the game."

Las Vegas pitching coach Roger McDowell said Theodorou was well-prepared for the assignment.

"He's tried to stay in a knowledgeable standpoint, knowing the pitchers, knowing something like this may happen," McDowell said. "He's done things throughout the course of the year, catching bullpen and listening to me talk about pitchers and how they approach hitters and what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are."

Theodorou said there wasn't much of an adjustment for him after he got by the first few batters.

"It's funny because the last couple innings, I just thought about catching. That's the first thing I learned how to do since I was 8, all the way to high school. You kind of revert back to it."

The Dodgers promoted catcher Juan Apodaca from rookie-level Pioneer League. At Ogden, he hit .291 with nine home runs.

Navarro's promotion will probably come at the expense of Mike Rose, who had just begun to see playing time with the Dodgers. But after Wednesday night, when Cincinnati's Ryan Freel stole five bases with Jason Phillips behind the plate, the Dodgers may be feeling particularly vulnerable when it comes to opposing baserunners.

Of the 64 baserunners who tried to steal with Navarro behind the plate this year, 22 were thrown out.

Phillips has thrown out just 12 of the 82 runners who tried to steal on him. He played first base in the Dodgers' 6-1 loss to Cincinnati on Thursday.