Arizona D-Backs 3-2 Florida Marlins
18 June 2013
Arizona D-Backs 3-1 Florida Marlins
19 June 2013
Another victim of the great 'camera cock up'. Saw two games here (including one day game) and was very appreciative of the roof and air conditioning that kept the indoors temperatures at 71 degrees, whilst outside the thermometer hit 115!
As I sat at the second game next to the swimming pool that you can hire for the match, surrounded by literally thousand of kids in their summer camp groups (and accompanying coloured t-shirts), I came to the conclusion that there are definitely two types of baseball clubs in the major leagues; traditional and new. The whole experience of a day at the ballpark Phoenix style was light years away from that in say Boston, New York or Philadelphia. There the game is central (even allowing for the Phillie Phanatic) here the game is part of an overall day out.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. The D-backs claim to be the most fan friendly club in the baseball, and I'm not going to argue. They think of everything to make the day out as memorable as possible. Part of the reason for this is that the franchise is a relatively new one, established in 1998, but part is that Phoenix itself is growing rapidly as more and more people move away from the colder north, and the club is trying to appeal to them, as established fans of other clubs.
Chase Field is located right in the heart of downtown Phoenix, and was built in 1998 at a cost of $354m. It holds 48,633.
It is never going to feature in the authors top 10 ball park list, but credit must go to the city in providing a stadium and approach that fits with the local population. The biggest problem they now face is the purchasing power of the Dodgers, and working out how they are ever going to be able to compete in the same division.
As I sat at the second game next to the swimming pool that you can hire for the match, surrounded by literally thousand of kids in their summer camp groups (and accompanying coloured t-shirts), I came to the conclusion that there are definitely two types of baseball clubs in the major leagues; traditional and new. The whole experience of a day at the ballpark Phoenix style was light years away from that in say Boston, New York or Philadelphia. There the game is central (even allowing for the Phillie Phanatic) here the game is part of an overall day out.
Not that there is anything wrong with that. The D-backs claim to be the most fan friendly club in the baseball, and I'm not going to argue. They think of everything to make the day out as memorable as possible. Part of the reason for this is that the franchise is a relatively new one, established in 1998, but part is that Phoenix itself is growing rapidly as more and more people move away from the colder north, and the club is trying to appeal to them, as established fans of other clubs.
Chase Field is located right in the heart of downtown Phoenix, and was built in 1998 at a cost of $354m. It holds 48,633.
It is never going to feature in the authors top 10 ball park list, but credit must go to the city in providing a stadium and approach that fits with the local population. The biggest problem they now face is the purchasing power of the Dodgers, and working out how they are ever going to be able to compete in the same division.