Hohokam Stadium

All photos of Hohokam Stadium available on Flickr.

Our final stop of the vacation was Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.  It has been the home of the Oakland Athletics since 2015, when then tenant Cubs moved into the brand new Sloan Park nearby.  In true A's fashion, they did a modest remodel, applied green and gold paint, and took over the park that the Cubs deserted.  This is actually the 2nd iteration of Hohokam Stadium and the 2nd time Oakland has called it home.  The original Hohokam operated until 1996 when it was demolished for the new park, and the A's Spring Training operations served as the original tenant from 1977-78.  So all in all, a ballpark that I had thought was one of the oldest in the Cactus League is really less than 25 years old with a recent facelift.  As we found from our visit, although the park does show its age, it still holds up well and has lots of life left in it.

There really is not much of an exterior experience when you arrive.  The main parking lot is off in left field so you have to make an effort to see the front of the stadium if you so choose.  The A's also only have one full practice field adjacent to the site, so there is not much of a complex to experience either without a separate drive.  One of the main reasons the Cubs left for greener pastures was, well, the lack of green pasture.  The minor league fields for Hohokam are actually in Fitch Park, which is about a half-mile south of the stadium.  Although this probably sucks for the players, there are two pros to this.  One is it makes the grounds a lot more intimate.  You can easily walk up to the lone practice field and half-field beyond the center field fence while inside the park and watch practice, which is very convenient.  Most complexes are separate from the main park and cannot be experienced at the same time.  The second nice thing is it forces the Athletics to have to take BP before games in the actual stadium.  The A's are the only team in the Cactus League that takes BP in front of fans rather than on the back fields.  This lends itself to a livelier energy and a lot more fans than you would find at most Cactus League facilities.  We walked in about an hour before first pitch and there were already quite a few people there looking to score autographs or watch Khris Davis mash taters - more on him later.

The entry sequence was very similar to how Warner Park in Madison is set up.  You enter from the corner of the stadium and are immediately inundated with various vendors and food stands.  Hohokam probably had more food and beer options just in the LF corner than Camelback and AmFam had in their entire ballparks.  There was a kettle corn stand, wood-fired pizza, Asian noodles, ice cream, a sausage cart, and a plethora of beer choices which was definitely a welcome surprise.  There were at least a dozen craft beer options in a variety of sizes, most of them located around a very nice picnic area atop the 3rd base grandstand.  Fabric shade canopies, a fake turf surface, and picnic tables were added here as part of the renovation and provide a nice fenced-in area for any fan to gather, and most importantly, for kids to run around in.  

It's funny on how my perspective has changed on ballpark amenities.  Three years ago I would never even bat an eye at a kids zone, and I might have thought this picnic area to be a waste of space and prime seating opportunity.  Now that I have a 1-year old daughter that is running around like a maniac, I really appreciated having an enclosed area where I could watch her but also keep an eye on the action.  I also hated all of the outfield berms the last time I was in Phoenix.  I never understood why they couldn't put a party deck or hard seats in some of these areas.  I now get the value of having an unconfined place for a hyper child while you watch the game.  Incidentally, the outfield area at Hohokam is also quite nice.  As I mentioned it connects in the back to a practice field so it's a very active zone.  There is a concession stand back there, the bullpens, a kids area, as well as the tunnel where players enter the stadium.  The only negative is this tunnel disconnects the outfield from the rest of the park.  We ran into a dead end in right field and had to walk all the way back around.  All of the renovation money looks to have gone into the outfield and social areas and a new scoreboard, because the main grandstand is where the park really dates itself.  It is the style where the concourse is under the grandstand and thus very cramped with no view of the game.  I spent all of two minutes in here to run to the bathroom and it was all I needed to see.  I definitely recommend seats along the 3rd base line for any visitor.  Sitting in the main bleachers in the grandstand would have given me a completely different opinion of the ballpark than where we sat.  Despite its age and shortcomings this park is in my top 3 behind Camelback and Talking Stick.

