Las Vegas 51s

Las Vegas 51s Founded in 1919 Las Vegas, Nevada
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Triple-A (1983 – present)
Minor league affiliations
Pacific Coast League (1983 – present) Pacific Conference - Southern Division
Major league affiliations
New York Mets (2013 – present) Toronto Blue Jays (2009 – 2012) Los Angeles Dodgers (2001 – 2008) San Diego Padres (1983 – 2000) California Angels (1982) Seattle Mariners (1979 - 1981) Milwaukee Brewers (1976 - 1978, 1970) Texas Rangers (1973 - 1975) Cleveland Indians (1972, 1964 - 1969) Minnesota Twins (1971) Kansas City Athletics (1962 - 1963) St. Louis Cardinals (1961)
Name
Las Vegas 51s (2001 – present) Las Vegas Stars (1983 – 2000) Spokane Indians (1973 – 1982) Portland Beavers (1919 – 1972)
Colors
Blue, Gray
Ballpark
Cashman Field (1983 – present) Fairgrounds Recreational Park (1973 – 1983) Civic Stadium (1956 – 1972) Vaughn Street Park (1919 – 1955)
Minor league titles
League titles	1986, 1988 (2)
Division titles	1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2002 (8)
Owner(s)/Operated by: Stevens Baseball Group
Manager: Wally Backman
General Manager: {{{gm}}}

The Las Vegas 51s, formerly known as the Las Vegas Stars, are a minor league baseball team. As of the 2013 baseball season, the 51s are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. This marks the Mets' third Triple-A affiliate change since their thirty-seven year affiliation with the Norfolk Tides ended at the end of the 2006 season (the New Orleans Zephyrs and Buffalo Bisons have also served as New York's AAA affiliate since 2007). The 51s were most recently the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, who have since taken the Mets' place as Buffalo's major league parent club.

They play at Cashman Field (capacity 9,334) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team competes in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The 51s won the PCL championship as the Stars in 1986 and 1988.

The 51s take their name from Area 51 which is located near Rachel, Nevada, about 80 miles north of Las Vegas, although the route that must be taken by car to get there takes about three hours of travel. The team logo jokingly depicts one of the grey aliens thought by UFO believers to inhabit that base.

In April 2013, the team was purchased by Summerlin Las Vegas Baseball Club LLC, a joint venture of Howard Hughes Corp. and Play Ball Owners Group, including investors Steve Mack, Bart Wear and Chris Kaempfer, with intentions of moving it to a new proposed stadium of $60 million, in Summerlin near the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino. Summerlin is an affluent neighborhood in the western area of Las Vegas, which will be affected through property values and upscale quality of life issues, in addition to the stress on the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area ecology.

Franchise history

The team's first affiliation was with the San Diego Padres from 1983 to 2000. In 2001, they became the top farm club of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That affiliation ended at the conclusion of the 2008 season, when the 51s signed on with the Blue Jays. The Mets became affiliated with the 51s after the Blue Jays and Buffalo Bisons, with whom the Mets were affiliated since 2009, struck an agreement; since the 51s were the only other team that had not affiliated themselves with a team the Mets moved their Triple-A club cross country.

On March 24, 2008, Mandalay Baseball Properties sold the 51s franchise to Stevens Baseball Group. There were no plans to move the team, and talks of building a new stadium have been essentially stagnant for the past seven years. The team has sold about 5,000 tickets per game on average the last few years, but far fewer fans typically attend home games.

In May 2011, Stevens Baseball Group came to an agreement to sell the 51s for an undisclosed amount to Silver State Baseball Group, LLC, with ownership to be transferred by the end of July 2011. Chris Milam, head of Silver State Baseball Group, LLC plans to move the team to a new ballpark at his proposed Las Vegas National Sports Center, if the complex is built.

Portland Beavers and Spokane Indians

The Las Vegas 51s originally began as the second incarnation of the Portland Beavers baseball club, who reentered the Pacific Coast League after a two-year hiatus. In 1973, the team moved to Spokane, Washington, and were renamed the Indians.

