51s Announce 2015 Schedule; Season Opener April 9
LAS VEGAS: The Las Vegas 51s professional baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets and the 2013 & 2014 Pacific Conference Southern Division Champions, will begin their 33rd season of play in the Silver State against the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, on Thursday, April 9 at Chukchansi Park. Las Vegas will begin the 2015 campaign with an eight-game road trip in Northern California against Fresno (April 9-12) and the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, from April 13-16.
The 51s home opener will be on Friday, April 17 against the Grizzlies at Cashman Field. The initial homestand will consist of a four-game series against Fresno (April 17-20).
The 51s, which will begin their third season as the top farm club of the Mets, compiled an overall record of 81-63 (.563) for the second consecutive season under Wally Backman, the 2014 PCL Manager of the Year. Las Vegas was in first place wire-to-wire during the 2014 campaign and finished over the .500 mark for the third consecutive season (2012-14, first time in franchise history, 32 seasons (1983-2014). Las Vegas also recorded back-to-back 80-win seasons for the first time in franchise history and advanced to the PCL Playoffs for the 10th time.
The 51s were tied for the best record in the 16-team PCL with intrastate rival, the Reno Aces. Las Vegas lost in the Conference Championship Series to Reno, 3-games-to-1.
The 144-game schedule (72 home, 72 road) will once again feature many promotional nights that will include 51s giveaways, Budweiser Dollar Beer Nights, Kids Carnival and highlighted by the traditional "Fireworks Extravaganza" on Saturday, July 4th against Albuquerque at Cashman Field.
The Las Vegas franchise reached the 300,000 plateau in attendance at Cashman Field for the 32nd consecutive season (1983-2014). In 71 dates, Las Vegas' total was 329,429 for an average of 4,640 which included four sellouts. The season-high crowd was 11,133 vs. Salt Lake on July 3rd and the all-time attendance total now stands at 10,644,209.
In 2014, Minor League Baseball remained an attractive form of affordable family entertainment. The regular season attendance surpassed 41 million fans for the 10th consecutive year. The 42,411,194 fans in 2014 represents increases in both total number of fans (857,413) and percentage (2.1%) from 2013.
The 51s will host the Southern Division of the Pacific Conference opponents: Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies), El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres) and Salt Lake Bees (Los Angeles Angels) for eight games each. The 51s will also host the Northern Division (Pacific Conference) for eight games each: Fresno Grizzlies (Houston Astros), intrastate rival Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks), Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants) and Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners).
The Northern Division opponents of the American Conference comprised of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Milwaukee Brewers), Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs), Oklahoma City RedHawks (Los Angeles Dodgers) and the two-time defending PCL and Triple-A Champions, the Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals) will visit Cashman Field for four games each.
The 51s will travel to the Southern Division opponents of the American Conference comprised of the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals), Nashville Sounds (Oakland A's), New Orleans Zephyrs (Miami Marlins) and Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers) for four games each.
2015 season tickets and mini-plan packages (11, 22, 36-game plans) are available by calling the 51s office at (702) 798-7825. Individual game tickets for the 72-game home schedule will go on sale in March.
The complete schedule is available on LV51.com and all standard home night games during the 2015 season will begin at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday games at 12:05 p.m. in April, May, June and 7:05 p.m. in July, August and September.