Surface Grass Capacity 9,334 | Broke ground April 1981 | |
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Location Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 USA Owner Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Operator Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Field size Left Field – 328 ft
Center Field – 433 ft
Right Field – 323 ft Address 850 N Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA Hours Closed today SundayClosedMonday8AM–5PMTuesday8AM–5PMWednesday8AM–5PMThursday8AM–5PMFriday8AM–5PMSaturdayClosed Similar Chukchansi Park, Aces Ballpark, Isotopes Park, Security Service Field, Smith's Ballpark | ||
Cashman Field is a stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada owned and operated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Its primary use is for baseball, and is the home field of the Las Vegas 51s Triple-A minor league baseball team, an affiliate of the New York Mets. Also, Cashman Field was home to the Triple-A World Series from 1998 until 2000.
Contents
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 capacity of 9,334. It was named for James "Big Jim" Cashman and his family, who have been Las Vegas entrepreneurs for several generations.
The field is adjacent to Cashman Center, an exhibit hall and theater, operated by the Convention and Visitors Authority.
Cashman Field was featured as a landmark in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in the city of "Las Venturas".
Donuts at cashman field
Major League Baseball usage
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 a game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs. The stadium hosted Oakland Athletics the first 16 home games as part of the 1996 season due to renovations taking place at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. In addition to AAA baseball, Cashman Field hosts at least one Major League Baseball spring training game annually. The Los Angeles Dodgers made three straight Cashman Field appearances from 2001–2003 and returned in 2006 and 2010. In 2005, the Cubs and Mariners played two games to celebrate the Las Vegas Centennial (1905–2005). The Cubs have made 12 straight appearances from 2005 to 2016. The 2016 games, dubbed Major League Weekend, featured two games between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.
Cashman Field has 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's legalized gambling, have so far kept the city's proposals from achieving success.
Other events
Cashman Field was also 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."