![]() ![]() Harper kept coming back to the Golden Knights’ “Vegas Born” mantra. He has wistful memories of the made-for-TV Big League Challenge home run derbies at old Cashman Field.īut the Vegas A’s would have 81 home dates to fill. Harper said families flock to the new stadium in Summerlin, a neighborhood about 15 miles from the Strip. There is a grassroots baseball culture in the area Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators, is near the top of the Pacific Coast League in attendance. And it should be two.”Ī strong pipeline of big leaguers hail from Vegas. And this is what it’s going to be.’ And he’s your guy. We’re going to spend $300 million on him. … If they go to Vegas next year, you have to be able to go, ‘We’re going to get this player. “Who is that player going to be? Because it has to start next year. “They’re going to have to build behind a player,” Harper said. Harper sees one advantage of a move to Las Vegas: There is no state tax. Immediate success would help, but the A’s as currently constructed are not primed for it. “I feel bad for the A’s and their fans,” Harper said. A salary cap leveled the playing field for a nascent organization. The franchise’s owner, Bill Foley, invested in the product. The Golden Knights benefitted from a favorable NHL expansion draft. In 10 years, you could have a lot of fans.”īut that is contingent on the A’s fielding a winner, Harper believes. But that 5- or 6-year-old, in the next 10 years, they could grow up A’s fans. … Do you think people are going to drop the Cubs or the White Sox to be A’s fans? There’s no way. “Are they really going to sell out for a Yankees game on a Friday night?” Harper said. The A’s, Harper believes, face a massive challenge in relocating to Las Vegas. An influx of Chicagoland natives to Las Vegas in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s created strong footholds of Cubs and White Sox fans in the area. Many of his friends, thanks to TBS broadcasts, were Braves fans. “Just because the Yankees in the ’90s were unbelievable,” Harper said. He’s conflicted about the A’s likely relocation to his hometown. Those fans deserve that.”īryce Harper, at 16, runs the bases during a high school game in Las Vegas. They could be as good as anybody if they actually went and did it. “But do I believe they should leave Oakland because of that? No. And the last couple of years, it hasn’t been the greatest. But when you see a team like the A’s - there’s so much history at the Coliseum with all the great players they’ve had. Who cares what I think? It’s my own opinion. Now it’s, ‘Hey, we’re going to pick the A’s to come to Vegas.’ I don’t agree with that. “I feel bad for the A’s and their fans,” Harper said Wednesday. Now that it’s on the precipice of happening, he is conflicted about the entire thing. Once the state’s governor signs the bill, all that remains is a relocation vote by MLB owners.įor years, Harper has thought about big-league baseball in his hometown. The Nevada legislature on Wednesday gave its approval for the Oakland A’s move to Las Vegas with $380 million of public funding for a new stadium along the Strip. And soon, it appears, Major League Baseball will arrive. That’s what they really rallied behind.” Now, Vegas has the NFL’s Raiders. “They had shirts and license plates that said, ‘Vegas Born.’ That’s the big thing. “It was like, ‘Oh, this is for us,’” Harper said. He fell in love with the expansion team that enjoyed immediate success. Harper, baseball’s most famous Las Vegan, is a hockey fanatic because the Golden Knights were his hometown’s first professional sports team. Harper caught a few seconds of the ensuing celebration, then further contributed to a Phillies offensive barrage against the Diamondbacks. ![]() Every time Harper passed the screen, the Golden Knights had built a bigger lead. There was a TV in the tunnel and a security guard vowed to keep the hockey game on for Harper. Harper bounced from the Phillies dugout to the cage like he does every night. ![]()
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