Reno Aces 5, Fresno Grizzlies 3, Greater Nevada Field, Reno, Nevada
Image by Ken Lund
The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field which opened in 2009. The Aces won the PCL championship in 2012 and went on to win the Triple-A National Championship Game.
The Aces were originally known as the Tucson Sidewinders from 1998 to 2008. Before that, the team was first known as the Tucson Toros. They were Tucson’s Triple-A baseball club, playing at Hi Corbett Field in midtown Tucson from 1969 to 1997. Part of the old 10-team configuration of the Pacific Coast League, the Toros won the PCL Championship in 1991 and 1993.
After the MLB expansion that added the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Toros moved to Fresno, California, as the Fresno Grizzlies. The Phoenix Firebirds relocated to Tucson, briefly became the Tucson Toros (1997), and then became the Sidewinders (1998), the Triple-A affiliate of the new Diamondbacks.
The Sidewinders had humbling beginnings, as was five years before they enjoyed their first winning regular season. They dominated the 2006 season, with the PCL’s best record in the regular season and won the Pacific Coast League and National Championships in the post season.
The Aces adopted the Sidewinders’ history from 1998–2008 before the franchise was moved to Reno. The Toros folded in 2011 after the AAA Portland Beavers moved to town to become the Tucson Padres. The Padres would move again in 2014, this time to Texas to become the El Paso Chihuahuas.
In late 2007, it was formally announced that the Sidewinders would be moving to Reno, Nevada, after the 2008 season. A new 9,100-capacity venue, Greater Nevada Field, was constructed for the team in downtown Reno.
The Reno Aces introduced their new team name and logo at a press conference on September 23, 2008. The nickname has a dual meaning: "ace" is a baseball slang term for a team’s top pitcher, and the ace is the highest card in several card games (a reference to Nevada’s legalized gambling history). The logo features the diamonds symbol, which can be seen as another gambling reference, as well as to the diamond of a baseball field and the MLB affiliate’s name.
The Reno Aces were due to begin their inaugural season in 2009 on the road against the Salt Lake Bees on Thursday, April 9. The Aces won their home opener at Greater Nevada Field on Friday, April 17, 11–1 against the Salt Lake Bees, to an over-capacity sell-out crowd of 9,167.
The Aces made the playoffs for the first time in 2011, but lost the fifth and deciding game in the first round to the Sacramento River Cats. The Aces made it back to the post-season the following year in 2012, defeated Sacramento in five games, and the Omaha Storm Chasers in four to win the PCL title. Reno then won the Triple-A National Championship Game, defeating the Pawtucket Red Sox 10–3 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina.
The Reno Aces hosted the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 17, 2013.
