The center field backdrop is now dark green, and the foul areas are newly padded. Even the bets have been taken off the board.
Tiny Cashman Field is as ready as it ever will be for its first - and presumably last - major league Opening Day.
Major League baseball returns to a minor league ballpark for the first time in 39 years today, when the Oakland A's host the Toronto Blue Jays in their ``home'' opener at the Las Vegas stadium.
Not since Sept. 3, 1957, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Brooklyn Dodgers at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J., has a major league game been played in a minor league park. The move was made because the A's claimed renovations of the Oakland Coliseum would not be finished.
From this gambling city's view, it's not only a publicity coup, but a message to baseball that Las Vegas would make an ideal spring training site.
``This tells baseball that Las Vegas is a player in this,'' said Don Logan, GM of the Las Vegas Stars. ``This is the adult Disneyland. This is where everyone wants to come.''
The first of six games at the Southwest-style 9,353-seat stadium will have all the trappings of a home opener, with both teams lining up on the foul lines for introductions and the singing of both national anthems.
That is if you can ignore the double-decker layer of ads ringing the outfield fence and the bench seating in much of the stadium. Not to mention the ball flying out of the ballpark with greater regularity.
``The ball jumps,'' admitted Logan, who was instrumental in getting the A's here. ``But there won't be any more home runs. This is going to help people understand Triple A ball. The only difference is the superstars.''
Las Vegas jumped at the chance to get Oakland's homestand after failing in its initial effort to lure the Colorado Rockies here for spring training. In a town where money talks, tourism guaranteed the A's, who were also considering the Superdome in New Orleans, $900,000 for the six games.
``It lets us put our money where our mouth is as far as getting spring training teams here,'' Logan said.
Workers were still putting final touches on some stadium improvements in the days before today's opener, while ticket clerks were putting in 14-hour days to meet unexpectedly high demand for the games.
As painters covered up the glossy green center field backdrop with a dark green, Logan walked across the manicured infield, checking the consistency of the sand mixture.
``It's different than clay because you can't put clay in the desert - it will bake,'' Logan said. ``But this is a consistent infield and it should play like a big league infield.''
Logan said he expects the 13-year-old stadium to be almost filled, with additional overflow seating on the grassy berms down the left and right field foul lines.
More importantly, the city hopes to reap publicity far in excess of the guarantee given the A's for the six games. The games will all be televised to the home markets of the teams, and there is a possibility that ESPN will broadcast one of the games.
``All the free media exposure this has gotten is a steal for $900,000,'' Logan said. ``It's a huge hit in terms of exposure. the uniqueness of it in Las Vegas will generate a ton of publicity.''
