Our first Tour trip in our 40s and our first ever ballgames attended in the month of November occurred in the Phoenix area this past week. We finally crossed off a long-standing bucket list item in the Arizona Fall League and had a great trip crammed full of ball like usual, seeing a total of 6 games in the span of about 72 hours. As we started planning this year's trip, I knew I needed to hit my three remaining ballparks of the Cactus/AFL circuit - Peoria, Surprise, and Sloan Park. We also wanted to make sure to see either a Coyotes NHL game or an Arizona State hockey game, as well as one of the "jewel" AFL events - Fall Stars Game/Derby, Championship, etc. So when the original schedule was released in July, we quickly landed on a weekend where all of those things could be achieved in one trip. The only caveat was that Peoria and Surprise were both only home on a Wednesday, and Erik was not able to fly in any earlier than Thursday, so I decided to book a flight a day earlier just for myself. The schedule ended up changing in August so it became a moot point, but by that point I had already booked everything, so I decided to still fly in on Wednesday solo. Then a few weeks went by, and the Cinderella season of the Arizona Diamondbacks started to unfold. They clinched a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season, very easily swept the Brewers in the first round, sacked the mighty Dodgers, and it was around this time that I started to think "Holy crap, I might actually get to see the D-Backs in the World Series if they can keep this up." I just so happened to be landing in Phoenix on the day of Game 5 and managed to snag one $300 upper deck ticket when they were down 2-0 to the Phillies in the NLCS and things were looking grim. The rest as they say is history, and I can now count myself among the lucky fans who have attended a World Series game! Even though I had no vested interest in the D-Backs other than wanting to see a World Series game, it was so fun to root for a team all the way throughout the playoffs and it made watching this year's postseason very special and exciting for me. I was sad that Erik could not go along to this historic event with me, but the stars had aligned, and it was an opportunity I could not pass up.
I landed around 1:00pm local time, quickly picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel, and then I was off to the ballpark. Gates opened 3 hours before first pitch for the World Series, and I wanted to be there as early as possible. In lieu of navigating downtown gameday traffic and paying a million dollars for parking, I decided to take the Valley Metro light rail for $4 round trip. I picked up the train about a 10 minute walk from our hotel on the Arizona State campus in Tempe, and it dropped me off literally right across the street from Chase Field. It could not have been more convenient and I was shocked that a city as big as Phoenix had such a well-functioning transit system. I finally got into the stadium just before 3pm for a 5:03 first pitch, and it was already packed for what would be a wild 5 hours ahead of me.
My initial reaction when I got into the ballpark was that it was a lot nicer than I remembered from my last visit in 2007. However, a lot of that reaction can be attributed to the sellout playoff atmosphere and the fact that the roof was open, both rarities at Chase Field. When I took the crowd and the roof out of the equation, it was about what I remembered, namely that it is very similar to American Family Field. All these years for some reason I thought the two ballparks were designed by the same architect, but the internet it telling me that is not the case, so it makes the similarities all the more remarkable. It has the same outfield setup and infrastructure necessary to hold up the roof, the major difference being that the roof in Phoenix slides open as a two-panel door, and in Milwaukee the roof opens like a fan. This means that Chase Field is inherently more angular and rectilinear. It has the same 3-tiered party deck setup in right field and the restaurant in left field, which 16 years ago was a TGIF just like when Miller Park opened and is now called "Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers." It has the same large centered jumbotron, albeit this one looks like it has not been updated since the park opened. The concourses have a very similar look and feel and they even sell Miller Lite. The major difference to Chase Field is just that it has nothing aesthetically interesting or memorable about it. The exterior is a gigantic ugly mostly windowless box and there are no sort of unique nodes or areas in the ballpark of any kind. If you were to meet somebody at this ballpark who had never been there before, it would really difficult to finish the sentence "Meet me by the ____." I do appreciate that there is a lot of outfield seating, something that AmFam lacks. Chase Field is in that sort of middle tier of ballparks - not super old, not super new, but right in that middle "was cutting edge 20 years ago but could use a major facelift" category, similar to the ones that Progressive Field, Kauffman Stadium, and Rogers Centre have all gotten in the last decade. The Diamondbacks have been in an ongoing fight with Maricopa County for many years now over much needed stadium upgrades and repairs and who is paying for them, so it will be interesting to see if Chase Field is around for much longer. Based on what I saw on Wednesday, the D-Backs would be foolish to give up their prime downtown location, whether that is in a new ballpark or an extensively remodeled one.
Words can't even really describe the atmosphere and electricity of the ballpark for a World Series game. It would be like trying to describe an ocean or a sunset. I actually had to turn my phone off for most of the game because it was nearly dead by about 3:30, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I was able to just be fully present and immerse myself in the game, with no texting or pictures for a few hours, and just live in the moment - something I think we all struggle with these days. If my phone was on, I also surely would have been non-stop texting Erik and reminding him that he passed up the opportunity to be at a World Series game that started with 6 no-hit innings. I'm pretty sure he would have stopped being my friend if Zac Gallen actually finished the no-hitter, but alas it was not meant to be as the D-Backs ended up losing 5-0, thus losing the World Series to the visiting Texas Rangers. Gallen was masterful but just got left in a few hitters too long, giving up 3 hits and a run in the 7th inning. Corey Seager cemented his World Series MVP award by breaking up the no-hitter in the 7th and chipping in another hit and a walk on a 2-4 night. Marcus Semien put the game out of reach with a 2-run bomb in the 9th, which landed just in front of me after I moved to the outfield for the final inning. I turned my phone on for one final gasp and just enough juice to record the Rangers celebrating on the field. I was very impressed with how well the D-Backs fans showed up even in the loss. Almost everybody in the stands remained until the very last pitch and they were loud for the entire game.
updated park rankings and statistics
(see original post from 08/21/07):
aesthetics - 5
views from park - 2
view to field - 7
surrounding area - 5
food variety - 6
nachos - improves to 10 (some of the best ballpark nachos I've ever had)
beer - 5
vendor price - 7
ticket price - decreases to 8
atmosphere - improves to 9
walk to park - improves to 5
parking price/proximity - 8
concourses - decreases to 5
team shop - 7
kids area - n/a
best food - nachos with queso, chicken, and cornbread crumbles
most unique stadium feature - pool in right-center
best jumbotron feature - D-Backs postseason highlights
best between-inning feature - Legends Race
field dimensions - 330/407/334
starting lineups -
Texas Rangers
Marcus Semien (2B)
Corey Seager (SS)
Evan Carter (LF)
Mitch Garver (DH)
Josh Jung (3B)
Nathaniel Lowe (1B)
Jonah Heim (C)
Leody Taveras (CF)
Travis Jankowski (RF)
Nathan Eovaldi (P)
Arizona Diamondbacks
Corbin Carroll (RF)
Ketel Marte (2B)
Gabriel Moreno (C)
Christian Walker (1B)
Tommy Pham (DH)
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (LF)
Alek Thomas (CF)
Evan Longoria (3B)
Geraldo Perdomo (SS)
Zac Gallen (P)
time of game - 2:54
attendance - 48511
score - 5-0 L (TEX wins series 4-1)
FINAL 2023 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 8
Peter - 27
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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