Las Vegas 51s

The Las Vegas 51s, formerly known as the Las Vegas Stars, are a minor league baseball team. They are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They play at Cashman Field (capacity 9,334) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team competes in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The 51s won the PCL championship as the Stars in 1986 and 1988.

The 51s take their name from Area 51 which is located close to Rachel, Nevada, about 80 miles north of Las Vegas, although the route that must be taken by car to get there takes about three hours of travel. The team logo jokingly depicts one of the grey aliens thought by UFO believers to inhabit that base.

The team's first affiliation was with the San Diego Padres from 1983 to 2000. In 2001, they became the top farm club of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That affiliation ended at the conclusion of the 2008 season, when the 51s signed on with the Blue Jays. In 2012 the Buffalo Bisons signed a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays which left the New York Mets with no choice other than having their Triple-A affiliate be the 51s.

On March 24, 2008, Mandalay Baseball Properties sold the 51s franchise to Stevens Baseball Group. There were no plans to move the team, and talks of building a new stadium have been essentially stagnant for the past seven years. The team has sold about 5,000 tickets per game on average the last few years, but far fewer fans typically attend home games.

In May 2011, Stevens Baseball Group came to an agreement to sell the 51s for an undisclosed amount to Silver State Baseball Group, LLC, with ownership to be transferred by the end of July 2011. Chris Milam, head of Silver State Baseball Group, LLC plans to move the team to a new ballpark at his proposed Las Vegas National Sports Center, if the complex is built.