The game-tying home run popped up Monday by Athletics catcher Jonah Heim in extra innings against the Milwaukee Brewers probably wouldn’t have registered at any other stadium.
Certainly not one occupied by one of the MLB’s 30 teams.
Only in Vegas.
The altitude at Las Vegas Ballpark, stationed more than 3,000 feet above sea level, coupled with the thin desert air makes it a Little League field for big league hitters. Of the 21 home runs blasted Monday across the major leagues, 11 came at Las Vegas Ballpark in a 15-14 loss for the A’s.
The rematch Tuesday — the second of six games the A’s are playing at the Summerlin stadium, three against Milwaukee and three against the Colorado Rockies sandwiched around an off-day Thursday — seemed as if it would repeat Monday, featuring six home runs in the first six innings.
Welcome to Las Vegas Ballpark.
A hitter’s heaven. A pitcher’s hell.
‘Hitter-friendly environment’
“I think everyone knows (the baseball) carries,” A’s outfielder Tyler Soderstrom said Tuesday, less than 24 hours after he sent two baseballs to Souvenir City. His two home runs were more resounding than Heim’s popup that rode the wind past the right-field fence, dragging Milwaukee into two more innings.
Said Soderstrom, once an Aviator and familiar with the favorable conditions of his former home: “Definitely a hitter-friendly environment, but still got to go out there to compete. … You’ve just kind of got to stay true to (what approach) at the plate works for you.”
Athletics starting pitcher Jeffery Springs offered a different postgame Monday, having yielded two home runs in five innings. His counterpart, Milwaukee’s Kyle Harrison, was among the league leaders in ERA — before he allowed eight earned runs in two innings, punctuated by three A’s home runs.
“The ball flies,” Springs said. “It’s kind of crazy to sit (in the clubhouse) and watch how the rest of the game went. …
“(Harrison) has been great this year again. Cy Young (Award), I’m sure he’s in that talk. Then to give up homers and stuff like that, it just showed me how tough it is to pitch in this ballpark.”
The altitude at Las Vegas Ballpark would be second (among MLB parks) to Colorado’s Coors Field, famed for its hitter-friendly conditions and mile-high altitude.
Perhaps it’s why the stadium being built for the A’s on Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue — in addition to the heat — will be covered by a roof, its elevation notwithstanding. And it’s almost 1,000 lower elevation on the Strip.
Swing away on Strip?
On the subject of which, the Athletics toured the construction site before their game Tuesday, offering them an up-close look at their future home. A’s manager Mark Kotsay has canvassed the site four or five times, depending if he opts to include the implosion.
“Pretty impressive,” Kotsay said in his pregame chat from the first-base dugout. “The vision of the ballpark in totality is there now.
“You can really see a future of an incredible stadium that fans are going to completely have an opportunity to be as close as they’ve ever been, but also, you’re going to have an incredible view from everywhere in the buildling.”
Kotsay and Co. checked out the concourse and said the viewpoints were “unobstructed,” predicting a picturesque viewing experience. Unpredictable for the fourth-year manager: how the baseball will play off the bat.
“I don’t think you’ll ever know the exact way the field or the environment is going to play,” Kotsay said. “Obviously, the biggest difference at being here and being at the location on the Strip is elevation. It’s wind. It’s temperature control.”
But swing away for the rest of this week.
“(Las Vegas Ballpark) is definitely a hitter’s park,” A’s third baseman Max Muncy said Tuesday. “Definitely flies here. I think that’s a big reason they’ve got the dome on the new stadium coming.
“But it’s definitely cool to see our guys. Obviously, we can hit.”
Especially here.
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