The Brewers crushed the A's in a split-squad effort, 11-2.  Keston Hiura went 2-3 with two run-scoring hits including another homerun.  He is now fielding an .865 OPS on the spring with 7 RBI.  Orlando Arcia picked up where he left off last postseason with a booming 2-run double.  Brandon Woodruff was the most impressive Brewer pitcher we saw on the trip (although we did not see Josh Hader who has been the usual lights-out).  He got the start and struck out 5 in 3 shutout innings.  Top pitching prospect Zack Brown also tossed 3 hitless innings to earn the hold.  Most impressive was these guys did it against the Athletics' Opening Day lineup.  This game was their 3rd to last of the spring before heading to Japan to begin the season against the Mariners.  The most adrenaline-pumping moment of the game came courtesy of former Brewer Khris Davis.  I was up in the picnic area in the 7th inning with Molly strapped in front of me in the Baby Bjorn, when Davis sent a liner screaming towards us.  I managed to instinctively turn my body at the last second and block the ball with my forearm.  Had I not been paying attention or had the "dad sense" to turn, my daughter surely would have taken one squarely in the face at 95 mph.  I've now got a decent welt and a foul ball to forever remember the (first) time I saved Molly's life.  After my heart rate slowed, baseball just did not seem that interesting anymore and we headed out.

Following this weekend, I now have only Peoria, Surprise, and the aforementioned new Cubs park to visit in the league.  All 3 of these ballparks field Arizona Fall League teams, so I am hoping to someday make it to that for my next trip to Phoenix.

park rankings and statistics: 
aesthetics - 3
views from park - 2 (one of the few parks with no mountain view)
view to field - 9
surrounding area - 5 (about a mile from downtown Mesa and Sloan Park)
food variety - 8
nachos - 7
beer - 9 ("cheapest" and most variety in league)
vendor price - 7
ticket price - 4 ($30 by LF pole)
atmosphere - 8
walk to park - 2
parking price/proximity - 7 (directly adjacent lot $5) 
concourses - 5 (outfield 9, infield 1)
team shop - 2 (tents not a true store)
complex - 6 (disjointed but bonus for having main practice field accessible from stadium)

best food - wood-fired pie 
most unique stadium feature - LF picnic area 
jumbotron - yes
best between-inning feature - me almost dying

field dimensions - 340/410/350 
starters - Brandon Woodruff (MIL) v. Tanner Anderson (OAK)
opponent - Milwaukee Brewers
time of game - 2:54 
attendance - 9007

score - 11-2 L
Brewers score that day - 11-2 W; 5-1 W

REGULAR SEASON OPENING SERIES:
Brewers - 4 v. Cardinals
Twins - 3 v. Indians

American Family Fields of Phoenix

All photos of Scottsdale and American Family Fields of Phoenix available on Flickr.

Our game on Friday was at the newly renovated home of the Brewers, formerly known as Maryvale Baseball Park.  With the move of the Athletics to Mesa a few years ago, the Brewers are now the only team that actually trains in Phoenix proper.  They will remain so for years to come following an extensive $60 million renovation this past offseason, which was funded largely by the team unlike most Spring Training facilities.  The renovation focused mostly on player areas and the entry sequence.  The jewel of the project is a new 2-story buiding that houses team offices, player workout and sport science spaces, locker rooms, ticket office, and team store.  This building also houses new concessions stands on the stadium side of the building and is flanked by a new half-field and agility fields on the parking lot side.  

The things that fans will notice the most is a completely redone parking and entry sequence and the new desert adobe color slapped on pretty much the whole stadium.  Beyond charging $5 now, we found the parking situation to be very frustrating and inconvenient.  It's a very circuitous route to park your car and because of the new office building, it's a tighter footprint.  If there is a silver lining for the parking situation, it forces you to meander past the practice fields on a distinct pathway into the ballpark.  There are some spring training ballparks where you can basically park and enter the stadium and never even see the rest of the complex unless you go out of your way to.  AmFam Field purposely shows off the newly redone complex and we walked by all of the practice fields on our way inside.  We stopped to watch the Brewers catchers entertain spectators with a game of who could throw a ball from homeplate into a net behind 2nd base.  Past that field was the office building, done all in earth tones and reflective glass as per the norm in Phoenix, with an added touch of some cool board-form concrete.  The last portion of the walkway to the park features display areas of the various Brewers retired numbers and a brand new monument sign.  This was the nicest part of the renovation in my opinion.  It provided great wayfinding and many opportunities, and served to delineate a clear main entry.  The grounds really lacked the character of other complexes and this renovation hit a homerun with that portion of the renovation.

