Diehard 51s fan has been with team from start

It would be hard to find a more passionate and loyal local sports fan in Southern Nevada than Cyn Winzer.

The 66-year-old has had season tickets to the Las Vegas 51s since they arrived here in 1983, when they were known as the Stars, and the happy-go-lucky, part-time convention worker also has season passes for UNLV basketball and football.

In fact, Winzer and her son, Sean, even tailgated in the Thomas & Mack Center parking lot to greet the Rebels when they returned home from the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 two weeks ago.

"I'll get a life someday, but I don't want to rush into it," said Winzer, who moved here in 1968 from her native Kansas City, Mo. "It's just enjoyable, and it's great entertainment."

Winzer is a huge sports fan in general. But she has a special place in her heart for baseball, a sport she was introduced to by her father, who took her when she was a child to see the Kansas City Blues, the now-defunct Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

"That's how I got into Triple-A ball. The Yankees were there when I was growing up, with Elston Howard and Roger Maris," she said. "My dad said Opening Day was a holiday, so he used to take me out of school to go. It still is in my book."

Winzer, who still follows the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals, hasn't missed many baseball games in Las Vegas over the past 24 years.

"I guess it's just in my blood," she said. "I love baseball, the strategy, the whole game itself. It's relaxing. I call it my summer vacation. I sit back and relax. If it's boring, I get into a conversation, and if it's not, I watch every pitch. Each game is different."

Winzer prides herself on supporting her team through good times and bad.

"I'm not one of those fair-weather sports fans. I go -- win, lose or draw," she said. "It's entertaining, and we're there to support them."

Winzer's favorite Las Vegas players were some of the first ones to roll through town: John Kruk, Kevin McReynolds and Bruce Bochy.

"We've had a lot of good people come through and ones that have come through on other teams, too," she said. "We've had Mike Piazza here and Ken Griffey Jr. It's kind of fun to see players coming through and then see where they are now. I can say I knew them when.

"I don't understand why more people don't come out for baseball. The kids really try, and they're one step away from 'The Show.'"

Winzer looks back on the early days of Las Vegas baseball with fondness. It was a time when the fans were able to connect with the players on a more personal level.

"We used to have a good boosters' club in the old days," she said. "The players and their wives would come out after the game for barbecues and beer, and we got to know them. We'd find baby sitters for them, and mechanics. We'd help guys out. It was real nice ... up close and personal."

Winzer has forged a close bond with several other longtime season ticket-holders at Cashman Field. A group of 10 sit together in a section along the right-field line that they once, ironically, dubbed "Area 51," before the team changed its name from the Stars.

"I've met some wonderful people out there through the years," she said. "We do our thing and watch the game, and everybody is relatively knowledgeable about baseball. It's a good bunch of people."

Winzer said the group brings its own bunting to decorate its section on the Fourth of July, and it also holds an "un-birthday party" each year for people in the group who don't have birthdays during the season. The diehard fans just generally enjoy themselves, even betting on the length of the national anthem, which Winzer said usually has an over-under of about 1 minute, 20 seconds.

"The fastest one was 56 seconds, by some grade-school choir," she said. "It's funny, because I get ESPN Magazine, and it had an article about what pitchers talk about in the bullpen, and it said they bet on the length of the national anthem. They do the same thing we do. We've been doing it for years. We don't put any money on it; it's just for fun.

"We have a lot of fun, we really do. The boys of summer have a sense of humor and play a lot of practical jokes, and it's fun to go along with them."

In all her years following the 51s, Winzer said she hasn't even tried to catch a foul ball. It could prove too costly.

"I don't want to catch one, because I don't want to spill my beer," she joked. "They're $5 dollar beers. I duck."

Winzer brings a spray bottle to games to stay cool in the blazing heat of summer, and she also wears a cooling device around her neck. Sunday afternoon home games are the toughest to take, but she wouldn't dare miss them.

"We sit through the game and suffer through it," she said. "If it gets really bad, we'll go upstairs and have brunch and stay in the air conditioning."

In the late 1980s, Winzer won a car on the team's fan appreciation night. But promotions, she said, aren't the reason she goes to games.

"The fireworks are great, and the giveaways and bobbleheads are fun, but I don't go for the promotions," she said. "I go for the baseball."