Hee: Cashman Field a pretty good venue for baseball despite age

I just recently took a trip to Cashman Field in Las Vegas to see the 51’s play. It was a terrific experience, especially if you love baseball like I do. I took the family and was impressed by the condition of the field. That night my younger sister Kim was with me, along with my wife and mom.

Kim is a baseball fanatic and when she found out that the 51’s were playing the Salt Lake Bees she flipped out. The Bees are a farm team of the Los Angeles Angels and well, that’s my sister’s team.

My wife and my mother really could care less, they were more into just relaxing and enjoying the evening.

At first, I was worried a bit about the part of town Cashman Field is in. Don’t, it was completely safe even though the field itself, according to their website, is the second oldest stadium in the Pacific Coast League and was built in 1983. It has a capacity of just under 10,000 people. Shoot, by my standards, that is pretty young and Cashman wears its age well. The food was just as good as any professional stadium and it was not pricey. But there are those that want to see it gone. The owners are looking to relocate to Summerlin. That’s sad.

I mean this is Las Vegas, where anything over 20-years-old needs to be imploded. By Las Vegas standards Cashman is ancient. If all the baseball owners felt that way then Dodger Stadium, which is considered to be one of the top five places to see a baseball game, would have been gone a long time ago. And then there is Wrigley Field, which is home to the Cubs. That park is the oldest active baseball field. Just think of the history. But Las Vegas doesn’t think of the history in buildings, they just wipe it clean. New is better.

Back to Cashman, we had a great time there last Thursday. My sister was out to get the autograph of two-time Cy Young award winner, Tim Lincecum. For those who are not baseball fans, the Cy Young award is reserved for the top pitcher in the major leagues and Lincecum got it twice. So why was he pitching for the triple A Bees? Well, he had a major hip operation and still is recovering and hoping to make a comeback.

My sister wanted his autograph and was determined to get it after the game. I had my doubts. After all why would a two-time Cy Young award winner stick around after the game, but her enthusiasm was not curtailed by my negativity. After all, she has a Clayton Kershaw (Dodger Pitcher and also Cy Young award winner) autograph and numerous other players that she stalked after games.

Despite her successes, I still laughed at her. But one thing people don’t realize is that a minor league setting is probably a better setting to get that autograph because of the intimate seating. I mean when you watch a game at Cashman, you are up close and personal to the game. All the seats are pretty close to the field.

Then she saw the sign, “no autographs” and it was posted around the dugout. Did it stop her plans? Nope, are you kidding me? She read the sign, but still planned to get it. And where did she stand after the game—under the sign and right above the Bees’ dugout.

I watched her walk around the stadium, shaking my head in disbelief (we were sitting on the other side of their dugout). She was not acting her age, which is up there (past 40). She would kill me if I revealed her age in the paper. We waited while she stood in a crowd patiently waiting for Timmy (as she called him) and lo and behold, he walked over to the crowd and gave everyone there an autograph. My mouth fell open in disbelief. Kudos to Lincecum. He’s a stand-up guy. That made my sister’s day. She was beaming with a smile a mile wide and didn’t stop talking about it all night long. So, if there is a moral to this tale, it must be think positively and you can get what you wish for.

What a great baseball experience.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com