Once inside, the most noticeable change is the brise-soleil that was formerly pretty captivating, and now is brown like everything else in the desert.  The Brewers really made a huge mistake in making this building blend in with everything else when they previously had a unique white and blue color scheme.  The area where you used to enter has now been infilled with concession stands, but nothing really stood out at the new stands.  Similarly to Camelback, the concessions were definitely the most disappointing part of the "new" ballpark.  Pretty standard fare and expensive for what it was, including the beer.  How do you overhaul a stadium for a team called the Brewers and not upgrade the craft beer situation?  I was however happy to find the Asian noodle stand that I crushed at just about every park my last time out here.  The new jumbotron and team store, while nice, are really just standard things that fans expect at a ballpark now and were long overdue.  Overall I was not super impressed with the inside portion of the stadium renovations.  Even after widening the concourses they were still a logjam at only 3/4 capacity.  Again I really think painting the shades brown dramatically changes the feel of a park that used to be very light and airy.  I'm sure all of the new player facilities were worth every penny but this park remains near the bottom for Spring Training facilities.  There were a lot of missed opportunities with the vending and the outfield areas in particular that would not cost much money.

From our seats above the Brewers dugout we witnessed a 6-3 victory over the local Diamondbacks.  I was quite impressed with the number of D-Bag fans that showed up on a weekday afternoon when they can already see them pretty much anytime they want.  Rotation-hopeful Freddy Peralta got the nod for the Crew and tossed 3 shutout innings with 3 Ks, but again the bullpen did not look too hot.  Fat Albers continued his 2018 horribleness into this season and gave up a couple of hits in a shaky inning.  Junior Guerra then followed him with a 2-run outing.  Travis Shaw and top propsect Keston Hiura provided team with all the offense they would need on 3 homeruns between them.  This was the first time I actually saw Hiura in person and his quick hands at the plate are definitely as advertised.  I can't wait to see what this kid does on the big league club, hopefully this year.  We were actually about to leave in the 8th and I wanted to see Hiura hit one more time, and sure enough he tagged the first pitched he saw onto the left field berm.  Ryan Braun also decided to join the team today and went 1-3 in his spring debut.  It will be interesting to see how his publicized swing overhaul plays this year at age 35.

Following the game, we spent some time in Old Town Scottsdale near my parents condo.  One more game on Saturday vs. the Athletics!

park rankings and statistics
(updated from 3/28/11):
aesthetics - 5 
views from park - 2 
view to field - 8 
surrounding area - 2 (bad area of town) 
food variety - decreases to 3
nachos - 5
beer - decreases to 2
vendor price - decreases to 3
ticket price - decreases to 8
atmosphere - 4
walk to park - increases to 9
parking proximity - increases to 6 (surprised to see that parking was even more in 2011)
concourses - decreases to 6 (not a fan of the brown paint)
team shop - increases to 9 (two large ones)
complex - increases to 7

best food - Asian noodles (you can find these at every Cactus League park)
most unique stadium feature - brise soleil over concourse
jumbotron - yes
best between-inning feature - Sausage Race

field dimensions - 350/3400/340
starters - Zack Godley (ARZ) v. Freddy Peralta (MIL)
opponent - Arizona Diamondbacks
time of game - 2:39
attendance - 7073
score - 6-3 W
Brewers score that day - 6-3 W

Return to Camelback Ranch

All photos of Camelback Ranch available on Flickr.

The 2019 season started a few weeks early for me as I just returned from Spring Training in Phoenix!  I went with my wife, daughter, and parents and we had a relaxing 3 days in the Valley of the Sun.  It was nice to feel the warm sun on my skin again after what has been a brutal winter in Wisconsin.  Our daughter did surprisingly well on the 3 1/2 hour flight and we landed in Phoenix around 10 AM.  After a quick stop at my parents' condo in Scottsdale we were off to our first game in Glendale nearly an hour away for a 1:05pm first pitch.

