Las Vegas Aviators

Did You Know?

• The Aviators' name is a reference to aviation pioneer Howard Hughes.
• The team's first home game at Las Vegas Ballpark in 2019 was a 10–2 win against the Sacramento River Cats before a sellout crowd of 11,036.
• In 2017, the 51s participated in the Copa de la Diversión initiative, playing selected games as the Reyes de Plata.

History

The Las Vegas franchise began as the Portland Beavers, who entered the PCL in 1919 after a two-year hiatus. The team moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1973, becoming the Spokane Indians, then relocated to Las Vegas in 1983 as the Las Vegas Stars. The Stars, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, were the first professional sports team in Las Vegas since the Las Vegas Quicksilvers soccer club played a single season in 1977. In their inaugural season, the Stars posted an 83–60 record and won the first-half Southern Division championship but lost to the Albuquerque Dukes in the playoffs.

The following season they went 71–65, won another division title, and lost in the league semifinals to the Hawaii Islanders. After a poor 1985 campaign, the Stars finished 80–62 in 1986, won the second half of the Southern Division, defeated the Phoenix Firebirds 3–2 in the semifinals, and beat the Vancouver Canadians in five games for their first PCL championship. They won a second PCL title in 1988, again defeating Vancouver, this time in four games.

Following five division titles and two league championships in six years, the Stars had only four winning seasons and two division titles over the next twelve years, losing in the first round both times. Their affiliation with the Padres ended after 2000. In 2001, Las Vegas became the top farm club of the Los Angeles Dodgers and rebranded as the Las Vegas 51s, named after Area 51, with a logo featuring a grey alien head and a mascot named Cosmo. The 51s had only two winning seasons in eight years as the Dodgers' affiliate; their sole division title came in 2002 under manager Brad Mills with an 85–59 record, but they lost 3–1 to the eventual PCL champion Edmonton Trappers.

Media

The Las Vegas Aviators are covered by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun. Every game is broadcast on KRLV 920-AM, with play-by-play by Russ Langer and Matt Neverett. Notable former broadcasters include Colin Cowherd, Ken Korach, and Rich Waltz.