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PCL1 Reno Aces

Reno Aces Home Opening Weekend a Success

by Ed Kobak/Global Sports
April 20, 2009 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Reno Aces


The city of Reno, `The Biggest Little City in the World' got a little bigger this past weekend, beginning Friday night with the home opener of the Reno Aces and a sold out ballpark overflowing with 9,167 fans in their new state of the art $50 million Aces Ballpark. The Aces joined the big leagues of minor league baseball as the team and the city of Reno and its fans usher in a new era of baseball, Triple-A baseball, PCL style, a stones throw from the Major Leagues.

As the city of Tucson adjusts to the loss of its Sidewinders this Spring & Summer, the city and fans of Reno are awash in pride and excitement of gaining a triple-A ballclub. This is as big as it gets in the life of Reno sports. A triple-A baseball club brings national notoriety and attention to a city that only this level of sports is capable of providing. Only the top tier of minor league hockey can offer similar attention and Reno does not have minor league hockey at any level, so triple-A baseball is as good as it gets. Other minor league teams in other sports have failed in the past in Reno, but as Reno Mayor Bob Cashell stated last week, `this is major league for Reno'. With the ballplayers only a step away from the big leagues Mayor Cashell is right.

From the opening night festivities that included speeches by both the Reno & neighboring Sparks mayors, the Aces owners and PCL President Branch Rickey III, a pre-game flyover of fighter jets from the Naval Air Station in Fallon, NV to the post game kids run the bases event where every child in attendance had a chance to run all the bases, to the closing fireworks display, it was a night to remember for Reno fans in attendance.

The Aces Ballpark is an amazing facility in itself. It is one of the crown jewels of minor league ballparks. If you added a middle tier and a upper deck, you would think you were in AT&T Park in San Francisco, Petco Park in San Diego or Camden Yards in Baltimore, it is that good. The park even has it's own version of Fenway's famed Green Monster in the outfield that Aces pitching coach Rick Burleson can relate to as well as a beautiful fan friendly grass berm beyond the outfield wall that stretches from center to right field. As I walked around the park Friday night I saw fans stretched out on blankets and lawn chairs while enjoying a picnic dinner with their family or enjoying the great food from the vendor stands, fathers were tossing balls to their children, other children were at the outfield wall with their gloves and outstretched arms waiting and hoping for a ball to wander their way. There are metal picnic tables set up beyond the outfield walls and full blown catered dinners offered to groups and parties. It truly is a festive atmosphere in a fan friendly stadium, something Reno has never had until now.

From the Katzoff family and Herb Simon, the owners of the Aces, to Brett Butler the Aces manager to Burleson the coach, to the management & game support staff and to the players, this is a first class organization.

Reno has a long history of organized baseball, stretching back to 1947 when the Reno Silver Sox were affiliated with the New York Giants as a charter member of the Sunset League and later in the class D Western League and the class C California League. The 1961 edition of the Silver Sox are ranked #55 of the top 100 minor league baseball teams of all-time with a 97-43 record that year. The Reno Padres had a short stretch in the 1980's before being renamed the Silver Sox until their demise in 1992. They all played in old rickety Moana Stadium. In the 1990's, the semi-pro Reno Diamonds called Moana Stadium home until they folded. In 1996 the Reno Chukars of the independent Western Baseball League began a four year run before folding. Another reincarnation of the Silver Sox called Reno it's home while a member of the independent Golden League until the Aces took the field this year. The amateur/semi-pro Reno Astros currently call Moana Stadium home and have been around since 2003.

Even before Major League affiliated baseball began in 1947, Reno and the region had a long baseball history. Former State Senator Pat McCarran played semi-pro baseball in the Summer for logging camp and boomtown mining teams in the early 1900's. Harrah's Club had a successful semi-pro team in the 1940's.

Two straight sold out games for opening weekend and a near sellout on Sunday does not guarantee the Aces automatic success at the turnstiles which is needed in order to turn the Aces into a profitable venture, but the Aces are off to a great start. Some would say the odds are stacked against the Aces with today's economy and less disposable income for families. The Aces organization and the PCL brass are betting against that with ticket prices as low as $7 for a seat in a new ballpark at the highest level of minor league baseball, something Reno fans have never seen before.

The Reno area with a population of 305,000 ranks only 11th out of 16 teams in the PCL but the Aces management point to their rivals, the Sacramento River Cats who are 130 miles to the west on Interstate 80. The River Cats are the 8th largest city in the PCL with several larger cities in the east in the International League, yet the River Cats have led all minor league teams in attendance each of its nine seasons. The Aces management also points to the now relocated Tucson Sidewinders who were in the 6th largest market in the PCL with a population of 525,000 and yet only drew an average of 3,500 fans a game, the lowest in the league last season. The Aces hope to do much better, starting with a competitive team on the field and a brand new ballpark to generate fan interest.

By the looks and results of their home opening weekend, the Aces are well on their way to becoming a successful minor league baseball franchise, one that will make Reno its home for many years to come. For Reno baseball fans, these are the best of times...

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 20, 2009


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