matthewweaver.com | mlb ballparks | arizona diamondbacks

Ballpark:
Long a hotbed for spring training baseball, Arizona was granted an expansion club in the late 1990's and began play in 1998. Unlike their cousins in Tampa Bay, the Diamondbacks moved into a brand new, state-of-the-art ballpark in the heart of their city (Phoenix). Formerly known as "The BOB," (after its original name Bank One Ballpark) Chase Field is a retractable domed stadium with a natural grass playing field. As such, the Diamondbacks were the first team to play on natural grass inside a dome since the early days of the old Houston Astrodome in the mid-1960's.

The ballpark is basically a large rectangular box and you could easily mistake it for an aircraft hangar if you weren't looking closely. The boxy exterior is topped by a arc-shaped roof that slides open to allow outdoor games or to just let the grass grow. There are several windows which allow some natural light to enter the park. However, it is hard to get your bearings inside the park, which helps produce the feeling that you're inside a baseball shaped stadium instead of a box.

Chase Field provides a blast of cool air when entering from the inferno-like Arizona heat. The park has great restaurants, good concessions and lots of cool stuff like a huge team shop. There doesn't seem to be a bad seat in the house and the best seats are behing home plate, in the second level club section and in the Pool Pavilion just behind the right center field fence. The pool can be rented for a king's ransom and swimmers need to be weary of home run balls landing in the drink!

The scoreboard complex is huge, bright and tasteful and the outfield dimensions are quite funky, especially in center field. All in all, this is one of the best parks in the Majors and I give it a strong "A" rating.

How to get there:
From Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, take Interstate 17 or Buckeye Road to 7th Avenue. The ballpark is right down the street from the Convention Center and there's parking all around the area. In the summer, spend a little extra to park close to the building so you won't melt during the walk there.

City:
Phoenix is a fast growing city with lots of sunshine, golf courses and beautiful people. The downtown, though fairly sparse for most major cities, is clean and attractive, with new buildings and nice parks. However, the air pollution is getting worse every year and threatens to ruin the paradise image of the city. The valley chokes off most of the wind and the intense Arizona sun turns car exhaust into a thick bed of smog. Along with the blast furnace temperatures (I don't care what they say about a "dry heat" - 109 degrees is freakin' hot!), the pollution may one day make Phoenix a lousy place to live. The suburbs of Tempe, Scottsdale and Glendale are growing and bustling and the grid road system makes navigation easy...though the traffic is quite bad. Many spas and resorts dot the area and the Arizona Cardinals new football stadium (in Glendale) is the most futuristic in the NFL.

Stuff to do while there:
While many people hit the resorts, spas, pools and golf courses, I highly recommend investigating the desert and the other natural wonders of Arizona. Just a few hours North are incredible sights like the Red Rocks of Sedona, Meteor Crater and the amazing Grand Canyon. Other outdoor destinations include Petrified Forest National Park, Lake Havasu and Lake Mead near Las Vegas. If you don't want to drive that far, the desert surrounding Phoenix provides a rugged and beautiful scenery to explore and Camelback Mountain is a wonderful hike with a great view of the city and surrounding valley. Whatever you do, just make sure you are well prepared for the heat.

Story:
In August 2006, my girlfriend Courtney, an Arizona State graduate, and I went to Phoenix for a well-deserved vacation from our busy jobs at Nike. We stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Spa in Scottsdale and took in a Diamondbacks game one of the evenings. Prior to the game, we ate at one of the best pizza restaurants in the country -- Pizzeria Bianco in the Heritage Square section of downtown. We waited in the 104 degree heat for an hour before the restaurant opened just to ensure us getting one of the 43 seats inside. It was well worth the sweating, as the pizza was incredible...and that is something coming from this pizza snob. :)

After the 1999 game, I headed back to my rental car and passed by the Convention Center. It just so happened that there was a car show and there were many locals with their low riders and tricked out cars. Let's just put it this way - I was very out of place.

Fun facts:
The team changed its uniforms to a burgundy color prior to the 2007 season and now go by the shorter name "D-Backs."

The roof is opened after every night game and is usually closed before the mid morning of the following day. This is to allow the grass to grow while keeping energy costs as low as possible. After all, the daytime in Arizona is scorching and it would cost too much to cool the park after letting the hot air inside.

The dirt track leading to the pitcher's mound was the first of its kind on a Major League playing field since the 1950's.

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The hangar-like exterior of
the BOB with its curved roof
August 13, 1999

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Matt in front of the large center field scoreboard complex
August 13, 1999

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The view behind home plate
August 13, 1999

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The opening pitch of the game
August 13, 1999

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The rentable Pool Pavilion past
the right center field fence
August 13, 1999