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Recent
Visits |
Al Lang Field, Tampa Bay
Rays
St.
Pete's Al Lang Field has been in the news a lot
lately, but for the wrong reasons: the Tampa Bay
Rays will train there one last time in 2008 before
shifting spring operations to Charlotte County in
2009, and the old ballpark is slated to be torn
down to make way for a new waterfront home of the
Rays. Now, Al Lang Field isn't the same venue it
was in the 1940s and 1950s when it was a landmark
in spring training, but it's still a great place
to catch a spring-training game. We hope the Rays
catch the spirit of the original Al Lang in their
designs for a new ballpark, For the rest of us, a
trip to Al Lang Field will be a mandatory event in
Spring Training 2008.
Trustmark Park, Mississippi
Braves
There's
nothing wrong with Trustmark Park, the home of the
Mississippi Braves (Class AA; Southern League).
The wraparound concourse, luxury
boxes, big scoreboard and varied concessions are
all standard issue for a new minor-league ballpark
these days. So why aren't we more excited about
the two-year-old ballpark? Because there's nothing
unique about it: except for a few Southern menu
items at the concessions, there's nothing to link
the ballpark to its surroundings. At a Mississippi
Braves game, you could be watching a game anywhere
-- and going local is one of the great joys of the
minor leagues. Dustin Mattison reports.
Alliance Bank Stadium,
Syracuse Chiefs
The
biggest news at Alliance Bank Stadium, the home of
the Syracuse Chiefs (Class AAA; International
League): the current artificial turf will be
replaced by real grass. That's good news for
Syracuse baseball fans in terms of aesthetics, as
well as players who need to field on an old,
sometimes unpredictable surface. Otherwise,
Alliance Bank Stadium is a perfectly serviceable
ballpark: the Chiefs front office does things the
old-fashioned way (i.e., not much in terms of
between-innings shenanigans), but the ballpark is
a comfortable place to watch a game, and the food
is pretty good. Steve Kapsinow reports.
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Features |
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The
Fine Print |
Obligatory legal information:
This site is copyright 1998-2007 Kevin Reichard/August
Publications. All rights
reserved. My wife is a lawyer, so she will come and chop off
your hand in a legal fashion if you rip off this site
in any form. All logos are the property of their respective
owners. |
Broadcasts |
Virtually every MiLB team now streams broadcasts over the
Internet, which makes it easy to follow your favorite team when
you're on the road. In addition, you can catch MLB game broadcasts at
MLB.com or via XM Radio.
More
on Internet radio and TV broadcasts here! |
|
Chase Field /
Arizona Diamondbacks
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
Year Opened |
1998 |
Capacity |
49,075 |
Architect |
Ellerbe Becket |
Dimensions |
328L, 402C, 335R |
Playing Surface |
Grass |
Last Visit |
2005 |
Web Site |
mlb.com |
Online Broadcasts |
Yes |
Online Ticket Sales |
Yes |
Phone |
602/514-8400, 888/777-4664 |
Ticket Prices (2005) |
Clubhouse, $78; Dugout, $61; Field Box, $49; Diamond
Level Infield; $40; Diamond Level Outfield, $30; Lower
Level Between Bases, $29.50; Lower Level Between Bases
and Foul Pole, $23; Upper Level Lower Rows Between
Bases, $20; Bullpen, $18; Upper Level Lower Rows Between
Bases and Foul Pole, $15.50; Upper Level Between Bases;
$14.50; Outfield Bleachers, $12.50; Upper Level Foul
Line, $10.50; Upper Level Deep Foul Line, $6. |
League |
National League |
Parking |
Numerous ramps that are close but expensive. |
Address/Directions |
401
E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. If you're looking at a
downtown Phoenix map, the BOB is bounded by 7th Street
to the east, 4th Street to the west, Jefferson Street to
the north and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks to
the south. Two freeways ring downtown Phoenix, and both
provide access: exit I-10 at 7th Street and turn south,
or exit I-17 at 7th Street and turn north. In addition,
there's alternate routes provided by freeway signs,
which bring you to the ballpark via Washington Street
(which runs parallel to Jefferson Street). The
Diamondbacks advise against using the 7th Street exit on
busy nights. |
Written by: |
Kevin
Reichard |
Rating |
|
There is simply no
escaping an air-conditioned existence if you spend
any time in Phoenix in the summer: the desert
atmosphere so welcome for spring training in March
becomes rather tiresome by the beginning of June,
when it’s just too damn hot to be outside.
