Here’s the pitch: Catch 51s before it’s too late

They still are in first place in the Pacific Coast League's Southern Division. But when the 51s returned to Las Vegas on Saturday after losing three of four games at second-place El Paso, the big sports story was that somebody had a plan to transform their ballpark into a soccer stadium.

This is what can happen when you hit the road in the PCL for a couple of weeks.

If and when this soccer project thing happens, almost everybody on the Las Vegas roster will have moved on to the major leagues, or be selling cars for their father-in-law, or be closing in on Crash Davis' minor league record for career home runs. And Wally Backman should be managing the Marlins, or somebody like that.

But should soccer dreams and visions become reality, it will be a good thing for the 51s, too — it will mean they will have finally gotten a new ballpark.

If/when it happens, you'll have to drive to Summerlin to enjoy the amenities, and to watch Triple-A prospects perfect bat flips after hitting long home runs aided by a dry climate and other Triple-A prospects hanging off-speed pitches.

It will be great for baseball fans who live in Summerlin, and other baseball fans who live in Henderson and own a Prius or some other hybrid that gets great gas mileage.

Anyway, the first-place 51s have returned home to begin their penultimate homestand of the season. The Iowa Cubs are here for four games, and then it's the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

The Iowa and Omaha parent clubs have been two of the biggest stories in baseball this summer. And the Mets, to whom the 51s send bat flippers and other prospects, have been right there with them.

As one longtime 51s official told me last week, "This situation with the Mets has worked out better than anybody thought it would."

So this is a perfect chance to catch their Sept. 1 call-ups today.

Even if you aren't familiar with Crash Davis' minor league home run record in "Bull Durham" (it was 247, although many real-life minor leaguers have hit more) or only go to 51s games for the fireworks or refrigerator schedule magnets — Saturday night at Cashman Field was Cosmo Plush Toy Giveaway Night — this is an ideal time to pay respect and homage to the 51s.

Provided this humidity goes away.

Las Vegas has played fine baseball over another long haul. Feisty manager Backman has the 51s hitting the cutoff man, as usual, and if the umps miss one now and then, he'll let 'em know as only he can. A batting helmet may or may not get thrown.

None got thrown Saturday night. John Andreoli of the I-Cubs hit a baseball over the right-field wall, highlighting a four-run fourth inning that lifted the visitors to a 6-1 victory and trimmed Las Vegas' first-place lead to 2½ games.

Former 51s Mike Baxter and Taylor Teagarden had two hits each for Iowa in front of 6,101 spectators, most of whom wore short pants on a steamy 106-degree night.

Their fifth loss in six games notwithstanding, the 51s still are on track for their third consecutive Triple-A playoff assignment — you have to go back to the franchise's fledgling days for the last time that happened. When Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown had hair. Or at least more hair than he has now.

Brown was a pitcher for the original Las Vegas Stars in 1983 and 1984. The team made it to the PCL playoffs in both of Brownie's seasons, and again in 1986 through '88.

Las Vegas loves a winner, and Las Vegas loved the old Stars, despite those horrid orange and yellow uniforms.

The Stars would win their only two PCL championships in '86 and '88.

They haven't won another since becoming the 51s, and switching affiliations in a musical-chairs fashion from the Padres to the Dodgers to the Blue Jays to the Mets.

But if the 51s can hold off those tenacious Chihuahuas from down in the West Texas town of El Paso over the final 23 games, they will win their third straight PCL Southern Division title.

Last season, Las Vegas led from wire-to-wire, which is hard to do when the Mets are constantly plucking your best pitchers — and a lot of everyday players, too — for use in Citi Field and the other big league ballparks.

Unless they melt down like John Daly and throw their lead into Lake Michigan, this will be the fourth straight season the 51s have finished north of the .500 mark. Which never has happened before.

Likewise, if they can close with a finishing kick, they'll also top 80 wins for the fourth consecutive season. That also has never occurred during the franchise's 32-year history.

So, just to reiterate, the current homestand would seem a good time to catch the 51s. Provided the humidity goes away.

Before you know it, the NFL regular season will begin. That Yankees-Blue Jays series won't mean so much then.

You will blink again, and baseball season will be over. And when your team drops out of the pro football playoff picture, you may miss baseball.

And then before you know it again, corner kicks could be attempted from the foul poles at Cashman Field, and you'll have to lease a Prius for the drive to Summerlin to catch a ballgame.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski