By John Katsilometes
On May 1, 1986, a promising young left fielder playing for the Hawaii Islanders hit a home run against the Las Vegas Stars at Cashman Field.
His name: Barry Bonds.
As Bonds walks toward the all-time Major League home run record (at this writing he is one dinger from tying Hank Aaron at 755), I called Las Vegas 51s Media Relations Director Jim Gemma to see if Bonds ever played professionally in Vegas. Gemma, who was the official scorekeeper for the Stars in those days, dug up some old Pacific Coast League box scores that were hand-written on legal notebook paper to track down Bonds’ stats.
Bonds, who also played against UNLV while starring for Arizona State in the mid-’80s played a single four-game series from May 1-May 4. He went 4-for-14 in the series with the HR, a double and two RBI. He didn’t last long in the PCL, moving up to the majors – the Pittsburgh Pirates, his original big-league club – on May 30. He hit his first Major League home run on June 4, against Atlanta’s Craig McMurtry, and never revisited the PCL. The Islanders folded after the 1987 season. The Stars, of course were the Las Vegas triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres from 1983-2001, when the Dodgers took over, renamed the team after Area 51 aliens and chose as its logo a bizarre character that looks like Dwight from “The Office.” But the baseball is good, cheap fun.
“We have had some great, great players come through Las Vegas,” Gemma said. “We promote that all the time – the future stars come through Vegas, it’s the closest thing we have to a major-league pro sports team.”
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Barry interesting: As Bonds closes in on the HR mark, networks have replayed the record-breaking home run hit by Aaron against the Dodgers in 1974. After watching this clip a few times (and I’m always amazed those two guys actually made it onto the field without being corralled and were able to make contact with Aaron as he rounded the bases) I noticed that Bonds is not the only big-league player who looks unnaturally bulked up. Compare the 1974 players in that Aaron highlight to the players today. I used to think Aaron was a pretty bulky guy, but not at all by today’s standards.
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Trivia time: My favorite baseball trivia question is, Who was on the field when Aaron broke the all-time HR record, Reggie Jackson hit his three consecutive home runs in the 1977 World Series, and when Pete Rose broke the all-time base hit record? (Answer later in the blog).
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More from the minors: This is starting to feel like my old sportswriting days, but I attended Monday night’s 51s-Round Rock Express game and found that the sound system at Cashman has been upgraded fairly recently. Upgraded, at high volume – this system goes to 11, and if you value your ears, you do not want to sit on the plaza level under the sets of speakers hanging overhead (especially if you have recently taken in a Rush concert). Also, I’m still trying to sort out the sign in left field promoting R-J sports columnist Ed Graney. The message is the R-J is “black and white and red all over.” You mean, read? I think read is what we’re after there. And positioned next to that message is a very large image of the top of a man’s head, showing only his receding hairline. I don’t know if that is Ed Graney’s pate, or what it has to do with baseball or sports writing. It would be a good Rogaine ad, though. Or maybe a spot promoting Mary Kay age-fighting moisturizer.
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Yesterday on KNPR’s “State of Nevada” local affairs program, host Dave Berns invited three Las Vegans who have donated to presidential campaigns. One of those was Joel Jarvis, who was identified as an insurance broker, which is correct. But he also heads up The Link Las Vegas, an organization that hosts social and professional networking events throughout the city – “schmoozefests,” we call them. I’ve been on Jarvis’ e-mail list for years (maybe you have, too), but have never attended any of his parties. During the program, Jarvis told Berns he is backing Mitt Romney for president and has donated $250 to the Romney campaign. Jarvis offered that his donation has led to a phone call with Romney, during which Jarvis told the former Massachusetts governor he is “a soldier in his fight to win the presidency.” Romney’s conservative family values (he married his high school sweetheart, Ann Davies, in 1968 and has five kids and 10 grandkids) was the reason Jarvis gave for cutting the check.
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Don’t expect Brendan’s Irish Pub and Sazio to be in Boyd Gaming’s plans for the Orleans in 2008. I’m hearing they will be closed in six months. Rumors of the demise of Brendan’s have swirled around the casino floor for more than a year.
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Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine are back this weekend at AJ’s Steakhouse at the Hard Rock Hotel. The show is sold out, and the funky-swanky lounge act’s cozy relationship with the Hard Rock might well lead to a more permanent headlining gig in 2008.
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Vegas moment: More like a clarification here. A few weeks ago, in a blog titled “How to Buy a Vegas Home in Five Easy Steps,” I reported that my friend and softball teammate Ralph Cenname has a difficult time hitting the cutoff man with his throws from left field. Rather, I should have reported that Ralph does hit the cutoff man, but often throws to the wrong base. He also worked as our mortgage lender during the purchase of our new home and did a great job with that. It’s good to have the friends, you know?
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Release me: We’ll see your embattled governor and raise you a daffy heiress: Keeping pace with the orchestrated celeb sightings in Vegas, Galaxy Fandango in Carson City has announced that Gov. Jim Gibbons (and his posse) is making an appearance at its grand opening Thursday night. Galaxy Fandango is the only all-digital theater in Northern Nevada, and Gibbons is to make a proclamation announcing as much.
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Trivia answer: Steve Garvey.
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PL8 in my head: Noteworthy vanity on a BMW SUV, C SHARP.
Fabulous Las Vegas appears at this Web site. John Katsilometes can be reached at 990-7720, 812-9812 or at [email protected]