Baseball returns to Las Vegas

Las Vegas Stars cap logo

The franchise moved once again in 1983, becoming the Las Vegas Stars. The Stars became the first professional sports team to play in Las Vegas since the Las Vegas Wranglers baseball club who played from 1947–52 and 1957–58. The Stars inaugural season was quite successful, posting an 83–60 record and winning the first half championship for the Southern Division leading to a playoff berth, eventually losing to the Albuquerque Dukes. The following season, the Stars posted another successful campaign going 71–65 and winning their second division championship (first half), but ultimately lost in the league semifinals to the Hawaii Islanders. After a dismal '85 campaign, the Stars returned to their winning ways posting an 80–62 record and winning the second half of the Southern Division. In the league semifinals, the Stars defeated the Phoenix Firebirds 3 to 2 and went on to win their first PCL Championship, defeating the Vancouver Canadians in five games. The Stars won their second PCL Championship two years later, once again defeating Vancouver, this time in 4 games.

After winning shares of five division titles and two league championships in their first six years, the Stars hit a huge skid, only posting a .500 or better record four times and winning shares of only two division championships in the remaining twelve years. The Stars were unable to advance past the first round of the playoffs in both seasons that they qualified.

Intergalactic baseball

In 2001, after 18 years as the San Diego Padres top affiliate, the two teams parted ways. The Stars then affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Dukes, moved to Portland, Oregon to become the fourth incarnation of the Beavers. The Stars decided to rebrand their entire operation, renaming the team the 51s as a reference to Area 51, a military base located north-northwest of Las Vegas legendary for rumors of its housing UFOs and other extraterrestrial technology. The team adopted a logo featuring a grey alien head and introduced a mascot reminiscent of the Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks.

Even with a new affiliate, a new name and a new look, the 51s did not improve on the field. The 51s have posted only four winning seasons since the name change. Their only division title came in 2002 as the team posted the best record in the league at 85–59, but they lost to the eventual PCL champion Edmonton Trappers three games to one.

During their eight years together, the Dodgers and the 51s had a very rocky relationship. The Dodgers were not pleased with Cashman Field, which barely met the standards for Class AAA ball. It had no weight room or indoor batting cages, and it was decrepit compared to other stadiums in the league. Citing the inadequacies of Cashman Field and lack of planning for a replacement, Los Angeles decided not to renew their player development contract (PDC) with Las Vegas after the 2008 season, opting to re-affiliate with Albuquerque.

Toronto Blue Jays and Sale to Stevens Baseball group

Following the departure of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 51s signed a two-year PDC contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, marking the first time that the 51s have been affiliated with an American League club. This ended Toronto’s 30-year affiliation with the Syracuse Chiefs based in upstate New York.

Before the 2008 season, Mandalay Baseball Properties sold the team to Stevens Baseball Group. The new president, Derek Stevens, stated that he planned to keep the team in Las Vegas but that he wanted to change the team’s name in time for the 2009 season. Due to the length of time it took to secure a new PDC, the team missed the deadline set by Minor League Baseball for name and logo changes. Since then, the 51s have not made any public attempts at changing the team’s name.

Following the 2010 season, the Toronto Blue Jays signed a two-year contract extension with the Las Vegas 51s, stating that the team was pleased to continue their relationship with the organization.

Sale to Silver State Baseball, LLC

A month into the 2011 season, Stevens Baseball Group agreed to sell the 51s to Silver State Baseball, LLC, headed by Texas entrepreneur Chris Milam. The deal, which is subject to league approval, would include moving the 51s from Cashman Field to a new ballpark off the Las Vegas Strip that would be a part of Milam's proposed Las Vegas National Sports Center. The complex would also include a 17,500-seat arena and a 36,000 seat stadium behind the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and would cover an area between Russell Road and Hacienda Avenue and bordered by Polaris Avenue and Interstate 15. Approval of the sale by the league and transfer of ownership should occur by the end of July 2011.

