Monday, April 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
A popular media pastime during Major League Baseball's week-long stay at Cashman Field became taking jabs at Las Vegas, a trend which players and team officials said was unjustified.
Reporters around the country devoted a great deal of print to criticism of alleged fan apathy and the reported inadequacy of Cashman Field itself. One columnist termed the city, "arguably the nation's worst sports town."
Among those coming to the city's defense Sunday was Oakland Athletics vice president and general manager Sandy Alderson, who proclaimed himself to be quite satisfied with the week's proceedings.
"What Las Vegas has done is put its best foot forward in order to make this as professional a setting as possible,and it's been an outstanding job," Alderson said. "All I can say is that the setting here has been as major league as anything we could have expected in Oakland for the first week of the season. We're very pleased with the facilities and the personnel here."
The six-game series drew a total attendance of 54,986 -- including 31,296 for the three weekend games -- after getting off to a slow start. Sunday's announced crowd was 9,723, or 104 percent of Cashman Field's seating capacity of 9,353. Teams played before an average 41.2 percent of capacity (276,462 out of 670,329 available seats) at the other 13 major league sites Sunday.
"I think everything went as well as it possibly could," said Ken Korach, Oakland broadcaster and Las Vegas resident. "It was a remarkable undertaking, and I think it went really well. I didn't hear one complaint from any player, coach or manager."
Detroit catcher Mark Parent, who played for the Las Vegas Stars in 1985 and parts of 1986 and '87, said the support of both the fans and Cashman Field workers was obvious to him.
"The crowds were really enthusiastic," Parent said. "The fans here are knowledgeable about the game and treated us well. I think the ballpark was made as close to major league standards as possible. I commend all the people who worked hard to make it so."
"We're happy with the crowds," added Alderson. "We didn't expect sellouts the first two or three days simply because of the amount of time available to sell tickets."
Don Logan, general manager of the Stars, bristled at the notion that the week's operation was anything less than the best it could be under the circumstances.
"From my standpoint, I don't consider this a minor league town or situation," Logan said. "We've gone out of our way to make up for any shortcomings. There are not many cities in the country which could have pulled this off. This is the event capital of the world. To do what we did with just two weeks of preparation was phenomenal."
For Korach, the criticism just comes with the territory when one is dealing with Las Vegas.
"I think Las Vegas is an easy place to poke fun at because of its stereotypical image," he said. "Most people only know Vegas for the Strip and gaming. If you're trying to put a humorous -- or sarcastic -- slant on things it's an easy target."
Extra Innings
* McGWIRE SIGHTING: Oakland slugger Mark McGwire took batting practice prior to Sunday's game and, despite having trouble pushing off of his injured right foot, still managed to hit a majority of balls out of Cashman Field. McGwire is on the disabled list retroactive to March 22, when he suffered a plantar fascial tear in the foot. After being with the Athletics on opening night, McGwire was sent back to Arizona to be fitted for a special shoe. He rejoined the team Saturday and will begin travelling with the A's. "I felt really good out there," he said, "but I still have a long way to go." Oakland looks to regain McGwire's services around May 1.
* RARE FEAT: The triple play recorded by the Athletics Sunday was just the sixth since the club moved to Oakland in 1968. Ironically, the most recent A's triple-killing also came at the expense of Detroit, taking place back in 1983. Ernie Young, who started the triple play with an acrobatic catch which included slamming into the wall right-center, said he couldn't remember running into anything quite that hard. "I've never been in a car accident, so I don't have anything to compare it to," he quipped.
* HOMER COUNT: The much-anticipated final Cashman Field home run totals are now in. With Geronimo Berroa's game-winning blast in the ninth inning Sunday, 23 homers were hit over the six games. The host Athletics hit 10 long balls, with 13 coming off the bats of Toronto and Detroit.
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