Syndicated sports columnist Norman Chad is the Aces' newest fan, as declared in this week's column:

It plays second fiddle to Las Vegas and ugly duckling to Lake Tahoe, but it's my kind of town. The biggest little city in the world is Reno, Nev., and if you've never been there, you've never been anywhere...

If I had to do it over again, I'd want to be born and raised in Reno.

At Reno Elementary School, you learn math by playing craps. At Reno Middle School, you pick up the basics of blackjack at recess. At Reno High, there is a weekly no-limit hold 'em tournament in the cafeteria. By the time you go to Reno Community College, you have all the tools to drop out of school and pursue a gaming career, if you desire...

Reno just became even more of an urban haven for Couch Slouch. The Arizona Diamondbacks' longtime Class AAA Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Tucson Sidewinders, moved at the start of the 2009 season and are now the Reno Aces -- how great of a name is that? -- playing in the city's new stadium, Aces Ballpark.

I'll accept the "ugly duckling to Lake Tahoe" comment, because virtually anyone, anything, and any place is the ugly duckling compared to Tahoe.  Still, how is it that Reno only has one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school?

Norman, come out and see us sometime.  Check out the park, check out the game, and explore the Reno-Sparks area.  You'll bump Vegas down to second-fiddle status in no time.

On Saturday, members of the Reno Aces front office participated in the third-annual Bowl for Wishes event held at the National Bowling Stadium in Downtown Reno.

The event benefited the Northern Nevada Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.     

Excitement has never been higher around the Reno Aces--and for good reason.

• SK Baseball, which owns the Reno Aces, recently purchased the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League. SK Baseball now controls the two major professional sports franchises in Reno. Read about the announcment here and check out the Bighorns here.

 

• Our own Brady Raggio was the subject of a national feature by Minor League Baseball writer Benjamin Hill. Read about Brady's transition from the pitcher's mound to the Aces front office here.

 

• The ballpark is coming together at an unprecedented pace. All eyes are focused on our April 17 home opener, and the park is shaping up to be one of the premier facilities in all of professional sports. Check out some of the latest ballpark renderings here.

 

• Season tickets are now available in 72-game, 36-game and 18-game packages. Visit RenoAces.com or call 775-334-4700 for more information!

On Wednesday, Brett Butler, the first manager in Aces history, will make his way to Reno to interact with fans at the first Meet the Manager Dinner.

Butler, a veteran of 17 Major League seasons and a 1991 National League All-Star, will be joined by Pacific Coast League President Branch Rickey for the event.

You won't want to miss this unique chance to get up-close with one of the premier up-and-coming managers in all of professional baseball.

A limited number of tickets are still available for this exciting event, but be sure to move fast.

To get in on the action, call the Aces at 775-334-4700 or contact Andrei at andrei@renoaces.com.

For details on the event, CLICK HERE!

Here's wishing you a happy holiday season, from the Reno Aces.

 

Remember, we're less than four months away from Opening Day.

Chris Gabel of the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote an excellent story on Reno Aces skipper Brett Butler in today's edition.

Check out the story here!

Butler played 17 seasons in the Major Leagues, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

He's in his fifth season in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization in a coaching capacity, and 2009 will mark his first at the Triple-A level.

Read the official announcement of Butler joining the Aces here!

Since the last time I updated the blog, Triple-A Baseball crowned a new champion (congrats to our new division rival, the Sacramento River Cats), we finally got a name (thanks to the 63 fans who submitted the name "Aces") and we released ticket pricing for season tickets and single-game tickets.

As for the ballpark, things are really starting to come together.  Steel arrived on site early last week:

Which the good folks at Devcon are helpfully arranging in the shape of a ballpark: 

For so long, much of the stadium construction was taking place below grade, as the field and seating areas were being excavated.  Now, things are happening that are visible to drivers and pedestrians passing by the site.  If you're in downtown Reno, come check out the progress for yourself.  The stadium site is at the northwest corner of Evans Avenue and 2nd Street, one block south and two blocks east of the National Bowling Stadium.

Heading off to the All-Star Game next week (no, not that one, this one) but I wanted to post another round of construction photos before I head out.

This is the view in line from home plate to straightaway center field to the northeast.  Note the curve of the stands on the right field side beginning to take shape.  To the left of the backhoe in the center of the site, you can see a pile of reddish dirt;  this is the remnant of a foundation from a long-lost, long-buried brick building on the site.

 

A closer look at the slope of the first base/right field grandstand area.

 

The right field berm continues to rise.

More boulders dug up from around the site... soon to be appearing at the Sparks Whitewater Park.

 

The view up Evans Avenue.  Granite Construction is the subcontractor for the site excavation;  the tanks in the foreground are water tanks for keeping dust down during construction.

 

The view down 2nd/Kuenzli, with the Truckee River flowing just beyond right field.

Everyone have a great weekend!

As of the end of play on July 9, the Sidewinders (Reno's future franchise) have recovered from a very ugly start to... well, to climb into second-to-last place in the entire league, and within five games of third place in the division.

By losing 19 of the first 22 games of the year, the team certainly didn't do itself any favors; however, in the time since then, the team has played a respectable 36-36.  The team had trouble finding its footing as four of the team's top prospects were traded to Oakland in exchange for Dan Haren before the season began, but now has All-Stars Jamie D'Antona and Emilio Bonifacio leading the charge. 

Such is Triple-A baseball.  The Sidewinders went from 8 games under .500 in 2005, to a league-best 38 games OVER .500 the following season, then back down to 8 games over .500 in 2007.  Because the team is part of the parent club's big picture to win at the Major League level, a team's fortunes might shift dramatically on the arm or bat of a called-up phenom.

On the other hand, maybe it's not always just one player or two, but simply team synergy and lucky streaks.  Just a few days after star pitcher Max Scherzer was called up to the bigs, the Sidewinders went on a 6-2 run to begin their long climb back to respectability. 

 

Andrei and I spent some time out at the construction site last week (special thanks to Tomara and Corky over at Devcon for giving us the grand tour.) 

As you may know, the early stages of the ballpark's construction is actually a massive dig.  When you walk through the gates next year, you'll be at the top of the concourse, and you'll walk down to your seats, not up.  That is, picture the Oakland Coliseum's lower deck, where the main walkway is at street level;  rather than, say, Mackay Stadium, where you enter the stands at field level and walk up. 

Much of the dirt from the excavation will be taken off-site, but some of it will be used to build up the hill in right field for lawn seating.  In the photo below, facing northwest, you can see the beginnings of the hill.  It's hidden on the other side of the dirt, but that's the Truckee right beyond the hill.

 

Here's a better look at the excavation process.  This is a view looking west, from about where the right center field fence will be.  The drop from street level to field level will be roughly 14 feet... so at the point when this picture was taken, they're just about down to field level already.  Since the point when this photo was taken, the excavation has now reached right field and the infield.

 

Of course, it's not all dirt and pebbles underground on the site.  Below, you'll see some of the large river boulders discovered during the dig, along with some ancient pipes from long-lost buildings which once occupied the block. 

 

At the northwest corner of the site stands the historic Freight House (built 1931).  The structure will be a signature location within the ballpark complex.

 

Finally, a view from home plate, looking northeast.   

Obviously, there's still quite a bit of work to do, but things are taking shape...

 

-Brett