A trip down memory lane: Las Vegas Stars’ PCL title in 1988

The only food left at the hotel was popcorn. Some (lots) of beer also made it into the celebration.

The year was 1988, and the local Triple-A baseball team — the then-Las Vegas Stars, the top affiliate of the San Diego Padres — had just won the Pacific Coast League championship in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“We had a bash, an all-nighter,” Don Logan said. “Then we took a bus across the Canadian border and chartered back here and had another bash down at the ballpark at Cashman (Field).

“But it wasn’t nearly as much fun as winning it at home.”

They finally know what that feels like.

Remembering when

Now called the Aviators and the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics, the club won its first PCL championship since that 1988 season Wednesday night with a 7-3 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers at Las Vegas Ballpark.

The win put the Aviators in the Triple-A championship game Saturday night at Las Vegas Ballpark against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, who beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 7-4 in the deciding Game 3 of their International League title series on Thursday night.

Logan was the general manager in 1988 and is now president and chief operating officer of the organization.

He remembers well that 1988 team and the one in 1986, which won the PCL title by also defeating the Vancouver Canadians.

He tells of a common thread of all three champions that led to such success.

“Our managers,” Logan said. “We had Larry Bowa in ’86 and Steve Smith in ’88 and now Fran Riordan. Really good leadership. It’s a big part of it in sports. The culture. Managers in our business approach things like coaches in other sports. Organized. Stay on plan. Things are going to come up and go off script, but nobody panics. They have all been really good leaders.”

And good players. Those are a must.

The 1988 team had plenty of them.

Sandy Alomar Jr. Mike Brumley. Joey Cora. Shane Mack. Rob Nelson. Todd Simmons. Joe Bitker. Keith Comstock. Bruce Bochy. The late Kevin Towers. On and on, a talented roster.

And a bullpen. You need a good bullpen.

“Even back when they let starters throw 120 pitches, you’re into the bullpen every night,” Logan said. “That helped with the (current) team winning.”

Alomar was the PCL Player of the Year in 1988 and 1989. The 1988 team was special in that it featured several players who went on to successful major league careers.

The team led the league in runs scored with 795.

“We won the Texas League in ’87 in Double-A, and a lot of the guys played the year after that in Las Vegas,” said Alomar, now the first base and catching coach for the Cleveland Guardians. “We had a lot of chemistry. It was great. We knew the system. We knew we had a good team and that things would be similar in Las Vegas.

“We had a lot of good players on the (PCL championship) team. Time flies. Las Vegas always has had competitive teams. But there are a lot of franchises out there. The opportunity to (win a title) doesn’t come around often. I’m happy they won it.”

Why so long between titles?

It has been 37 years.

Electricity at ballpark

“You think you would luck into one somewhere along the way,” Logan said. “But that’s one of the things about baseball. Luck is part of it. We play 150 regular-season games. That’s a lot.

“The first year we were affiliated with the Dodgers, we had like 10 big leaguers. But we got to the playoffs and lost. Then we were with the Mets and had all that pitching. I thought that team would win it. It is what it is.”

What makes him happiest: how such a time can affect the team’s fans. Some might scoff at a Triple-A championship, but Logan said the electricity and energy at Las Vegas Ballpark hung on every pitch the past week.

“It’s awesome,” Smith said. “Congratulations to them. We had a young team for Triple-A (in 1988). Sometimes, they make you play prospects. But we had prospects who could play. They always want to get to the big leagues. That’s their goal. But these guys wanted to win. I was really lucky. Those were good days.”

It’s a long way from 1988, from a ballroom full of popcorn and beer, from another bash at Cashman Field, from the last time this organization won a PCL title.

“Having a chance to play in Las Vegas was a lot of fun,” Alomar said. “We were focused on winning and developing.”

Thirty-seven years later, not much has changed, after all.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.