Cashman Field is a mixed-use stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada owned and operated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Its primary use is for baseball and soccer as the home field of the Las Vegas 51s (Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets) and the Las Vegas Lights FC. The field is adjacent to Cashman Center, an exhibit hall and theater, operated by the City of Las Vegas,. The complex was named for James "Big Jim" Cashman and his family, who have been Las Vegas entrepreneurs for several generations. Cashman Field was featured as a landmark in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in the city of "Las Venturas".
Video Cashman Field
History
Cashman Field opened in 1983, which makes it the second-oldest stadium in the Pacific Coast League and the third-oldest stadium in Triple-A baseball, and has a maximum seating capacity of 9,334 for baseball. The facility saw its first professional baseball game on April 1, 1983, when the San Diego Padres faced the Seattle Mariners in front of 13,878 fans. The Cashman Field attendance record of 15,025 was set on April 3, 1993, for an exhibition game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs.
Maps Cashman Field
Baseball usage
In addition to Triple-A baseball, the stadium hosted the Oakland Athletics' first 16 home games of the 1996 season due to renovations taking place at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Cashman Field hosts at least one Major League Baseball spring training game annually, dubbed Big League Weekend. The Cubs have made 13 consecutive appearances at Big League Weekend. The ballpark also played host the 1990 Triple-A All-Star Game which saw the team of National League-affiliated All-Stars defeated the team of American League-affiliated All-Stars, 8-5. Las Vegas' Eddie Williams was selected as the PCL MVP. Cashman Field was host of the Triple-A World Series from 1998 until 2000 and the Big League Challenge from 2001 to 2003. In 2017, the stadium hosted the Mexican Baseball Fiesta, a series of two games between the Naranjeros de Hermosillo and the Águilas de Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific League.
Cashman Field had been suggested as a temporary stadium in the city's efforts to woo either a Major League Baseball expansion team, or an existing team desiring to move. The stadium would serve as home field until a permanent facility could be built. It had come up in the city's talks to lure the former Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, and Oakland Athletics. However, the park would need considerable expansion, particularly in seating capacity, in order to host a team. The substantial costs which would be incurred in expansion and construction of a new stadium, as well as MLB concerns over Las Vegas' legalized gambling, have so far kept the city's proposals from achieving success.
Soccer usage
In July 2017, a United Soccer League team was announced to begin playing at Cashman Field in 2018, the Las Vegas Lights FC. Cashman Field previously hosted MLS exhibition games between the Los Angeles Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes, dubbed the California Clasico in 2016 and 2017.
Other events
The stadium was considered as the home stadium for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League starting in 2011; however, the team remained at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney for that season's only home game. The team again announced negotiations with Cashman for the 2012 season but decided again to remain at Boyd for at least the first two games of the season. (The league ceased operations before the other two home games of the season, which Boyd had not yet agreed to host, could take place.)
Problems and criticism
Players and staff have criticized the facility noting poor conditions in the playing surface, bullpens, and clubhouse. The weight room is smaller when compared to other Triple-A stadiums, with infielder Ty Kelly calling it "basically just a room... not an actual weight room". The batting cage is also a point of concern for the players. It is currently a single lane, which is only accessible by walking out of the clubhouse to the parking lot. Johnny Monell described the cage as making him feel like he is "back in high school again" and not up to par for a Triple-A stadium.
During a 51's Game on August 22, 2015, the stadium sewage system backed up, causing raw sewage to flow into the dugouts. The smell was so strong that players were forced to watch the rest of the game from chairs on the field.
Team president and chief operating officer Don Logan said "It's disappointing that Vegas has the worst facility in our league when we have such a great town with the greatest hotels, the greatest dining, the greatest shopping. It's not becoming of this community to have a place like this."
Pacific Coast League commissioner Branch Barrett Rickey has expressed his concerns about the feasibility of the continuous usage of Cashman Field as a Triple-A Ballpark. In a letter to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority which owns and operates the facility, he wrote: "It needs to be faced that Cashman's days of reliable use are well behind it, a conclusion not limited to experts in Las Vegas. The baseball community also knows it and to such a degree that the big league teams in proximity to Las Vegas have opted for Triple-A affiliations in far less appropriate markets."
The 51s plan to move to a new stadium in Summerlin by 2019.
See also
- Las Vegas Ballpark
- Sports in the Las Vegas metropolitan area
References
External links
- Las Vegas 51s web site
- Ballpark Digest Visit to Cashman Field
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments