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Cashman Field

Address	850 North Las Vegas Boulevard
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 U.S.
Coordinates	36°10′46.8″N 115°07′47.9″W / 36.179667°N 115.129972°W / 36.179667; -115.129972Coordinates: 36°10′46.8″N 115°07′47.9″W / 36.179667°N 115.129972°W / 36.179667; -115.129972
Owner	LVCVA
Operator	LVCVA
Capacity	9,334 (12,500 w/ standing room + berm)
Field size	Left Field – 328 ft Center Field – 433 ft Right Field – 328 ft
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	April 1981; 37 years ago (1981-04)[1]
Opened	April 1, 1983; 35 years ago (1983-04-01)[7]
Construction cost	US$26 million[2] ($65.4 million in 2018 dollars)[3]
Architect	Tate & Snyder[4] R. Gary Allen Design Architects[5]
Structural engineer	John A. Martin & Associates[6]
General contractor	Mardian Construction Co.[2]
Tenants
Las Vegas 51s (PCL) (1983–2018) Las Vegas Lights FC (USLC) (2018–present)

Cashman Field is a mixed-use stadium in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. It is primarily used for soccer as the home field of Las Vegas Lights FC of the United Soccer League. It was formerly the home of the Las Vegas 51s Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The field is adjacent to Cashman Center, an exhibit hall and theater, operated by the City of Las Vegas.^[8] The complex was named for James "Big Jim" Cashman and his family, who have been Las Vegas entrepreneurs for several generations.

Baseball

Cashman Field opened in 1983,^[9] and had a maximum seating capacity of 9,334 for baseball. 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 an exhibition game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs.

In addition to Triple-A baseball, the stadium hosted the Oakland Athletics' first 16 home games of the 1996 season due to renovations taking place at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. Cashman Field hosts at least one Major League Baseball spring training game annually, dubbed Big League Weekend. The Cubs have made 13 consecutive appearances at Big League Weekend.^[10]

The ballpark also played host the 1990 Triple-A All-Star Game which saw the team of National League-affiliated All-Stars defeated the team of American League-affiliated All-Stars, 8–5. Las Vegas' Eddie Williams was selected as the PCL MVP.^[11] Cashman Field was host of the Triple-A World Series from 1998 until 2000 and the Big League Challenge from 2001 to 2003. In 2017, the stadium hosted the Mexican Baseball Fiesta, a series of two games between the Naranjeros de Hermosillo and the Águilas de Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific League.

Cashman Field had 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' legalized gambling, have so far kept the city's proposals from achieving success.

Its final professional baseball game was played on September 3, 2018. With the 51s trailing 3–2 in the bottom of the ninth inning and a runner on base, first baseman Peter Alonso hit a walk-off home run to left field giving Las Vegas a 4–3 win over the Sacramento River Cats.^[12]

Soccer

In July 2017, a United Soccer League team was announced to begin playing at Cashman Field in 2018, the Las Vegas Lights FC. The Lights FC played their first game on February 10, 2018, an exhibition match against the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer in front of a crowd of 10,383.^[13] Cashman Field previously hosted MLS exhibition games between the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes, dubbed the California Clasico in 2016 and 2017.^[14][15]

Other events

The stadium was 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 Sam Boyd for at least the first two games of the season.^[16] The league ceased operations before the other two home games of the season, which Sam Boyd had not yet agreed to host, could take place. Cashman Field was also featured as a landmark in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, in the city of "Las Venturas".

Problems and criticism

In recent years, players and staff from both the 51s and visiting teams criticized the facility. While it had been state-of-the-art when it opened, by the turn of the millennium it was considered far behind the times.

Players complained that the field was hard on their backs and knees. The bullpens and clubhouse were also considered second-class. The weight room was 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 was also a point of concern for the players. It was a single lane, which was 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.^[17]

During a 51s 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.^[17] 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."^[17]

Pacific Coast League commissioner Branch Barrett Rickey 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 previously owned and operated the facility, he wrote that ensuring that the upgrades necessary to keep Cashman at something approaching Triple-A standards would require spending "many tens of millions of dollars" that would still not be enough to make the stadium "an optimal long-term solution." He also added that Cashman's days of useful life were "well behind it," and that most MLB teams opted to place their top affiliations in "far less appropriate markets" than Las Vegas rather than deal with Cashman's shortcomings.^[18]

The 51s are moving to a new stadium in Summerlin in 2019.^[19]

Original Cashman Field

The original Cashman Field was built in 1947 on a site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Bonanza Avenue.^[20] The stadium was used for football and rodeos before the first baseball game was held on May 21, 1948.^[20] The stadium was home to the Las Vegas Wranglers from 1947 to 1952 and again from 1957 to 1958.^[20] Boxing matches were also held at the facility.^[21]

See also

• Sports in the Las Vegas metropolitan area

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cashman Field.

• Ballpark Digest Visit to Cashman Field