Game Notes:
There was plenty of parking for the game. Granted, I showed up a couple of hours early but there truly was a plethora of parking lots in the vicinity of Chase Field (that’s right, it’s no longer called the “Bob”). When I walked inside it was pretty surreal. I know a few stadiums have them but I’ve not yet been to a park with a closed roof that didn’t quite “close” the stadium off from the elements. The sun still shone through onto the field in some spots and there was a breeze but yet the air was conditioned and the music echoed off all of the walls and the ceiling. Also, the grass was natural but we were still “indoors.” It was all kind of weird.I have to get this story out of the way first, mainly so I can feel good about myself for the rest of this post. OK, so I’m walking around and doing my thing when a couple of Rockies pitchers (by the way, I’m starting to feel like I’m just following the Rockies around everywhere they go…) started to throw their side sessions. I had seen a similar coaching session when I went to spring training ’04 with Brandon and Riley. You actually get to see coaches posture and demonstrate and then watch the young pitchers execute; it’s pretty cool. Anyway, I’m watching this session and then I sit down to break out the old notebook when lo and behold a ball jumps up from the bullpen and lands in the seat next to me! Nobody was around so I just picked it up and took a glance around to make sure I wasn’t on candid camera. I wasn’t, but there was a kid about 9-10 yrs old in the next section so I walked over to him and his family and handed over the ball. My rational was that I’m not checking luggage and only have so much space when in reality I was hoping on hope that the karma gods would somehow smile upon me in another way. We’ll see how that one plays out. That kid eventually ended up throwing the ball back down and got it autographed. I didn’t mind so much, bottom line: I’m a good person :-) BUT THEN…I’m still taking some notes and watching the side session and when it’s over a coach points to a guy with a glove and throws him a ball, he then throws a ball to a kid standing about 20 people to the right (at this point there was a large crowd watching the pitchers). Fine, right? Wrong! Turns out the guy and kid were father and son! If I’m that father I’m looking to get a ball for my kid and if my kid gets one I give it up to another 10 year old who wasn’t so lucky. That guy is a jerk and I hope karma found a way to get back at him.
Before getting to the rest, here is the full stadium.
Some quick observation notes: there isn’t a lot of luxury space at Chase Field; there are a lot of exposed steel beams like in Seattle; in the lower seating bowl there is more leg room than I’ve seen at any other stadium; the upper deck is VERY steep and only Tampa may be steeper to this point; the outfield is exactly symmetrical with a bullpen down each line then 376/413/407/413/376 from left to right…or right to left, whichever you prefer :-)
There were some other cool things I stumbled upon on my lap around the stadium. The outfield wins, hands down. They have a pretty tall wall in left field; I wouldn’t say Monster height but the thing has to be somewhere in the 20-30 ft. range. Well, on top of it they have seats and tables that resemble the Monster Seats at Fenway. Above that is a walkway and then higher is a section of picnic tables for families and then a section of high-back chairs and tables for smaller parties to watch the game. Here are the picnic tables.
Continuing on I found some unique displays. One area highlighted all of the local ball fields the Diamondbacks and their players have sponsored since their inception. This is a picture of Curt Schilling throwing out the first pitch at “his” field.
Next stop was the deconstruction of a bat, ball and glove. I also saw this at AT&T Park and I think one other stadium but I couldn’t fit it in the pictures section of those posts. I’m sure if I had given 2 minutes of my time to the people from Rawlings they would have explained all about the process each element of the game goes through but I only arrived to the park 2 hours early, I had to be economical with my time, you know??
This was pretty unique. Every beer in this fridge cost $10.
My immediate reaction was outrage but once you think about it, it actually makes sense from a fan perspective. All of the beers are 24oz and you could waste your money by buying a Miller Lite or Bud Light for $10 but you could also get a 24oz draft of the same for $8.00. So then you look elsewhere and you see things like 24oz Sam Adams, Sam Light, Stella Artois, etc. for $10.00 and no other stadiums can compete with that. However, I bet the majority of fans aren’t looking to get the good beer though so it makes sense from the Dbacks' perspective as well as the fans. Kudos, good job Dbacks.
Just a couple of other observations before we get to some high and low points. This pool was sick! I know San Diego had their great little hill in right field and the sandbox for kids to play in but I think Arizona was catering to a more sophisticated crowd. They had seats for adults directly behind the right field wall as well as a pool in center field that could be rented out for larger parties or you could buy single tickets if you just want to go and have a good time. Now THAT’S a way to watch a ballgame!
