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C H A S E F I E L D
July 15, 2011
Los Angeles Dodgers v. Arizona Diamondbacks
6:40pm
Los Angeles 6, Arizona 4
WP: Kershaw (10-4, 2.88 ERA)
LP: Saunders (6-8, 3.89 ERA)
S: Guerra (5, 2.29 ERA)
Attendance: 24,966
Time: 2:46
79 degrees, roof closed
Chase Field, formerly “the B.O.B.”, was the first park to have a retractable roof, air conditioning, and natural grass. This is definitely the place for it! Baseball would not have survived here otherwise. They’ve managed one World Series win in their 14 year history, which is one more than the Cubs have had since 1908. Although Phoenix is not thought of as a baseball mecca, it runs pretty deep here. There’s a lot of college ball, minor league ball, and this is an area where some teams come for spring training.
Chase Field sits on the corner of 4th and Jefferson.
The gates opened up 2 hours and 10 minutes prior to game time. A record! You can run the roost and go anywhere you want...bleachers, field box, behind the dugout, up to your seats, wherever. There seems to be plenty of parking around the park, but I chose the Metro, an above-ground light rail that runs from the north side of town all the way to Mesa. It was quick, easy, and clean. $3.50 will get you an all-day pass. There are a ton of different places to eat in this stadium. Everything from Mexican to Chinese. They also boast the best deal I’ve seen...a $1.50 value menu, which has a hot dog, soda, and popcorn on the menu. It has a couple other items, too. I saw a lot of people who just spent $3 and got two hot dogs. They even have $4 beer, but you won’t look much like a man carrying the $4 beer around.
The Atmosphere: The atmosphere here is good. I had always thought sitting and watching games indoors was boring and anti-baseball, but it’s not. It’s much better than sweltering in 110 degree temps.
The Scorecard: I walked around the stadium twice looking for a scorecard. I found the stands they sold the All-Star programs from stuffed in a corner. I asked one usher...he had no clue. I asked another...it comes inside a free Playbill-sized program. It’s buried in the middle. And, again, on glossy paper. When will they realize it’s a scoreCARD, not a scorekodakglossyphotopaper. It was easier to manage than the size of the Angels program, but it was just too small.
The Hot Dog: Below is the D-Back Dog. It’s not bad. Served hot, but again the guy just grabs it from under the counter. It does beat out all but the Houston dog at this point. There is a stand called Big Dawgs. They serve hot dogs that are just too big for one person to look at without getting nauseated. They are covered in anything from chili to cheese to taco meat. The also have a Hebrew National Kosher Dog!!! This goes as the best dog I’ve had so far; however, they’ll get a rank below Minute Maid because I’m not sure it was grilled and I would have loved some onions to put on it. I did try the $1.50 hot dog and it was as plain as any, but a cheap dog at a game is a good thing. You’ll notice I ate 3 dogs here...it’s because I had 3 days at this stadium...I did not stuff myself with 3 dogs at one game, though it’s been known to happen.
The Broadcasters: They did just fine. There were two of them and they worked in tandem. Nothing great. Nothing bad. Not much to say.
Entertainment: Seemed more limited. Their Kiss Cam was way too short. They blindfold some dude and “hide” a gecko in the stadium and make him find him...ehh. The t-shirt cannon again makes an appearance. The have a hot dog race, but it’s not any good. They have kids run in place and, in theory, how fast they run guides how fast the dogs run on the screen. Ketchup won, and that kid had stopped running by the end of the race...weak. The do have these characters dressed as Randy Johnson, Matt Williams, Mark Grace, and Luis Gonzalez...they are actually pretty good. They race at one point.
It.
The D-Back Dog.
I had actually already taken a bite before I realized I forgot to take a picture.
They have no authentics store. A scant few items around the team store, but nothing worth getting or affordable.
Views from Around the Park:
Other words: A good place to take in a game. I’d just assume pay for a real scorecard, though. Show up people...your team still has a shot! Grill those dogs out in the open...it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
Gripes: Really nothing big. The only time I got yelled at was at the end of the All-Star Game. I know that wasn’t this game, but it was this crowd. I stood up when the AL was down to their final out. Not only did I stand up, but the guy in a Holliday jersey about 8 rows down stood up. NO ONE ELSE DID. I was told to sit back down. IT’S BASEBALL FOLKS. You can sit on the couch at home. When the final out comes, get your tails out of the seat and at least pretend you want to be there. They did eventually stand up, but only once there were 2 strikes on the batter.
S T A T I S T I C S U P D A T E
MLB Games Seen
5 of 31
Days
14 of 86
Driving Miles
3469 of an estimated 18,735
Estimated Gallons of Gas
177.9 of an estimated 1,102
Hot Dogs Eaten
5 of 30 (okay so I’ve had more)
Nights Under the Stars
0 of 12
States
8 of 35
Border Crossings
0 of 2
P R E D I C T I O N S U P D A T E
(AFTER 5 OF 30 GAMES)
Runs
47 of 249
Hits
85 of 512
Errors
8 of 36
Home Runs
14 of 65
Doubles
15 of 101
Triples
1 of 10
Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)
5 of 31
Strikeouts
73 of 415
Walks
35 of 189
Home Team Wins
3 of 17
Complete Games
0 of 1
Shutouts
0 of 2
Saves
3 of 15
Blown Saves
0 of 7
Balks
1 of 2
Wild Pitches
1 of 19
Hit Batters
2 of 18
Walk-offs
0 of 2
Stolen Bases
9 of 40
Caught Stealing
1 of 15
Ejections
1 of 4
Smallest Crowd
24,966
Chase Field, Phoenix
July 15th, Los Angeles v. Arizona
Largest Crowd
44,111
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
July 9th, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v. Seattle
B A L L P A R K R A N K I N G S
The Atmosphere
1. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
2. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
3. Minute Maid Park, Houston
4. Chase Field, Phoenix
5. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
The Stadium
1. Minute Maid Park, Houston
2. Chase Field, Phoenix
2. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
3. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
4. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
The Crowd
1. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
2. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
3. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
4. Minute Maid Park, Houston
5. Chase Field, Phoenix
The Scorecard
1. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
2. Minute Maid Park, Houston
28. Chase Field, Phoenix
29. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
30. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
The Hot Dog
1. Minute Maid Park, Houston
2. Chase Field, Phoenix
3. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
4. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
5. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
The Broadcasters
1. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
2. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
3. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
4. Minute Maid Park, Houston
5. Chase Field, Phoenix
Entertainment
1. Minute Maid Park, Houston
2. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
3. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
4. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
5. Chase Field, Phoenix
C H A S E F I E L D
P H O E N I X , A R I Z O N A
H O M E O F T H E D I A M O N D B A C K S
Arizona was just 3-1/2 games out of first prior to tonight’s start. Coming off the All-Star Game and playing a division rival, I expected a larger crowd. The couldn’t even muster 25,000 people, and there were quite a few L.A. fans present. L.A. dominated early with a 6-0 lead going into the stretch. Arizona managed 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh and threatened again in the ninth, but the Dodgers held on for the win. Kemp, who hit 2 homeruns in the game I saw Sunday, hit another homerun today.
Scoreboards in upper left and rightfield let you keep an eye on other games...including the 6-5 Reds win over the Cardinals:(
The main scoreboard in centerfield.
Most of the upper deck was empty.
The roof has been closed during baseball since June 17th.
The Crowd: A team with a winning record and in striking distance of post-season ball needs to draw better, especially coming off hosting the All-Star Game. The ones that were there were into it, though I didn’t see anyone keeping score or listening to the game on the radio.
From centerfield.
My tweet made the scoreboard.
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