Not much has changed at Camelback Ranch, but that was just fine with me because I don't really think they needed to touch a thing.  Same sea of tan seats, same expansive home plate plaza, same beautiful grounds, and same shitty White Sox.  Even after this weekend and 8 years since my first visit, this is still my favorite Spring Training ballpark and complex.  Both the architectural and landscape design are simply gorgeous.  I don't know what it is about the Gabion walls throughout the complex, but they are always the first thing to catch my eye and I am fascinated with how they are used.  In some areas they are decorative, and others then are used as retaining walls.  They really serve to tie the large grounds and the interior of the ballpark together, which can be hard to do in a unique way in this area as everything tends to be the same color and material out in the desert.  Speaking of desert, as an human being I struggle with the wasteful use of water for these complexes, but as a designer and a baseball fan I can't help but fall in love with the place.  Parking was also remarkably still free which was a welcome surprise.  We sat in an all-you-can-eat section above the visitor bullpen in left field for $44, which out here for what you typically pay for concessions is a steal.  A couple of hot dogs and a bottle of water and you've more than recouped your money.  My child managed to get a ball thrown our way from the Brewers' bullpen catcher and we enjoyed a nice leisurely afternoon under the shade with lots of space for Molly to run around (and more importantly a quiet area to nap).  This area looks to have added some shade umbrellas since 2011 but otherwise about the same. 

The most outrageous difference from my 2011 visit - which would be a common theme at all the parks - was the sharp increase in vending prices, particularly beer.  I remember drinking 24oz cans of Modelo pretty much the entire week I was here with my friend Phil 8 years ago for maybe $7-8 apiece.  You're lucky to find a cup of soda for that price now.  Beers ran in the $11-14 range almost everywhere with a staggeringly low variety, for 16 or 24oz cans.  "Craft beer" consisted mainly of Leinie's Summer Shandy and a decent local beer called 805.  It was all the more reason to spring for the all-you-can-eat seats particularly if it's a hot day and you need to stay hydrated.  Maybe the hike in beer prices was a conscious effort for all of the teams colluding to keep fans from passing out drinking too much in the sun - and I'm sure that's what they would tell you - but likely it is just capitalizing on the gluttonous Spring Training tourism industry.

Thursday was the first of 3 consecutive days we would see the Brewers on our trip and they dropped this one to the lowly White Sox by a score of 9-5.  Zach Davies looked sharp in his start, giving up only 1 run and a couple of hard-hit balls in 4 innings.  With a 1-year old daughter it gets harder to pay attention to ballgames now for 9 innings, but that works out perfectly in Spring Training as the starters are all out by the 5th.  The rest of the pitching staff was pretty horrible, but thankfully all by guys likely not even making the 40-man roster.  There were however a few late-inning plays that were hard to ignore.  Troy Stokes Jr. hit an absolutely laser out towards us for a 3-run bomb that would have brained us were it not for the umbrellas.  Later in that same inning, Manny Piña hit a ball that looked like it would be a running catch for former Brewer farmhand Nicky Delmonico, but he ended up crashing into the wall and being carted off after watching the slow-footed catcher hobble around the bases for an inside-the-park-homer from his back.  Another Brewers farmhand also got into the game for the White Sox, Dylan Covey.  Technically he was never signed by the Brewers after being selected 1st overall in the 2010 draft.  His physical uncovered that he had Type I Diabetes and he ended up turning down a $1.6 million signing bonus to go back to college, and would later get drafted again by the A's 3 years later.  He now is looking pretty good out of the White Sox bullpen.

After the game, Megan and I were both exhausted after a 25-hour day on 4 hours of sleep. so we just hung out at the condo my parents are staying at.  We turned in early for what would be another full day of sunshine, beer, and baseball on Friday.

park rankings and statistics
(updated from 3/29/11):
aesthetics - 7
views from park - 4
view to field - 8
surrounding area - 5
food variety - 6
nachos - 8
beer - decreases to 2
vendor price - decreases to 5
ticket price - decreases to 5
atmosphere - 5
walk to park - 10
parking proximity - increases to 10 (adjacent lot for free)
concourses - 8
team shop - 6
complex - 10

best food - Sonoran Hot Dog
most unique stadium feature - practice field complex, mezzanine level bar
jumbotron - yes
best between-inning feature - giveaways

field dimensions - 345/410/345
starters - Zach Davies (MIL) v. Carlos Rodon (CWS)
opponent - Milwaukee Brewers
time of game - 3:05 
attendance - 4804
score - 9-5 W 
Brewers score that day - 9-5 L

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 0
Peter - 3

Tour 2019

It sure doesn't feel like it with the weather we have been having lately, but Pitchers & Catchers report today!  We may just be crawling out from yet another winter storm here in Milwaukee, but it's 60° in Phoenix as the Brewers arrive for the first time at their brand new renovated home, newly dubbed the American Family Fields of Phoenix.  The former Maryvale Baseball Park underwent an extensive overhaul the last 10 months that mostly centered around upgrades to the practice fields and player facilities.  But the main ballpark also got a facelift and some updated concessions, so I am excited to see it in a few weeks.  That's right, I am finally returning to Spring Training after an 8-year hiatus.  The last time I went in 2011, the Brewers wound up 2 wins away from the World Series, so I hope I can bring them the same luck this year.  Megan and I are taking our daughter Molly and meeting my parents out there for a long weekend, and I could not be more ready to feel some warmer weather and hear that crack of the bat again.