The last thing I saw that was kind of interesting was during batting practice. Usually the home team hits and fields and then the visiting team does the same after the home team is all done. Well for a solid 5 minutes both teams were on the field at the same time trying to hit, catch, throw, run, etc. It really was pretty odd to watch and I don’t know if there was a scheduling mistake or if the Rockies were just trying to get in the Dbacks' heads or what. It definitely struck me as odd though.
High Points:
-Something I was told would be cool was the roof opening. I have to say I built it up in my mind too much but it still was OK. I guess about 20 minutes before game time they open the roof, weather permitting. I was told by a couple of the ushers there would be heavenly music and it would be quite the spectacle. Well, there was some faint music playing in the background and it took FOREVER for the damn thing to open but I guess it was still cool to watch. I took pictures and two videos but frankly, I don’t think they’re worth your while.
-When the roof did open the stadium was still all shaded. That was really nice. I’ve been loading up on sunscreen while in the desert (even while driving!) and I was ready to get fried again but the way the stadium is set up it was all shaded and I’m sure the fans all appreciated that gesture. Well, the fair skinned Irish ones anyways...
-Randy Johnson was pitching. I’ve barely missed John Smoltz’ 3000th strikeout, Greg Maddux’s 350th victory and a couple of other fairly significant milestone moments. Johnson wasn’t going for a milestone but any time you can watch a future hall of famer pitch it has to be worthwhile.
-I don’t know if this is a high point or a low point but it was a funny point. All of the Diamondback players had their picture on the scoreboard when they were at bat; pretty typical. However, they were all looking “towards the heavens” or, at least, towards something…a championship mayhaps? Here’s Eric Byrnes posing in the typical shot, looking up towards something.
Well, they all do this except for poor Conor Jackson who just does a regular pose. Then again, with those eyebrows, who are we to judge??
Another thing to note about this is the amount of information the scoreboard provides you with. It was HD and there was everything you needed to know, right there. Info about the hitters, the lineup, the pitcher as well as past history. Good job on that one.
-I’ve been reporting on the random race that most stadiums have between innings where it’s just a computer simulation but the fans get totally into it, right? Well, at this park there’s actually human interaction! Three kids dressed as hot dogs race their character around the bases based on how fast they can move their feet on a Nintendo running pad type thing. I think this picture is absolutely priceless. Maybe you had to be there but if you look closely you can see that Relish was the winner; however, the mustard kid in the middle throws his hands up in victory. The aftermath was classic but I don’t have a picture. He lost and was absolutely devastated!
-Got to see old friend Brandon Lyon closing games in an efficient manner.
-Finally, I didn’t test it that much but I still was able to move about the park freely and was not hassled by the ushers.
Low Points:
-OK, I know I’ve bitched about mascots before but this is really starting to irk me. The Arizona Diamondbacks are named after a snake. Hell, the scoreboard under the luxury boxes “snakes” around the ballpark. That’s unique and cool….run with it people! But no…the mascot that is on the field, pumping up the fans is none other than “Baxter”, a freaking cat. What the hell? The scoreboard doesn’t “cat around”, it’s SNAKES around! The Mariners should have a gruffy sailor yelling at the fans like a pirate and the Dbacks should have a damn snake squeezing the life out of its opponents. If you pick a name, stick with it.
-All of the food vendors had unique names but they served the same food. All of it was what you’d think of as typical ballpark food and all of it was pretty crappy and overpriced except for a regular hot dog which was only $2.75.
-Along with the previous point, all of the vendors on the upper level exactly mirrored those on the level below it. That’s just lame. You want to at least TRY to make it seem like they’re different, no?
-This is only the second park to do so (Tampa is the other one) but I absolutely cannot stand a host/hostess or both at a ballgame. It’s absolutely uncalled for and these people should be shot. They “host” the various tee-shirt flinging and credit card winners throughout the game and ask fans to cheer on the team in their most fake, detached news anchor voices and I really can’t believe the management for any team thinks this is a good idea. Terrible.
-The bathrooms were very plain and, to be honest, pretty dingy.
Overall Grade: B
Game Stats:
Teams: Diamondbacks vs. Rockies
Final Score: 7-4 Dbacks
WP: Randy Johnson
LP: Jeff Francis
Time: 2:40
Announced Attendance: 27,292
Ticket Price: $6.00
Parking Price: $5.00
Trip Stats:
Home team record: 7-4
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 3750
States Visited: 8
Beds slept in: 14
Next Stop: Texas Rangers
Favorite Park: Petco Park (Padres)
Stadium Grades:
Marlins: D
Rays: B
Braves: B-
Rockies: B+
Mariners: B
Giants: A-
Athletics: C
Angels: B-
Dodgers: B+
Padres: A
Diamondbacks: B
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