51s Host Sacramento (June 22-25); Tony Gwynn at Cashman Field on Friday
The 51s, under manager Dan Rohn, are currently in third place in the Pacific Southern Division, 31-40, 14.5 games behind the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The Grizzlies have the best record (45-25, .643) in the 16-team PCL. The four-game road trip in Colorado Springs, Colo., will conclude on Monday, which will represent the halfway mark of the 2010 campaign.
Las Vegas is averaging 4,882 fans (175,736) through 36 home dates in the 2010 season. The season-high crowd was 10,459 vs. Omaha on May 18. The Las Vegas franchise has reached the 300,000 plateau in "home" attendance in all 27 seasons (1983-2009) and the all-time total now stands at 9,200,214.
Carrot Top Bobblehead Night, to the first 2,000 fans through the gates, will be presented in the opening game of the homestand on Tuesday. Carrot Top, Comedian of the Year, performs six days weekly at Luxor Las Vegas and he will "throw out" the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday's game.
Game three of the series on Thursday will feature Budweiser Dollar Beer Night. Proper identification and wristbands are required for dollar beer night.
51s Sunglasses Night, to the first 2,500 fans through the gates, will be featured in the series finale on Friday.
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn will highlight the evening with an autograph session for 51s fans in the concourse area at Cashman Field. Gwynn's appearance is sponsored by the United States Air Force Reserve.
The San Diego Padres great appeared in the inaugural season (1983) with the Las Vegas Stars on a Major League rehabilitation assignment. He appeared in 17 games and batted .342 (25-for-73) with 6 doubles and 7 RBI.
He played his entire career (1982-2001, 20 seasons) with the Padres and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 29, 2007 and received 532 out of a possible 545 votes in HOF voting. He appeared in 2,440 career games and batted .338 (3,141-for-9,288) with 543 doubles, 135 home runs and 1,138 RBI.
In 1994, he batted .394, the highest batting average in the National League since Bill Terry hit .401 in 1930 and the highest in the majors since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Gwynn was a 15-time N.L. All-Star, eight-time N.L. Batting Champion (1984, 87, 88, 89, 94, 95, 96, 97), seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a five-time Gold Glove winner. He was selected by the Padres in the third round of the 1981 draft and was also selected by the NBA's San Diego Clippers in the 10th round of the 1981 draft.
The River Cats have dominated the PCL's Southern Division. Sacramento has finished in first place in eight out of the last 10 seasons, including three straight seasons (2000-09) and captured the PCL championship four times (2003, '04, '07, '08).
Sacramento features the top two prospects in the A's organization, according to Baseball America: outfielder/infielder Chris Carter (No. 1) and outfielder Michael Taylor (No. 2). Taylor (6-foot-6, 260) was involved in the Roy Halladay trade on December 16, 2009. He was then traded from Toronto to Oakland for infielder Brett Wallace.
Carter, who resides in Las Vegas, is a 2005 graduate of Sierra Vista High School. He batted .343 with 7 HR and 35 RBI during his senior season. In 2010, he has appeared in 68 games for the River Cats and is batting .237 (60-for-253) and ranks tied for second in the PCL with 15 home runs and 52 RBI (2nd in PCL).
The 51s broadcast all games on Lotus Broadcasting on Fox Sports Radio 920 AM, which will carry live all 144 regular season games. Also, all games will be available on the 51s website (Major League Baseball Advanced Media, MLBAM) at LV51.com. Russ Langer, the five-time Nevada Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA), is in his 11th season behind the microphone calling 51s baseball.
Following the homestand, Las Vegas will conclude the month of June with a four-game road trip to Northern California. The 51s will face Fresno in a four-game series from Saturday-Tuesday, June 26-29. The next scheduled off day for the PCL is Wednesday, June 30.
Tickets for all 51s home games can be purchased at the Cashman Field box office. The box office is open Monday-Friday (non game days) from Noon to 4:30 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased through Ticketmaster (1-800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com). Ticketmaster outlets are located at selected Smith's Food & Drug, Ritmo Latino and the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino.
The individual game tickets for the 72-game home season are priced at $9.00 (general admission), $10.00 (reserved), $12.00 (plaza) and $14.00 (field). The traditional $2.00 discount for Military personnel is offered on plaza, reserved and G.A. seats throughout the season except for the holiday fireworks shows on July 2 & 3 (all seats at $14.00).
Season tickets and mini-plan packages are available by calling the 51s office at (702) 798-7825.
Official licensed 51s team merchandise is available on the "Team Shop" section of the website atLV51.com.