51s outfielder part of gold medal squad with Team USA

Sept. 28, 2009

By Ray Brewer

Las Vegas 51s outfielder Buck Coats won a gold medal on Sunday with Team USA at the Baseball World Cup in Nettuno, Italy.

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Las Vegas 51s’ season ends in whimper

Sept. 9, 2009

By Ron Kantowski

The end of a baseball season should always come on an afternoon when the shadows are long and the weather is crisp. Long shadows and crisp weather on a baseball diamond in late September can make one feel melancholy. The 51s ended their season in Portland, Ore., on Monday. The shadows weren’t long, the weather wasn’t crisp. Yet I sensed a bit of melancholy.

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Randy Ruiz named league's top player

Sept. 4, 2009

By Ray Brewer

Randy Ruiz is more than the Las Vegas 51s' top player. The designated hitter and first baseman on Friday was named the Pacific Coast League’s Most Valuable Player, becoming the fifth player in the franchise’s 27-year history to win the award

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Fair spots for foul balls at Cashman Field

Sept. 1, 2009

By Case Keefer

In the top of the second inning Saturday, one of the Reno Aces lined a fastball toward right field.

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Could the 51s and Aces turn into a minor league rivalry?

Aug. 27, 2009

By Case Keefer

The winner of the season series between the Las Vegas 51s and the Reno Aces will take home the Silver State Plate trophy. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Reno Mayor Bob Cashell have even placed a friendly wager on the baseball series.

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Chicago's storied Wrigley Field truly one of a kind

Aug. 11, 2009

By Ron Kantowski

It took just 2 hours, 40 minutes for the Iowa Cubs to defeat the Las Vegas 51s 5-4 at stately Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon.

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51s get glimpse of goal in trip to baseball shrine

Aug. 9, 2009

By Ron Kantowski

Welcome to the Road to Wrigley, which is sort of like the Road to Cashman Field, only with greener ivy. A stiff breeze is rustling the leaves on the ivy-colored walls of one of baseball's most revered cathedrals as the Iowa Cubs and the Las Vegas 51s prepare to do battle in the second installment of the Road to Wrigley, a minor league baseball game featuring one of the Cubs' minor league affiliates.

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51s ready for game at one of baseball's historic stadiums

Aug. 8, 2009

By Case Keefer

Wrigley Field will always be a special place to Las Vegas 51s outfielder Buck Coats. It’s not just its 96-year history or ivy-covered outfield walls. It’s what happened there on Sept. 10, 2006, when Coats recorded his first major league hit that day as a member of the Chicago Cubs. “Unbelievable, it was one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced in baseball,” Coats said. “That’s what you play to get back for.” Coats, who’s played 46 big-league games over three years, still is trying to still in the majors. But he gets a change to return to Wrigley Field ...

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Ode to doubleheaders

Aug. 5, 2009

By Ron Kantowski

When I was a kid — i.e., when pitchers more often than not finished what they started — doubleheaders were a common occurrence. My father, who worked in a steel mill, believed that two baseball games for the price of one were better than one baseball game for the price of one. That is why my brother and I saw a lot of twin bills at Wrigley Field and an occasional double dip at old Comiskey Park.

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51s split doubleheader, fall short of .500 mark

Aug. 4, 2009

By Case Keefer

It’s always hard for a baseball team to recover from a late-inning collapse -- especially when its next game starts in 30 minutes. That’s why the Las Vegas 51s’ split with the Salt Lake Bees in a doubleheader Monday night at Cashman Field impressed center fielder Buck Coats so much.

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51s pitcher shuts down Colorado Springs

July 24, 2009

By Case Keefer

Everyone says T.J. Beam’s baseball future is coming out of the bullpen as a reliever. If Thursday night was any indicator, however, he could become a pretty effective starter, too. Making only his fifth start of the year, Beam pitched seven and two-thirds innings, struck out six and gave up three hits in a 5-0 victory against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox

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Las Vegas 51s players, fans battle 110-plus degree temperatures

July 16, 2009

By Ray Brewer

At 6 p.m., an hour before the Las Vegas 51s took the field, Dewey and Brenda Warner sat in the bleachers at Cashman Field, seemingly unfazed by the blistering heat on the hottest day of the year so far. They sipped on beers in the 108 degree weather waiting for the first pitch of Las Vegas’ series opener against the Tacoma Rainiers.

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51s' history loaded with fireworks

July 4, 2009

By Ray Brewer

In honor of the Fourth of July, the Las Vegas 51s shot off fireworks after tonight’s game at Cashman Field. The fireworks shows always draw big crowds — even when the 51s aren’t playing their new cross-state rivals, the rookie Reno Aces. Another fireworks display is scheduled for Friday following Las Vegas’ game against Reno.The Las Vegas franchise has had plenty of explosions on the field in its 27-year history. In keeping with the fireworks theme, here are some of those memorable performances:

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Baseball team starts July 4th holiday early with fireworks

July 3, 2009

By Ray Brewer

Fans flocked to Cashman Field on Thursday night for more than an evening of minor league baseball. The 9,214 in attendance assembled for one of Southern Nevada’s oldest Fourth of July traditions — the Las Vegas 51s’ annual fireworks extravaganza. The nine-minute display, which capped the 51s’ 2-0 victory against the Reno Aces, is in its 27th year and is annually one of the club’s most anticipated games. It was one of the first fireworks shows to commemorate the holiday this year in Las Vegas.

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Major League veteran trying to resurrect career

June 29, 2009

By Steve Silver

Did you hear the one about a major league baseball player nearly losing his thumb in an attempt to save a child from an alligator attack in the neighborhood lake? Current Las Vegas 51s outfield David Dellucci sure has. In fact, he invented the tall tale when he accidentally injured his thumb while packing his trailer for Spring Training with the Cleveland Indians this season. Unfortunately for the affable Dellucci, nobody in the Indians organization was laughing a few months into this season when Cleveland demoted a once marquee free agent acquisition to the minors on May 29.

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