Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

51s still longing for new ballpark

Proposed crocodile zoo could be team’s best shot at new home

Las Vegas 51's Media Day

Sam Morris

The Las Vegas 51’s get lined up for a team photo during media day Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at Cashman Field.

51s Prepared to Start Season

With a new manager and plenty of new faces, the Las Vegas 51s get ready for their own Opening Day, Thursday, against the Salt Lake Bees.

51's Media Day

Reporters are reflected in manager Dan Rohn's sunglasses during media day for the 51's Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at Cashman Field. Launch slideshow »

Las Vegas will celebrate its 28th consecutive year of Triple-A baseball tonight when the 51s host the Salt Lake Bees to open the season.

Cashman Field has served as the site for every one of those seasons, which makes it the second oldest stadium in Triple-A baseball. That's a fact that frustrates 51s President Don Logan, who has spent nearly a decade trying to get a new ballpark built in Las Vegas, to no avail.

"The place is clean, the place is safe, but it wasn't designed to adequately address what has happened in today's world of fan expectations," Logan said. "Our fans deserve that and we are going to keep pushing to get it."

When the 51s agreed to a two-year player development deal with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008, Logan said he hoped those would be the final two years of play at Cashman Field. That plan hasn't worked out.

The 51s appear to be no closer to getting a new stadium in 2010. That doesn't mean it will have an effect on the future of minor league baseball in Southern Nevada.

Although the contract the 51s signed with Blue Jays expires at the end of this season, Logan said these deals are common in baseball and ensured the 51s would be back next year.

"The Blue Jays are fantastic to work with," Logan said. "I'd put them up against anybody I've ever worked with. It's not like this is a two-year stop over. It's been great, and there's no reason to worry."

Far more uncertainty surrounds whether or not the organization will ever get its coveted new ballpark. There appears to be numerous factors working against it.

For one, the state of the economy makes a publicly funded venture highly unlikely. The constant push for a new arena in hopes of luring an NBA or NHL team to Las Vegas doesn't help, either.

"If an NBA or NHL team thought Vegas was viable for a team, they'd already be here," Logan said. "I'm probably one of the only people who says that publicly."

Las Vegas' best bet for a new baseball venue might involve crocodiles. Yes, crocodiles.

Mayor Oscar Goodman recently announced that he hopes to partner with the family of the late Steve Irwin to open an Australian zoo or "crocodarium" at the site of Cashman Field.

Per its long-standing agreement with the 51s, the city of Las Vegas would have to re-locate the team if it opened the zoo. City of Las Vegas spokesman Jace Radke, however, emphasized that nothing was imminent with the Australian zoo.

"They are negotiating with these folks," Radke said. "It is very early and in preliminary stages. For them to come here, though, we would have to find another place for the 51s to play."

Logan is definitely in favor of crocodiles running off the baseball players.

He'll support anything that gets the city closer to a new stadium.

"That would certainly be a very good thing," Logan said. "But I've been doing this too long to get geeked up over it just yet."

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