Chase Field - Home of the Arizona Diamondbacks

Official Review by Jason Bartel, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

Opened in 1998 as Bank One Ballpark, Chase Field has been the only home to Major League Baseball in Arizona. It has seen the Diamondbacks win 5 NL West Division titles, one National League pennant, and one World Series title in 2001 against the New York Yankees. It also played host to the World Baseball Classic in 2006, and the MLB All Star Game in 2011.

Chase Field is also the former home of the Insight Bowl (2000-2005), and was home to the first ever outdoor college basketball game, which was played between the Arizona State women’s team and Tennessee in December, 2000. There are also many concerts, soccer matches, and supercross events during the Diamondbacks’ offseason.

One of the defining features of Chase Field is its retractable roof, which is composed of two halves that can move independently of each other and can close all the way in about four and a half minutes. The roof is very much needed during the Phoenix summers, where outside temperatures can stay above 100 for most of, if not all of a night game. Another unique feature is the swimming pool area located just beyond the right-center field fence. The pool is treated just like any other suite at Chase Field, meaning that anyone can rent it out for a game. It does cost $3,500 for the night, but you can have a group of up to 35 people and the pool opens two hours before first pitch, and includes food and beverage.

In 2008, a brand new video board was installed as the center field scoreboard. It is one of the largest television screens in the country, and is known as DBTV. During the game, DBTV has more stats posted on it about every hitter and pitcher than any one person would ever need to know, but it is very interesting to read some of the stuff that gets put up there in between pitches.

Food & Beverage    5

Chase Field offers a huge variety of food throughout the entire ballpark. The concourse is lined with concession stands, permanent ones along the outside wall, and various carts that are right above the seating areas. The traditional baseball concession stands offer a value menu at most of the locations which includes hot dogs, nachos and soda. These value items are a little smaller, but they are much cheaper than their full-sized counterparts, which are also available if you so desire. There is also one concession stand where you can get hot dogs topped with pretty much whatever you can imagine putting on top of a hot dog.

The Diamondbacks also have several different food stands to go along with the traditional ballpark food. There are a couple Fatburgers located along the concourse, as well as Macayo's, Panda Express, TCBY Yogurt, Subway and Streets of New York pizza.

But if that's not enough food variety for you, there's even more. Chase Field is also home to a few higher end restaurants. A staple of Chase Field since it opened is Friday's Front Row Sports Grill, where fans can purchase tickets and eat at TGI Friday's during the game. Located about 460 feet from home plate in left field, there is a slim chance of getting a home run ball if you buy a seat out on the porch. Also available to all fans during the game is The Arizona Baseball Club, which is down the right field line. Even though you do not need to purchase a separate ticket to enjoy this sit down restaurant, a reservation is highly recommended, and it is required for parties of 6 or more. Other options that are available to fans are the Sedona Club with Build Your Own Burgers, Audi Club, Audi Quattro Lounge, and the Insight Diamond Level.

Atmosphere    4

The ballpark is just a great place to take in a baseball game. They designed everything with fan comfort in mind, and it definitely has paid off in making games very enjoyable. The color change also made the atmosphere of the park a lot better too. The old purple and turquoise is nice for a little while, but it gets a little hard to look at all the time. The new Sedona Red color scheme is perfect for Arizona, and just makes the stadium look better.

Neighborhood    4

Chase Field is located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, and has a lot of places to go hang out before and after the game. Attached to the stadium is Friday's Front Row, which is open to the public every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, and doesn't clear out the ticketed tables until about half an hour before first pitch of Diamondback home games. They also offer burger specials in the 9th inning if you want to get a head start on your postgame celebration.

Located directly west of Chase Field is Sliders American Grill, which is a two story bar and grill that is in a perfect location for fans to grab a bite to eat before or after a game. Also located within a couple of blocks of Chase Field are Hard Rock Café, Majerle's Sports Grill, Alice Cooper'stown Phoenix and many more grills, delis, Italian restaurants and other fantastic choices.

Fans    3

The Diamondback fans definitely know their baseball, but at a game most people just sit back and take it in. There is a certain buzz around the stadium, even when it is mostly empty. Since a lot of people retire to the Phoenix area, there are a lot of fans for the visiting team, no matter who it is, and you can always hear the visiting team chants during a game. The team has done pretty much all it can to make it as affordable as possible for more people to show up, but it takes the Diamondbacks being in first place to start getting bigger attendance numbers. Chase does hold about 49,000 people, so even when there are more than 30,000 at a game, it still looks pretty empty.

Access    4

There is ample parking around Chase Field, both in garages and in surface lots. During the summer, you definitely want to park in a garage if you can afford to do so (runs about $10- $15 close to the stadium). The newly constructed light rail is a very affordable and convenient way to get to the games. There are several stops as it goes along Jefferson Ave., giving you the ability to get off near one of your favorite restaurants, or to get off right next to the ballpark.

The concourse is completely covered with either concession stands or bathrooms, so lines are generally not a problem. Since there are food stands on both sides of the concourse, if there are even medium sized lines, it makes it a little difficult to walk through the concourse. But this doesn't happen very often.

Return on Investment    3

The Diamondbacks ticket prices are one of the most affordable in MLB, ranging from $8-$135.

The food prices are a little high, but that is to be expected at a big league ballpark. The main concession stands do offer the value menu though, which can save you some money if you're willing to eat a little bit less than you normally would at a ball game. However, with most Diamondback home games starting at 6:40 local, it makes it a little difficult to eat before or make it through an entire game without getting a real dinner.

Parking prices are extremely high, but they also realize that people will pay a lot of money to park in a garage on those hot summer days. If it wasn't for parking, Diamondback games would be just as affordable as a spring training or minor league game. So if you can plan far enough ahead, take the light rail whenever possible.

Extras    4

Chase Field has a lot to offer as far as entertainment goes during the game. Most people know about the swimming pool in right-center field, and if you reserve it far enough ahead of time, that could be you doing the backstroke during a baseball game.

One of the newer features of Chase Field is the "Sandlot", which is located on the upper level down the left field line. This is a place that parents can take their kids if they're getting a little antsy sitting in their seat. The Sandlot has a miniature wiffle ball field, a batting cage, and a playground. It also has the Diamondbacks organ player, and the legends mascots from the legends race come up and hang out during the 7th inning stretch. The legends race itself occurs after the 5th inning, and features giant mascots of Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, Randy Johnson, and Mark Grace. Gracie always finishes in last, and that makes the real Mark Grace pretty upset sometimes up in the broadcast booth.

Chase Field is also about to open a full-sized fitness center behind the centerfield scoreboard called Mountainside Fitness. There have been many things in the area behind the scoreboard in the relatively short history of Chase Field, so it could last a long time or it could change fairly quickly.

The Diamondbacks also offer stadium tours three times a morning, Monday-Saturday all year long. You get a tour of some of the behind the scenes stuff at Chase Field, and get to go in the Diamondbacks dugout. The tour lasts a little over an hour, and only costs $7 per person. My tour guide was Molly, and she was fantastic, and I'm sure all of the tour guides do a fantastic job. I highly recommend doing it if you have the chance. We also got a chance to watch Kirk Gibson and Matt Williams do their daily workout of running stadiums before the game.