Speaking of ballpark trips, this is normally about the time of year where I announce to our reader(s) the plans for Erik and my annual trip.  This year is a little bit in flux because of a lot of life-changing events for Erik in this past year.  He moved out to New Hampshire in October and recently became employed for the state government, so we are trying to work out something in our schedules we can do this summer.  So far we have floated an Appy/Sally League trip, and a trip centered around the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham, Alabama.  Both of these ideas have been on our list since we started doing these Tours, so either would be long overdue and a lot of fun.  

Closer to home, there are actually a couple of ballparks opening that I will need to get to.  Franklin, Wisconsin, which is a southern suburb of Milwaukee, is getting a new independent league team in the American Association that takes the field in May - the Milwaukee Milkmen.  I was able to drive by it a couple of weeks ago to see the progress, and between that and their aggressive social media campaign, I am excited to see them in action.  The UW-Milwaukee baseball team will also be moving here, and to say that it will be an improvement over the county park they currently play in would be a gross understatement. Green Bay is also opening a new ballpark for their Northwoods League team (newly rebranded as the Booyah) that will be a must-see and a significant upgrade over Joannes Field.  

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the course of the season, and as always, detailed posts about any ballparks I visit.  Only 43 days 'til Opening Day and Go Brewers!

New Spring Training Uniforms

Today we baseball fans get to shout our favorite 4-word phrase for all to hear: PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT!!!  It not only literally represents the start of the MLB calendar, but is a symbolic day to remind us that the doldrums of winter will soon be behind us.  One of the things I look forward to most every spring training is seeing the new uniforms players are donning at camp.  Seemingly every year now, teams will unveil some type of new cap, logo, and/or jersey in spring ball so that fans will have more crap to buy when they travel down to Arizona and Florida.  That new apparel will usually become the team's batting practice gear during the regular season.

The 2016 crop of uniforms retain a lot of the strong secondary logos that were featured in the last few years - such as Cincinnati's Mr. Redlegs or New York's Mr. Met - and expounds on those even further, including the Rays' sunburst and the White Sox and Brewers retro 1980s logos.  My personal favorite is the new Dodgers' alternate logo that is a clear ripoff of the Chunichi Dragons logo from Mr. Baseball.  Beyond the usual cosmetic changes, this year's jerseys are unique in that they incorporate changes to help player performance as well.  They use a fabric called Flex Base that is 10-20% lighter with mesh panels along the sides to provide for greater movement and comfort during those long days in the hot sun.  The first thought that immediately popped into my head was when George Costanza implemented cotton uniforms for the Yankees on Seinfeld, and we all know how that ended.  But these have supposedly been in testing for 2 years so I will trust that analysis over George's ill-thought idea.  The other noticeable change to the uniforms this year is the increase of branding.  As MLB does with Opening Day, the All-Star Game, and the postseason, so too are they giving the Grapefruit League and Cactus Leagus more of their own identity and marketing.  Each team will have either an 'AZ' or an 'FL' road sign patch sewn on the side of their cap to identify them with their particular league, and the playing fields and game-used baseballs will be emblazoned with the logos as well.  I think that increasing the promotion of spring training as its own event is a great idea for MLB and will help capture another 6 weeks of the calendar from which to draw a larger fanbase.

I will most definitely be purchasing one of the new Brewers spring training caps and I cannot wait to wear it to Miller Park in only 45 short days.

Tour 2011: Scottsdale Stadium

All photos of Phoenix day 7 and Scottsdale Stadium available on Flickr.

Our final game of the trip was a 3:10 start, so it allowed us to sleep in past 9:00 for the first time all week. We started the day off at another establishment showcased on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, a fantastic little breakfast nook called Matt's Big Breakfast, just north of downtown Phoenix. The line was insane because the place only seated about 20, but it was ok because we killed part of the 90-minute wait at a bar next door. When we finally got seated, I went with a standard eggs-bacon-hashbrowns breakfast with a side of sourdough toast, and Phil and a salami scrambler. I pretty much knew going in that all of the meat products would be amazing, but I was really surprised by how good something as simple as eggs and potatoes could taste. We didn't get out of there until after 2, but it was well worth it.