At the end of the day, air conditioning is perhaps
America’s greatest contribution to the world. And
air conditioning makes Chase Field an oasis. Yes,
we know the real Phoenix natives aren’t afraid of
being outside in the hot summertime, but that
doesn’t mean they’re willing to spend three hours
outside on an August evening, either. Major-league
baseball couldn’t exist in Phoenix without an
air-conditioned ballpark like Chase Field – which
is good news for the rest of us.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
Chase
Field is built for comfort, not flashiness,
engineered by the kind of folks who sought to
solve a slew of problems and then didn’t have the
energy left to address issues like ornamentation.
In other words, Chase Field feels like it was
designed by engineers, not architects. Not that
this is a bad thing: it took a lot of engineering
to solve the many challenges of bringing
major-league baseball to the Valley of the Sun.
Chase
Field features a retractable roof, air
conditioning, and a grass playing field, the first
such combo in major-league history. (The original
Astrodome design sported natural grass under a
translucent roof, but the experiment was a huge
failure when not enough sunlight pierced the roof.
Hence Astroturf.) The air-conditioning system
provides 8,000 tones of cooling, and it takes
about four hours to cool down the stands and
concourses (the playing area is not cooled) from
110 degrees to 72 degrees.
That’s
not the only engineering feat at the ballpark.
Growing decent grass in Arizona in the summertime
is hard enough, especially when it’s partially
shaded much of the time. Even when opening the
roof during the day to allow in sunshine, it took
a few months for the grounds crew to come up with
the right grass – in this case, a blend of Bull’s
Eye Bermuda, Kentucky blue grass, and rye grass –
to withstand the scorching sun and the extremes
between hot days and cool nights. (Sections of
turf that don’t get enough sun get their own
special treatment when incandescent growth lights
are used.) Since then, Seattle and Houston have
successfully combined a retractable roof with
natural grass.
Speaking of the roof: Despite the scale, the
9-million-pound roof is a fairly simple mechanism.
Two halves – made up of three trusses – are opened
or closed by four miles of cable pulled by two
200-horsepower motors. It takes only four minutes
to open or close the roof (because the roof is so
light, it costs the team only $2 in electricity to
open or close it), and the Diamondbacks do it in
style: they hold a countdown to the opening of the
roof, performed to special theme music. (Alas, the
roof remains closed for most of the season; if you
want to see it open be sure to head to Phoenix in
April or May.) Technically, the roof doesn’t seal:
one side fits on top of the other, and there’s
enough of a gap to allow air to flow through.
(There’s also enough space to allow rain to fall
through, which happens from time to time.) During
the day it’s not uncommon to see only half of the
roof opened to allow sunlight on the field but not
in the stands. The Diamondbacks control sole
authority on whether the roof will be opened (at
other ballparks, such as Rogers Centre, the
umpires and opposing managers are notified when a
roof is to be opened and closed, with the umpires
able to overrule the decision if a protest is
lodged by the opposing manager), and they usually
map out several days in advance whether the roof
will be opened. (You can check the team’s Web site
at www.mlb.com for the roof-opening status or call
602/379-7663). On hot nights the roof is not
opened; in the past Diamondbacks pitchers
(especially Randy Johnson) were vociferous in
their belief the roof should be closed for almost
every game. When the roof opens, six large screens
in left field open as well. While you never feel
like you’re at an outdoor event at Chase Field,
you can get a decent approximation of it when the
roof and windows are open.
(click on the image
for a larger photo)
In
many ways Chase Field plays against type. It sits
1,100 feet above sea level – not nearly a mile
high like Coors Field, and just a smidgen higher
than Turner Field (which sits a surprising 1,050
feet above sea level) – but it plays nothing like
Coors Field when it comes to the long ball.
Phoenix is square in the desert, but there’s
really nothing approaching a Western or
Southwestern motif in the ballpark. Most of the
ballpark is understated, to say the least, but in
center field there’s a pool designed for groups of
35 or more; when the ballpark was built the
Diamondbacks were mocked for the pool, but now
it’s become a signature item for the ballpark.
In
fact, the whole ballpark is a little bland, though
not fatally so. As we’ve pointed out, it’s built
for comfort, not for flash. The exterior is your
standard retro brick and steel, which really is
out of place in the Valley of the Sun no matter
how much the team and the ballpark designers say
it fits into the old warehouse area of Phoenix.
(One old warehouse was incorporated into the
façade of the south side of the ballpark.) When
you think of Phoenix architecture, you think of
these wonderful, low-slung buildings designed to
fit within the desert environment, shaded and
cool. You think of the Biltmore, you think of
Taliesin West, you think modern (as in the
spiffed-up exterior of next-door America West
Arena), you think of the Heard Museum, you think
of the Wild West. You don’t think ballpark retro.
