Tuesday, May 6, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.
In the past 20 years, Cashman Field has played host to gun shows, geography bees, the Beach Boys, high school graduations, major league baseball and the infamous Metallica concert where the fans stole an ATM.
And now it has become the scene -- and the subject -- of a political debate.
Last month's visit by Dodgers General Manager Dan Evans came with what seemed to be an ultimatum from Los Angeles: Provide their prospects and rehabs with a better facility, or face losing the affiliation with one of the top brands in sports.
"The important thing is," said Evans, "this isn't something we're using as a negotiating ploy. It's clearly a need that we have. It's a mandate in order to do the things at the level we want to do them."
The 51s return home tonight to begin an eight-game homestand and the subject is sure to be revived. Since the Dodgers went public with their concerns, Mayor Oscar Goodman has responded and put the ball squarely back on the Los Angeles side of the net.
"I'm virtually steadfast in my opinion that I like Cashman Field," said Goodman, who acknowledged that there was "no question" the locker rooms needed to be refurbished.
"But that's not the same expenditure as building a whole new stadium," the mayor said. "I'm not sure a brand new stadium for Triple-A baseball would bring one more person to the stadium than they get at Cashman Field."
51s General Manager Don Logan, who has been in charge of the club for the duration of its 20 years in Las Vegas, disputed that a renovation would be the answer.
"The way it's laid out, there's no room to do what needs to be done, particularly back of the house," Logan said. What needs to be done, according to the Dodgers, is a major upgrade in the facility. "They don't have some of the things here that we really think we need," said Evans. "A batting cage, a pitching tunnel, to me, it restricts us from doing some things here that we'd like to do on a daily basis."
Evans said the lack of an indoor pitching area prevented the Dodgers from sending right-hander Kevin Brown to Las Vegas last season for his rehabilitation. A rainout, Evans said, would have meant no place for Brown to work.
Even players have spoken out. 51s first baseman Larry Barnes said teams are often forced to take breaks during batting practice in the hot summer months to go inside and cool down. With indoor batting cages, that would not be a problem.
Twenty years ago, Cashman Field opened as the gleaming new home of the AAA Las Vegas Stars, who moved here from Spokane, Wash. The 9,334 seat stadium was built atop the concrete and rebar remains of the "original" Cashman Field built in the 1950s.
As time has worn on, so has Cashman Field.
"It was a great facility at one time," said Evans, "but it's an old facility, now one of the oldest facilities in AAA, and it's showing its age."
Logan was more pointed in his remarks.
"This is the worst facility in the Dodgers system, and they don't like that," he said. "They have a brand new AA stadium in Jacksonville. They have a brand new situation in Vero, and now they're building a new stadium for their other Class A team."
Although Logan is amicable to playing in a renovated Cashman Field, he doesn't believe it's practical. "We'll pay more in rent to the LVCVA -- to get the type of facility to keep pace in this environment."
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Authority, which owns Cashman Field and the adjacent convention center, declined comment, referring all questions about Cashman Field to the 51s.
Ideally, Logan would like to move the team to a new stadium on the 61-acre lot near the Clark County Government Center.
But the mayor remains steadfast.
"If the Dodgers want to tell me they want to move here from Los Angeles," he said, "I'll talk about building a new stadium.'
So the debate rages on, one that surely will continue through the Pacific Coast League season. Meanwhile, 400 miles to the northwest, a group of private investors in Reno is working to build a 10,000-seat AAA stadium, complete with the same amenities the Dodgers can't find in Las Vegas.
Could the team slip away?
"You'd hope not," said Logan, "but you have to keep every option open."
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