Phil and I arrived in downtown Scottsdale about 2:30 and spent at least 15 minutes looking for parking. Urban ballparks have a fantastic atmosphere and can serve as a great anchor for a community, but the drawback is always parking. We eventually conceded to paying $10 in a bank parking lot 5 blocks away after driving through several free garages that were full. Since it took so long to find parking and we weren't entirely sure were the practice fields were anyways, we just went straight to the ballpark and wedged our way into the massive glob of people at the will call window. We finally got in just before first pitch and took our seats in the right field bleachers before we had a chance to get a beer. In about the 3rd inning, we quenched our thirst with a couple silos of Modelo and took a stroll around the park. The attendance was over 12,000 and the park was extremely crowded and hard to navigate through. The team store was also very crowded and was sold out of just about everything but World Series stuff. There were long lines everywhere all day, which was in stark contrast to the relaxing, open nature of Talking Stick the night before. One nice feature at this park is the outfield berm dips back down to form a hill, and the concourse wraps around the back of this at the base. This was part of a 2006 renovation to connect to left and right field berms, and it was a nice secluded area of the park to sort of hide from the commotion for a bit.

The original stadium was built in 1992 and has always held the Giants as its primary tenant. It's a very nuts-and-bolts park and in my opinion is nothing spectacular. The urban location and the atmosphere is what sells this place more than the architecture or amenities. I'd be curious to see what the crowd is like in year which they didn't win the World Series, but I'd imagine being in downtown Scottsdale that they draw lots of walk-up fans regardless. It really reminded me of Warner Park in a way, it had the same typical younger crowd and wild atmosphere, and how various sections of seating seemed very piecemeal and cramped. The way that the bleachers and seating sit on grade with the concession stands stuffed underneath, and you have to arise into the grandstand, is also similar to the Duck Pond. The whole park just didn't seem to have a cohesive design and it felt more like the architect threw in a seating bowl and a pressbox, and then over time added various bleacher sections and the exterior shell. That may not be the case, but that's just how it feels - in my mind, the park just doesn't have a good flow and is discontinuous. On the plus side, Warner Park is one of my favorite ballparks and all of its oddities and shortcomings give the park tons of character, and the same definitely applies to Scottsdale Stadium. It wasn't one of my favorite parks of the week but it definitely was the most unique of the 6. I had heard so many good things about how great the atmosphere was at this park, and how awesome Scottsdale is, so I was excited to go to Scottsdale Stadium and check it out for myself. While that end of the bargain was upheld, architecturally I was left wanting. Even though the game was exciting, the stadium had character, and it was a sellout, paying $29 for a bleacher ticket and $6 for a cold brat negated most of that.

We saw Cincinnati for the 3rd time this week take on San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum in his final spring tune-up, and the final Cactus League home game for the Giants as well. Sam LeCure got the spot start for the Reds in place of Bronson Arroyo. Unlike the Brewers and Cardinals who also have starting pitcher injuries, the Reds are about 8-deep in their rotation and have guys like LeCure and Travis Wood who can step in when Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto go on the DL, or if Arroyo misses a few starts with mono. LeCure pitched admirably but was not really stretched out yet so he was only able to make it into the 4th. The Giants got the bulk of their runs off of Aroldis Chapman, who we saw pitch in all 3 Reds games this week. The Reds had a 6-3 lead until he gave up 5 ER on 4 hits without recording an out in the 6th, and the Giants ended up winning 9-6. Cincy got all 6 of those runs off of Lincecum on 11 hits. I couldn't tell if the Reds were actually hitting The Freak that well, or if he was just out there chuckin' to get his work in and didn't really care. Offensively, Juan Francisco went 3-4 with a HR for the Reds, and Andres Torres was 3-4 with 4 RBI and a walk for the Giants.

