Originally written June 19, 2008

About two or three times a year, I make trips to Las Vegas. Sometimes four. What can I say, aside from the fact that I enjoy gambling? Hotels comp me, and I now know my way around the city pretty well, and there's that whole gambling thing I certainly enjoy doing a lot of.

In between sessions where I make money gambling, and sessions where I lose money gambling, I'm often looking for things to do, to pass the time. I'm not a club-type person, so clubbing is essentially out of the question. One can only eat so many meals during the day, so buffet hopping is also not a reasonable option. A lot of the time, and depending on the time of the year it is, I spent a lot of time walking around the city, as well as sitting around in my room watching television. To someone like me, it's not really boring, because I'm not at home.

Of all the trips I've made however, this was one of the rare instances that I made a trip in the (what feels like) the heart of summer, despite it not officially being June 22nd yet. The reasoning is quite simple, because Las Vegas, in the middle of June is about as hot as hot can possibly be, with daytime temperatures topping out anywhere from 106-113 degrees, Fahrenheit. Yeah, not fun.

Regardless, on my last trip, seeing as how only two weeks prior, I had hit up three major league ballparks, and how I had hit up one minor league park last summer, I figured if there was ever any good time to tackle another one for this season, Las Vegas would be a perfect bet. As it turned out, the scheduling worked in my favor, as I was able to attend a single home-game of an ending homestand against the Portland Beavers and the resident Las Vegas 51s.

I'll be honest - I know nothing about either team, but my love of the game will not let that get in my way. I even actually had to ask people sitting nearby whom the two teams affiliated for, to which kind of surprised them. But I'm not afraid to ask questions, nor am I afraid to look through my program guide to acclimate myself to names and numbers. The only player I recognized was 51s shortstop, Chin-Lung Hu, whom I remembered from last year's Futures All-Star game, as well as seeing him in a call-up appearance just two weeks prior in Los Angeles.

So, after a tantalizing session of blackjack, and a less-than-entertaining drive to and from Henderson, Nevada, I was ready for some baseball. Getting to the Cashman Center is quite easy, since it's pretty much past the Strip, and really not even half a mile after one passes Downtown Las Vegas. It's just, that if you don't know where to turn, you'll drive right past it, because it's kind of like the opposite of the Chavez Ravine - instead of being placed at the top of a giant hillcrest, the Cashman Center is sort of on the bottom of one instead.

Tickets were cheap, and I was able to walk up and get general admission with absolutely no problems at all. The Thursday I happened to be present at also happened to be a dollar-beer Thursday, but I was without any designated driver, so I refrained from indulging. Besides, it was really, really hot, and the last thing I wanted to do, was sweat out beer or anything.

Small, but very cozy, as a minor-league ballpark should be. The team store was large, air-conditioned and well organized, and I was able to get my souvenir team-logo baseball with minimal problem. Like the Diamond in Richmond, Virginia, instead of real seats for general admission, it's more like a bleacher - which was fine with me, since it was a hot evening, not many people showed up, so I was able to throw my legs up and kick back and enjoy the game once the sun had set behind the booths.

Despite the great location for them, not a single foul ball headed in my direction that evening. And there were so few people there, that if anything flew my way, it would've been a pretty easy way to collect.

It was a little funny to me, to see so many casino advertisements all over the outfield wall, and all over the place. I'm so used to community cheese, like mom and pop shops, the local fast food chains, and such, but apparently, in Las Vegas, the casinos are all of the above, and have as much right as the above mentioned to advertise in their community.

Despite being a minor-league park, the Cashman Center has a beautiful skyline. Since it the outfield faces northbound, instead of the gaudy lighted skyline of casinos towards the south, people in the stands are treated to a beautiful mountainous, or rather desert sculpted skyline in the horizon.

The game itself was a decent one - not a slow grind, but not a low-scoring affair, either. Both teams played well, and it was a while before Las Vegas pulled away. When the sun had set, and night fell, the weather actually turned pretty decent, and downright comfortable.

Game Result:   Las Vegas prevails over Portland by a score of 8-4. The 51s jumped out in front immediately in the first inning, and never once looked back. A lot of 2-out scoring on their part, which is great news for future Dodgers.

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