On September 17, 2012, the 51s signed a Player Development Contract with the New York Mets for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Media

The Las Vegas 51s are covered by Las Vegas' two daily newspapers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun. Every 51s game is broadcast by KBAD 920-AM, the local Fox Sports Radio affiliate, with Russ Langer returning for his tenth season as the broadcast's play-by-play man. Several prominent sports radio and television personalities made the start as broadcaster for the Stars and 51s, most notably ESPN's Colin Cowherd.

Broadcasters

• Bob Blum (1985–2005)
• Dick Calvert (1983)
• Colin Cowherd (1987–88)
• Joe Hawk (1983)
• Ken Korach (1989–95)
• Russ Langer (2000–present)
• Tim Neverett (1996–2003, 2005–06)
• Paul Olden (1984–87)
• Jerry Reuss (1994–95, 2005–06)
• Jon Sandler (1993–99)
• Dom Valentino (1983–85, 1987–89)
• Rich Waltz (1990–92)

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the 51s. For the full season-by-season history, see Las Vegas 51s seasons.

Records accurate as of end of the 2010 PCL season

Season	Affiliate	Conference	Division	Regular Season					Postseason	Awards
				Finish	Wins	Losses	Win%	GB
2006	LAD	Pacific	South	3rd	67	77	.465	24
2007	LAD	Pacific	South	4th	67	77	.465	17
2008	LAD	Pacific	South	2nd	74	69	.517	9
2009	TOR	Pacific	South	T-3rd	71	73	.493	15.5		Randy Ruiz (MVP)
2010	TOR	Pacific	South	4th	66	78	.458	13		J.P. Arencibia (MVP)
2011	TOR	Pacific	South	2nd	71	73	.493	17		David Cooper (Batting Champion)
2012	TOR	Pacific	South	2nd	79	64	.552	6.5

Players

Current roster

Las Vegas 51s roster
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 46 Greg Burke -- Tim Byrdak 73 Robert Carson * -- Jacob deGrom 16 Matt Fox 35 Gonzalez Germen * 45 Justin Hampson 38 Sean Henn 29 Jack Leathersich 43 D.J. Mitchell 14 Rafael Montero 48 Gregory Peavey 79 Armando Rodríguez 20 Chris Schwinden		Catchers 17 Juan Centeno 29 Travis d'Arnaud * 25 Kai Gronauer 33 Francisco Peña Infielders -- Russ Adams ‡  7 Brian Bixler 29 Ike Davis *  4 Wilmer Flores *  5 Reese Havens 12 Brandon Hicks 19 Zach Lutz *  3 Rylan Sandoval Outfielders 23 Mike Baxter * 21 Andrew Brown 24 Eric Campbell 34 Jamie Hoffmann		Manager  8 Wally Backman Coaches 44 George Greer (hitting) 51 Randy St. Claire (pitching) 7-day disabled list * On New York Mets 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated June 18, 2013 Transactions → More MiLB rosters → New York Mets minor league players

Notable alumni

• Roberto Alomar
• Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• Carlos Baerga
• Bruce Bochy
• Larry Bowa (Manager)
• Jolbert Cabrera
• Chin-Feng Chen
• David Cooper
• Joey Cora
• Edwin Encarnación
• Andre Ethier
• Éric Gagné
• Nomar Garciaparra (rehab)
• Ozzie Guillén
• Tony Gwynn
• D. J. Houlton
• Edwin Jackson
• Matt Kemp
• John Kruk
• Russell Martin
• Gary Matthews, Jr.
• Kevin McReynolds
• Brad Mills (Manager)
• Norihiro Nakamura
• Cody Ross
• David Ross
• Jerry Royster (Manager)
• Benito Santiago
• Kevin Towers (General Manager)
• Shane Victorino
• Jayson Werth
• Steve Yeager (Hitting Coach)

Individual awards and accomplishments

PCL MVP

• 1983 – Kevin McReynolds
• 1986 – Tim Pyznarski
• 1988 – Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 1989 – Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 2001 – Phil Hiatt
• 2009 – Randy Ruiz
• 2010 – J. P. Arencibia

PCL Manager of the Year

• 2002 – Brad Mills

PCL Executive of the Year

• 1992 – Don Logan
• 1998 – Don Logan

External links

• Las Vegas 51's official Web site