I noticed when we were out in Scottsdale on Friday night that there was a Yard House there, so we hit that up for some chow after the game. Phil and I then met up for some farewell drinks with Rob at the same bar we ended up at the night before, playing video lawn darts and some hits on the jukebox until about 11. It was then a 5:30 AM wake-up call to drop off the rental car, and then catch 3 planes and drive 5 hours back to Iowa. What a long day on Sunday, but boy what an unbelieveable trip and a fun week in Arizona with Phil. Overall, I'd have to say that Scottsdale Stadium was my least favorite park of the week, and Camelback Ranch narrowly beat out Salt River Fields as my favorite. I enjoyed my time at every park and would certainly recommend a game at all 6 of the parks we visited. Next on tap for Tour 2011 is a potential weekend Midwest League trip with E; we'll see how that pans out. Happy Opening Day to all!!!

park rankings and statistics:
aesthetics - 4
views from park - 5 (could see mountains from right field corner)
view to field - 4 (seats not angled towards field)
surrounding area - 9 (downtown Scottsdale)
food variety - 3
nachos - 5 (standard)
beer - 5 (points deducted for having $6 12-oz beers)
vendor price - 5
ticket price - 2 ($29 bleacher is outrageous)
atmosphere - 8 (sellout)
walk to park - 6 (depends where you park)
parking proximity - 2 ($10 lot 5 blocks away)
concourses - 3 (crowded, below grandstand no view of field)
team shop - 3 (good size but sold out of a lot)
complex - n/a, did not see

best food - nothing notable; go with the Asian noodles
most unique stadium feature - walk behind the berm, only urban park in Cactus League
jumbotron - yes
best between-inning feature - n/a

field dimensions - 360/430/360
starters - Sam LeCure (CIN) v. Tim Lincecum (SF)
opponent - Cincinnati Reds
time of game - 3:01
attendance - 12096
score - 9-6 W
Brewers score that day - 2-1 W

Tour 2011: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick

All photos of Salt River Fields available on Flickr.

Friday was the day I was looking forward to most on the trip: a doubleheader featuring a nightcap at the brand new Salt River Fields in north Scottsdale. The day started out by picking up Frank at about 10:15 and heading all the way out to Surprise, which took over 45 minutes in traffic. We thought we would be seeing the Giants play the Royals there at 1:05, but it turns out that the Spring Training Online schedule incorrectly listed this game as a matinee instead of a 6:05 nightcap. I thought I had learned my lesson in Burlington last year about checking schedules the day of a game, but I guess not. So we made the longest drive in the Cactus League for nothing. We collected our bearings and consulted the Spring Training pocket schedule, but found no other decent daytime options so we decided to just go back to Maryvale to watch the Crew. We had rainout tickets from Monday that we had to use anyways, so it worked out fine other than me having to change out of my Rick Vaughn jersey since they were playing the Indians. We arrived at noon and got the exact same seats we had on Sunday by the Brewers' bullpen (read more about this game in the Maryvale post from 3/28/11).

After the Brewers' victory we made our way east to the heralded brand new facility of the Diamondbacks and Rockies, the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Our first encounter with bad traffic on the trip was an absolute crawl from AZ-202 all the way up the 101 to the ballpark. We parked the car in an adjacent "lot" for $5 that was actually just a lawn. Why they would cover an entire field in the desert with turf just for you to park on was beyond me, so I hope that it's used for something else the other 11 months of the year. What made the parking situation even more awkward is that there wasn't really a path exiting the lot, you had to navigate this sort of drainage ditch and climb over some rocks to get onto the sidewalk. Once on the sidewalk, it led us through the D-Backs training area and up to the left field gate. We didn't really have a chance to explore the grounds more than in passing, because we got there after 6pm for a 6:40 first pitch. From what we could tell they seemed pretty fan-accessible and close to the ballpark. The practice fields also had a similar landscaped setting to Camelback, including the same type of plinth seating behind the backstops and some small creeks. Unlike at Camelback these creeks are natural, and the complex gets its name from the five "salt rivers" that converge on the site; in reality, they are just five sections of the same small dried-up river bed. There is clearly a lot of leiniency on what passes for a "river" in Phoenix. The other part of the complex's name is a historical reference to a stick used by the local Pima Indian tribe to record events. When it opened this spring, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick became the first MLB ballpark to be built on Native American land.

