Silverado High grad could return home to play for 51s

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, Sept. 22, 2008 | 4:16 p.m.

Eric Nielsen remembers sitting in the bleachers at Cashman Field 20 years ago, proudly sporting a ball cap from his Legacy Little League team and cheering for the Las Vegas Stars.

Now, he could be on the diamond playing for Southern Nevada's Triple-A baseball affiliate.

The Las Vegas 51s, formerly the Stars, entered into a two-year agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays this week to move the franchise's top farm team from Syracuse, N.Y., to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas had been affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2001 to '08, but the Dodgers left after this season for Albuquerque.

Nielsen, who was part of Silverado's state championship team in 2000, played 19 games last year for Syracuse and has a good chance of being part of the Las Vegas 51s' outfield next April.

The 26-year-old is thrilled about the possibilities of playing at home.

"A lot of my family and friends haven't had a chance to see me play because I've been with teams on the East Coast," said Nielsen, a Henderson native. "I hope I'm fortunate enough that things go my way and I'm on that squad."

Nielsen, who just concluded his fourth year in the Blue Jays system, only batted .190 in 63 at-bats with one home run and two RBIs in Triple-A last June before being demoted.

It was a performance Nielsen knows won't help his argument to be in Las Vegas.

"It was the roughest time of my career," he said. "I was trying to get five hits in one at-bat. I was trying to do way more than the situation dictated."

His struggles continued in Double-A as he hit .268 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 78 games for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He's a career .282 hitter with 31 home runs in 1,909 at-bats.

While his numbers don't show it, Nielsen feels he continued to progress.

"I have matured a lot mentally and know the game better," Nielsen said. "The bottom line is that this is still baseball. It's no different now then when I was 18 years old at Silverado."

The Blue Jays' marriage with the 51s wasn't exactly a perfect match, and having someone like Nielsen on the roster would give the community a tie to the team. He also led UNLV to consecutive Mountain West Conference titles.

Las Vegas was the only Triple-A city without a player agreement last week after several organizations changed affiliations, while Toronto was the only club without a home for its Triple-A team.

"This is exciting for Vegas and I hope to be part of it," said Nielsen, who still lives in Henderson in the offseason. "But just because I'm from (the area) doesn't mean I'm on the team. You have to put up the numbers or you are gone in professional baseball."

Home News Sports Editor Ray Brewer can be reached at [email protected] or 990-2662.