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Las Vegas 51s announce name change
The Minor League Baseball team in Las Vegas soon will have a new name and a new look.
The Las Vegas 51s on Monday announced it will be rebranding and changing its name for the 2019 season.
The club launched a “Name the Team” sweepstakes, where fans, through April 30, can suggest ideas through the team’s website and social media pages. An entry will be randomly chosen May 4 to win a grand prize including $500 of team merchandise.
The changes will coincide with the team’s move to the Las Vegas Ballpark at Downtown Summerlin next year. This summer will mark the 51s’ last season in Cashman Field near downtown Las Vegas. The team also will no longer be the TripleA affiliate of the New York Mets.
Longtime Rangers anthem singer Amirante dies at 83
Longtime New York Rangers anthem singer John Amirante has died. He was 83.
His wife, Annie, told the Rangers he died of natural causes Tuesday in New York after about a week in the hospital.
The Rangers on Twitter mourned with “great sadness” the loss of the “legendary anthem singer” with the booming voice. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist says it was “always special to hear his name, see him walk out and sing the way he did.”
The Bronx-born Amirante sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Rangers games at Madison Square Garden from 1980 until he retired in 2015 and on special occasions afterward.
A memorable rendition came on June 14, 1994, when the Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the final to win their first Stanley Cup since 1940.
G League salaries on the rise
G League salaries are going up next season, to $35,000 for most players and up to $385,000 for those on twoway contracts.
Salaries also can be enhanced through bonuses and call-ups. NBA teams called up 50 players a total of 60 times last season, generating just over $11 million in additional salary.
The G League also says about 25 percent of its players this past season earned an average of $44,000 in affiliate player bonuses. The maximum regular salary in the G League was around $26,000.
There also are pools for G League players who go to the playoffs and win end-of-season awards.
Two-way players next season will earn up to $77,250, topped on days where they’re called up by the prorated NBA rookie salary.