We collected our tickets at an automated will call kiosk (like the ones they use at Great American Ballpark) and entered in the left field corner. Just when I don't think the next day's ballpark could possibly be topped, it happens. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. To our right was a beautiful, dynamic roof form that swept over the seating at various angles and was designed specifically to shade 90% of the seats at a matinee game in March. In front of us was a fairly plain batters eye and the team offices of the Rockies. And on our left, we saw the large jumbotron, team store, and Diamondbacks offices. Behind all of this was a phenomenal view to the McDowell Mountains in the distance. I just took it all in for awhile and snapped some photos, amazed at the grandeur rolled out by these organizations just for a Spring Training facility. I then grabbed a program and we headed into the team store, which had just about everything imaginable including baseballs with the Talking Stick logo on it. Up to this point, all of the balls I had purchased just had the team logo on one side and "Spring Training" on the other, nothing about the ballpark. Exiting the team store and taking a lap around the outfield, Phil and I noticed how similar this ballpark was to Camelback Ranch. This was especially evident in the identical basic layouts - team offices in the outfield corners, ramp down to mid-level walkway through the seating bowl, expansive second level, and no pronounced entry gate. The similarities continued with color palette and materials, and both parks also have a very distinctive roof form. I was not surprised to find out just now when I looked it up that the two facilities were indeed designed by the same architect, HKS. I'm not sure if these guys have a small foothold in the ballpark monopoly that is Populous, but I thoroughly enjoyed their two stadiums. My rankings are going to show that Salt River Fields scored higher, but I'd still have to give the slight edge to Camelback Ranch if for no other reason than the sensational practice complex.

We had awesome seats for Friday night's game: 1st row of the 200 sections, just off-center from home plate. The teams took their BP in the main ballpark for this game, so we got to watch a little of that. From where we sat, the ballpark really felt like a big league ballpark. If you added 15,000 seats to the upper deck, there's absolutely no reason this park couldn't play in the major leagues. They literally have just about everything else you need and expect from an MLB ballpark except an appropriate seating capacity. There's all sorts of food and a beer stand at the top of every aisle, but most importantly it just has that intangible comfort level you feel at a major league stadium. It's a very spacious park and a relaxing place to watch a ballgame. And what better way to relax at a ballgame than with a silo of beer and a gigantic hot dog? These two items have been the standard fare offered at every park this week, but Talking Stick did it best: a Salt River Dog featuring roasted green chiles, onions, and bacon, and a 24-oz Blue Moon. All of the specialty hot dogs looked delicious and it was a hard choice. There were actually so many concession options that we made a second trip later in the game for garlic knots and daiquiris, both of which were outstanding.

The tenant of Salt River Fields that we saw on this night was Colorado, and they were hosting Texas. The Rockies plated 10 runs on 20 hits, including 8 and 13 off of Rangers starter Derek Holland. Watching Holland's long arm action I could tell that the ball was probably easy to pick up for the hitters. Catcher Chris Ianetta slugged a towering homerun in the 4th, and Rockie legend Todd Helton effortlessly collected 3 singles and an RBI. Eric Young Jr., the son of former Brewer Eric Young, got the start in center and had 2 hits and a run scored. I was really hoping we'd get to see Jason Giambi sub into the game, but he was probably off preparing his testimony in the Bonds perjury trial. Not really much action to speak of for the Rangers. Josh Hamilton went 1-2 with a walk, and Arthur Rhodes might ride into the sunset after his All-Star 2010 campaign, because he surrendered 4 hits in an inning of refief and looked pretty terrible.

After the game, we tied one on pretty hard for the first time that week. We were out in Scottsdale with Rob and Frank until bar close and didn't get to bed until after 4. Saturday is our last full day out here and we have tickets to the Giants game in downtown Scottsdale.

park rankings and statistics:
aesthetics - 8
views from park - 8 (mountains)
view to field - 9
surrounding area - 7 (downtown Scottsdale nearby)
food variety - 9
nachos - 5 (standard)
beer - 6 (points deducted for ridiculous serving policy and long lines)
vendor price - 6
ticket price - 7 ($20 behind home plate)
atmosphere - 9 (sellout)
walk to park - 7
parking proximity - 4 (adjacent lot $5, hard to get from lot to path)
concourses - 9 (very spacious)
team shop - 9 (two)
complex - 7

best food - Salt River Dog
most unique stadium feature - roof
jumbotron - yes (kind of hard to read, and the "Salt River Fields" sign on top needs some lighting)
best between-inning feature - n/a

field dimensions - 345/410/345
starters - Derek Holland (TEX) v. Esmil Rogers (COL)
opponent - Texas Rangers
time of game - 3:10
attendance - 12258
score - 10-3 W
Brewers score that day - 7-4 W