WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS . . .
Hometown hero Bryant says Sin City will become known as a hotbed for baseball
Ask anyone what comes to mind first when they think about Las Vegas, and the answers are as similar as they are obvious: casinos, blackjack, slot machines, late nights, drinking and sundry other sins.
‘‘ Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. — that’s my first thought,’’ Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. ‘‘ I wish I had been there to see them back in the day. I have no interest in present- day Vegas whatsoever.’’
Whether Maddon’s third baseman can do anything to change his mind, Kris Bryant well might be on the way to changing the present- day perception of Vegas. It’s a place where the Cubs hit one jackpot with Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux and still are listening to the coins drop on their second jackpot with Bryant.
‘‘ I think it’s going to be known for baseball,’’ said Bryant, the reigning National League most valuable player, who went to Bonanza High. ‘‘ Hopefully, I’m doing my part.’’
Bryant will play in the Cubs’ annual exhibition trip this weekend to Vegas, a trip certain to feature the biggest reception in the decades- long tradition for the team and the city’s conquering hero.
‘‘ I mean, you hear about Southern California and, obviously, Florida,’’ Bryant said. ‘‘ They seem to have the best baseball players. But I think Vegas is the top of the list there.’’
Along with one of the largest population growths in the country in the last two decades, Vegas also has seen a spike in elite baseball talent. Bryant and Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper are the top players to emerge from the city’s high schools since Maddux.
‘‘ A team from Vegas’ high schools would be formidable,’’ longtime baseball reporter John Man- uel wrote for Baseball America in October 2015, a few weeks before Bryant was named the NL Rookie of the Year and Harper the NL MVP. ‘‘ If it were Vegas versus the world in the World Baseball Classic, Vegas would have a shot.’’
Manuel listed the power of Bryant, Harper, young Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo and first baseman Chris Carter, now with the New York Yankees.
In fact, from Harper’s selection at No. 1 overall in the 2010 draft
through right- hander Erick Fedde’s selection by the Nationals at No. 18 overall in the 2014 draft, seven products of Vegas high schools were drafted in the first round, including at least one in each of those five years.
Harper and Bryant, whom the Cubs selected No. 2 overall in 2013, are the city’s highest picks ever. And they eventually might give Maddux ( second round in 1984), the city’s only Hall of Famer, a run as Vegas’ top player.
‘‘ Currently playing, it’s got to be Kris,’’ said Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, showing his bias. ‘‘ What he has done is pretty insane. He comes in after being held down [ in the minors] for [ 12] days, wins the Rookie of the Year, takes the team to the NLCS and the next year encores it with the MVP and a World Series championship. Bryce has done an amazing job, too, but Kris has that World Series ring.’’
The greatest active player from Vegas in Bryant? The greatest all- time player from Vegas in Maddux? Given the Cubs’ Vegas luck, they might want to station a scout there year- round to scan the sudden hotbed it has become.
In fact, they have. Kris’ dad, Mike — a longtime coach in the area with a hitting school — is a business- card- carrying Cubs associate scout.
He might be hard- pressed, though, to improve on the last player he found for the Cubs. And good luck to him trying to find somebody to top Rizzo’s pick for Vegas’ all- time greatest player.
‘‘ Frank Sinatra’s No. 1,’’ Rizzo said. ‘‘ No disrespect to Mr. Maddux, but Sinatra’s worldwide.’’