It’s
doubtful Chase Field will ever be considered a
classic ballpark: it’s a little plain, with an
emphasis on function over form. But it’s a
comfortable ballpark and well worth a visit if
you’re visiting the Phoenix area.
Concessions
You can't throw a dead cat in the BOB without
hitting a concession stand of some sort. The food
is expensive, even by major-league standards --
the Oscar Meyer quarter-pound Diamondbacks Dogs
are a whopping $4.75, for instance -- and most
baseball fans won't be overwhelmed with the
selection of the standard stadium fare. Other
smaller stands ringing the concourse offer fresh
snacks (vegetables and cheese trays) and
grilled-to-order sausages and brats. For a change
of pace check out the concession stands near
sections 130 and 325, where a "Visiting Team
Special" -- such as a Dodger Dog -- is added to
the menu for each series.
If ballpark food doesn't grab you, there are
third-party vendors who have opened up shop at the
BOB: McDonald's (home of the $3 Big Mac), Desert
Ice, Blimpie's, Little Caesar's, Garcia's (a local
Mexican eatery) and Ben & Jerry's.
The beer flows freely at the BOB. On draft at most
concession stands is MGD, Miller Lite or Bud Light
($4 for a small beer, $7 for a large), while a few
stands also serve Fat Tire beer, a microbrewed
beer from Fort Collins, Colorado (of all places).
There are many other beer stands where you can
find Budweiser, Coors or Sonora (brewed by a
Phoenix microbrewery) beers on tap. The same beer
stands also have a wide selection of bottled beers
($4.75 for bottles, $8 for "bombers"), including
Rolling Rock, Sam Adams, Corona, Fat Tire, Beck's,
Beck's Dark, Heineken and Foster's. Other
alcoholic beverages are served at the BOB as well,
including wine, mixed drinks, and slush cocktails
(frozen margaritas, strawberry daiquiris).
There
are two restaurants within the ballpark. The
Arizona Baseball Club Restaurant is a
white-table-linen buffet, with seats overlooking
the action in right field. It’s open only to
suiteholders or those holding club-level seats.
During our visit, the spread was pretty luxurious
(you could spend quite a few innings sampling the
fare), and the price is right: $27.95. The
Friday’s Front Row Sports Grill is located in the
left-field corner; no table linens there, and the
food is not quite as upscale.
For the Kids
A visit to the play area beyond the
center-field scoreboard is mandatory for families.
There, your children will be tired out by a
miniature diamond where they can run around to
their joy’s content, as well as peruse the home of
Baxter, the genial mascot of the Diamondbacks.
Baxter’s Den features family pictures of Baxter,
as well as descriptions of his family and history
with the team. Yeah, it’s a little hokey, but the
kids love Baxter, and he regularly drops by his
den during the fourth and fifth innings. The Peter
Piper Playhouse also features interactive video
games, a batting cage, and skeet ball.
Parking
Parking is not a problem near the ballpark.
There are 30,000 parking spaces within blocks of
the airport, and you can easily find something for
$10 or less. There is a 1,500-car ramp attached to
the ballpark on Fourth Street (a skyway connects
the ramp with the suite level of Chase Field), as
well as a lot directly south of the ramp; parking
at either is $8. The Civic Plaza East Garage
(across the street from the ballpark, on
Washington and 5th Street) is one of the spendier
downtown lots at $8, but it allows you park your
car in the shade, as does the attached garage
located on the south side of the ballpark.
Otherwise, there are a slew of surface lots to the
west of the ballpark, along Jackson Street.
History
Since the turn of the century there were
several attempts to seed professional baseball in
the Sourthwest, such as the Class C Arizona-Mexico
League, but none really succeeded on a consistent
basis.
The first truly successful pro baseball in the
Phoenix area came in 1958, when the Giants moved
their AAA Minneapolis Millers franchise to Phoenix
-- a move that came when the Giants moved to San
Francisco. The Phoenix Giants played at the old
Municipal Stadium, which sat at the outskirts of
Phoenix.
That location proved
to be the downfall of the P-Gees, as the Giants
moved the franchise to Tacoma after concluding
that Municipal Stadium was too far out of town to
attract enough fans. In response, the city of
Phoenix built a new Municipal Stadium, ostensibly
to attract the Giants back to town for spring
training. It worked -- and it also caused the
Giants to bring the AAA team back to Phoenix.
The team was known as
the Phoenix Giants until 1986, when the team was
renamed the Phoenix Firebirds. The franchise was
moved when the Diamondbacks came to town.
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