51s’ series at Reno will be a homecoming for Las Vegas outfielder

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, May 3, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Chris Aguila’s professional baseball career has included stops in destination locations such as Miami, New York, Japan and Las Vegas.

He’s played in front of thousands of fans in some of the sport’s most impressive venues.

Monday, the Las Vegas 51s outfielder will play somewhere he never expected — his hometown of Reno, which debuted its franchise in the Pacific Coast League last spring.

Las Vegas and the Reno Aces will play a four-game series through Thursday, giving the 31-year-old Aguila his first opportunity to play in front of family and friends at home.

Sure, it won’t top hitting his first major league home run — he’s had three of those over parts of four abbreviated seasons — or finally sticking in the big leagues after 230 at-bats in 149 games.

Aguila was a third-round draft pick of the Florida Marlins in 1997 after graduating from Reno’s McQueen High. His friends and family in Northern Nevada have followed his 13-year professional career mostly through the media and during the offseason when he returns home.

Now, they will get a chance to watch him play in person. It’s a series Aguila said he would cherish.

“The opportunity to play again in Reno is nice,” Aguila said. “A lot of the people there haven’t seen me play since high school. It’s something I’m definitely looking forward to.”

Reno, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, debuted its minor league franchise last spring. Aguila is in his fifth Pacific Coast League season, but this is his first year in the league since Reno — and its impressive Aces Ballpark — debuted.

Aguila led McQueen twice to the state tournament in the 1990s, hitting a state-record 29 home runs during his senior season. Despite a 5-foot-11, 200-pound frame, Aguila’s power numbers haven’t faded in the professional ranks, with 123 minor-league home runs.

“I take every day as a blessing to be playing,” said Aguila, who had a career-best 29 home runs and 73 RBIs in 2008 with the New York Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans. “You try to have fun and play hard. As a player, all you can control is your effort.”

Aguila played last season with Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan, opting to sign with a Japanese club over a minor league contract with a big league team because of financial stability.

However, he struggled adjusting to a different style of play in only managing four hits in 42 at-bats.

“It was a different, but great experience,” he said. “I wish I would have played better over there. But as a whole, it was a good experience. They treated my family very well.”

Aguila signed a minor league contract in March with the Toronto Blue Jays, the 51s' parent club. He’s not on the 40-man roster and admits playing another year in Triple-A isn’t where he thought he’d be at this stage of his career.

He is batting .327 with a team-best four doubles for Las Vegas.

“He’s someone the younger players can look up to a little,” Las Vegas manager Dan Rohn said. “He brings a little veteran presence to our ball club.”