Sam Morris / Las Vegas News Bureau
Fireworks light up the sky following the Las Vegas Aviators’ game against the Reno Aces on Wednesday, July 3, 2019 at the Las Vegas Ballpark.
Thursday, May 6, 2021 | 2 a.m
The Las Vegas Aviators may need an entire wing of the Las Vegas Ballpark to receive all of the awards and accolades they received at the venue two years ago in their inaugural season.
Ballpark Digest named Aviators Team of the Year and Las Vegas Ballpark named Ballpark of the Year. This marked the first time in the baseball industry’s 20-year history that a franchise deserved both. Meanwhile, Aviators President and Chief Operating Officer Don Logan took home the coveted Baseball America Minor League Executive of the Year award.
Oh, and the actual team went 83-57 to win their Pacific Coast League division in front of a total of 650,934 home visitors – most of them in minor league baseball.
“You saw how successful we were and how great this place is and how well we fit into the sports scene with the most important league sports,” says Logan. “We really created a great situation here.”
The Aviators can finally rejoin the local sports scene and all defend their crowns as Season 2 kicks off at their downtown Summerlin home on May 6 with a series against the Sacramento River Cats. After many attempts to start and stop last year amid the pandemic, minor league baseball season has been canceled for good.
Several teams across the country didn’t survive the financial devastation of a missed season, but there was no doubt the Aviators would return after their 2019 Monster campaign. Now the organization is focused on picking up where it left off.
“Everyone I speak to is thrilled and very excited to come back,” says Logan. “It really is a great feeling.”
Some differences will, of course, be felt if the team adheres to social distancing mandates, including reduced capacity and mandatory face masks. The Aviators’ pool of opponents will also be shallower to make way for the 10-man Triple-A West following the breakup of the Pacific Coast League – the home of the franchise since it started as Stars in 1983 at Cashman Field .
Las Vegas plans to assert itself as one of the best teams in the new league. Player development often overtakes winning titles as the main focus of minor league baseball, but Logan says the Oakland Athletics, the parent club of the Aviators, value a stable balance.
“Competitive baseball is good for business, good for the fan base. It’s more fun to see your team win, ”says Logan. “I can tell you that last year when [MLB] set up the alternate site [for potential call-ups] That they are doing it now has been one of the biggest drawbacks and one of the biggest complaints of managers [that] Boys from the minor leagues weren’t ready to play because they hadn’t played meaningful games. They didn’t play to win. “
In 2019, the Aviators had a stacked roster of players now playing in the big leagues, including shortstop Jorge Mateo, pitcher Jesús Luzardo and outfielder Seth Brown, Skye Bolt and Dustin Fowler. A similarly productive class could emerge in 2021, with Logan mentioning former round two outfielder Buddy Reed and former Padres catcher Austin Allen as two players to be seen from the start.
“The A’s don’t do things like other teams. Her focus is always on design and development, ”says Logan. “That means that as a partner in a small league, you will always have a competitive group on the field, especially at this level. Most, if not all of these people become or have spent time in the major leagues and that bodes well for the product you are about to see in the field. “
The man who tops the list will also return. Coaching staffs tend to turn quickly in the minor leagues, but Fran Riordan will be back for his second season to lead the Aviators.
Riordan also participated in the 2019 Aviators’ Award Parade for Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year recognition. The first season at the Las Vegas Ballpark was literally a banner year for the Aviators, and now they want to restore that success.
“This baseball field is really a special place,” says Logan. “Now we can put all the foundations we laid back into practice.”
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
