LAS VEGAS -- If there’s one thing Las Vegas knows how to do best, it’s put on a show. That’s exactly what the Athletics are being treated to this week.
Before the A’s relocate to a new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip set to open for the start of the 2028 season, they began a special six-game homestand on Monday night about 13 miles west of that site at Las Vegas Ballpark -- home of the club’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators -- to give locals an up-close look at its future home team.
To celebrate the occasion, Las Vegas enlisted a star-studded cast of entertainers regularly showcased on the famed Strip for guest appearances throughout the week, which includes three games against the Brewers (Monday-Wednesday), followed by three against the Rockies over the weekend (Friday-Sunday).
The Las Vegas pageantry was on full display. Pregame festivities for the opener of what is being dubbed the “Las Vegas Series” for the A’s included ceremonial first pitches from DJ Pauly D, of reality TV show “Jersey Shore” fame, and Nick Carter, lead singer of the Backstreet Boys. Belting out the A’s starting lineup was iconic ring announcer Bruce Buffer, whose voice is typically reserved for the most high-profile UFC fights in Sin City. Legendary A’s hurler and Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers -- who is also going on nearly three decades as a Las Vegas resident -- delivered a “Play Ball!” to kick off the ballgame.
“It’s good to be here in Vegas to play a regular-season series in front of a community that we’re going to be a big part of,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “When we come here in Spring Training, there’s a fun environment and a casualness to a series that, in Spring Training, makes no difference as to the result. Coming here in a regular-season series that counts, obviously, there’s a different mindset, different attitude and different approach to our days than there would be for Spring Training.”
While these are the first Major League games being played at Las Vegas Ballpark, this actually is not the first time the A’s have played regular-season games in Southern Nevada. In 1996, the A’s played their first six home games at Cashman Field in Las Vegas due to renovations that were taking place at the Oakland Coliseum.
This time around, however, the buzz is different. Anticipation is quickly building for the grand arrival of the A’s. Of course, many baseball fans in the area are already familiar with many of these current A’s, as several players in Monday’s starting lineup made their way through Triple-A at one point, including Shea Langeliers, Nick Kurtz, Colby Thomas, Max Muncy, Tyler Soderstrom and Henry Bolte.
“It’s a Major League game, so it’s obviously a different feel,” said Muncy, who just completed a rehab assignment with Las Vegas before getting reinstated from the injured list Monday. “Playing a big league game here is awesome. I was just here. I might be a little bit more comfortable here than the other guys, so it’s nice for me.”
While the extravaganza is taking place at Las Vegas Ballpark, the A’s are also utilizing this week as an opportunity to further establish a connection with their new community ahead of the 2028 move.
Events hosted by the A’s around the Las Vegas area include Storytime featuring A’s mascot Stomper and A’s alumni reading and singing with kids at a West Las Vegas library, current and former A’s players playing wiffle ball games with the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada’s summer youth program and players, alumni and staff volunteering at the Three Square Food Bank to help pack kids’ cafe meals.
“When you’re here in the regular season, the less distractions that we can create for the players, the better off the performance can be,” Kotsay said. “Obviously, that’s challenging, because we want to do as much as we can for the community to get out and show that our engagement is going to be 100 percent, which I think we’re doing and going to do as we get further into this relationship. It’s exciting for us. … We’re doing as much as we can with the players to allow the community to have access, but the intimacy of this ballpark will allow them to do that as well when they come out and watch us play.”
Above all, the A’s want to play well in front of their future home fans. Above all, the A’s want to play well in front of their future home fans. They sit 3 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West with a record of 31-35, and a strong week could help them make up ground in the division.