High Expectations at Hi Corbett

Official Review by Jason Bartel, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

The Arizona Wildcats moved into Hi Corbett Field prior to the 2012 season. Built in 1937, Hi Corbett Field has played host to several professional baseball teams. Primarily used for minor league baseball, Hi Corbett has seen the Tucson Toros, Lizards, Javelinas and Cowboys. It was also the headquarters for USA baseball from 1997-2003, and has played host to spring training for the Cleveland Indians (1947-1992) and Colorado Rockies (1993-2010). The University of Arizona now calls it home after moving out of on-campus Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium. In fact, the football program has sort of taken over Sancet as part of the expansion to its practice facilities.

Hi Corbett is located in central Tucson within the Gene C. Reid Park area, which also includes two 18-hole golf courses, many parks and recreation offices and facilities, and Reid Park Zoo. It has a current capacity of 9,500, which is a major upgrade from the 6,500 and not as up to date facilities at Sancet Stadium.

The movie “Major League” was mostly filmed at Hi Corbett before the Indians moved out. A lot of the extras used in the movie were University of Arizona baseball players at the time.

Food & Beverage    4

There are several concession options at Hi Corbett Field. There are three general concession stands that offer hot dogs ($3 or $4), hamburgers and cheeseburgers ($5), peanuts, soda, nachos, pretzels, and of course, beer. The ability to sell beer at baseball games was one of the reasons for the move to an off-campus facility. PAC-12 schools are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages at on-campus venues, but can do it when away from the actual campus. Beers run $4.50 for 16 oz. and $8 for 32 oz. There are also several beer carts located all around the concourse offering several different options.

Behind the first base line is a small concession stand that sells Papa John's Pizza. Also down the first base side is a BBQ stand, where they sell bratwurst ($7), BBQ pork sandwiches ($7.50) and a couple of other items.

Sundays are "Sunday Fundays", where select items are 50% off, usually hot dogs and hamburgers. Also, when there are Wednesday home games, hot dogs are just $1.

Atmosphere    5

After winning the national championship in 2012, U of A really put in a lot of work to make Hi Corbett look and feel more like the home of the Wildcats instead of just another spring training facility. The walls are now painted blue, with a red stripe as the homerun line.

The seats face west, which allows fans to see the beautiful Tucson sunsets at the beginning of night games or towards the end of afternoon games. If you haven't seen a Sonoran Desert sunset, it really is something to see if the clouds are just right. That added with the palm trees all over Reid Park provide an incredible view. The seats facing that direction do create the problem of the sun shining on you the entire game if it's an early start. But when the weather gets hot, Friday and Saturday games typically start at 6 PM. The only shade during the day is found right in front of the press box behind home plate. Just remember to bring some sunscreen for day games!

Another thing that's different in 2013 is the artificial turf right behind home plate. It's only right behind the plate; the rest of the field is natural grass. But it's definitely made a difference in how the block A logo looks later in the season, and how the area around the plate looks. The grass used to be dead and looked terrible when April rolled around, but this year it looks just as good as it did in February. The newly painted wall also came with newly painted National Championship "banners" that are actually painted on the wall in left-center field, and the honored numbers being painted on the wall in right field. In addition, there is a huge reminder of the program's rich history in right-center with the amount of tournament appearances (37), CWS appearances (16) and National Championships (4).

The seats are not too comfortable. The majority of them are normal seats without cup holders. There are metal bleacher seats farther down each baseline, but unless it's a very crowded day, general admission will get you a regular seat. The only reserved seats are right on the field, and the upper level behind home plate. The rest of the stadium is general admission. The Wildcats' dugout and bullpen are on the first base side with the visitors on the third base side. There's not really a better place to watch the game, but the sun does shine right in your eyes in the early evening when you sit on the third base side.

The scoreboard does not have very much on it, just basic baseball stats. There is a video board that plays a pregame video every game, and shows each player's picture and stats for that day. They also use the video board for the hat scramble game, where a little kid plays, and has never, ever lost. There is a promotion in the second inning where a lucky fan can win some sort of prize pack for catching 2-of-3 fly balls in left field.

The press box keeps it interesting with the music and sound choices. In the old days at Sancet, "Livin on a Prayer" would always be played in the middle of the 5th, but now it doesn't happen too often. There's always some kind of sound effect when an opposing pitcher throws over to first a lot or a mound visit. It's always interesting to hear what noise comes next.

Neighborhood    3

In the immediate area of Hi Corbett are two 18-hole golf courses, Reid Park, and Reid Park Zoo. This gives visitors from out of town a lot of options if they are there with their family, or looking to get out of the cold weather and play a little golf before taking in a baseball game.

There is also El Con Mall, which has several fast food options including In-N-Out Burger, Rubio's, Panda Express and others. El Con Mall also has a movie theater.

For more upscale dining, Claim Jumper is the closest option. Alvernon Way, which is just east of Hi Corbett and where the golf courses are, offers several options as well including Javelina Cantina and Chariot Pizza. For those who like sushi, Sushi Garden Restaurant is also nearby at the corner of Broadway and Country Club.

Fans    4

The 2013 season has seen a huge turnout for the Wildcats. Most games have an attendance of well over 2,000 people, including several games of 5,000+. These numbers were unheard of at Sancet, where there would hardly ever be a crowd of more than 1,000. Winning the 2012 National Championship helps of course, as well as being off-campus. Fans are into it though, heckling the other team constantly during the game, and even heckling each other if someone drops an easy foul ball. It's always been fun to go to Arizona Baseball games, but now it's fun and a lot more crowded, and a lot louder.

Access    4

Hi Corbett is located in the middle of a park area, so for the highly attended games, traffic can be an issue as there are only small roads that lead to the actual parking lots. And Tucson traffic at 5 PM is not exactly fun to drive in.

There is a lot of parking at Hi Corbett, but sometimes it fills up and people have to park a little farther down the road, either towards the zoo, or towards Country Club Rd., but there is always enough parking in the Reid Park complex for everyone. You may have to walk a little bit, but it's not too long of a walk. All of the parking areas are free all the time.

The concession lines can get kind of long during games, but the concourse is so wide that it doesn't really affect the flow at all. The bathrooms are found at each end of the concourse, out of the way of the concession lines, so that breaks up the lines and makes it easier to get around as well. The bathrooms are old so they look kind of dirty a lot of the time. They're really just extremely old.

There is handicap seating near each dugout, and getting to those areas is easy because the concourse feeds out to those walkways at ground level. Getting through security check is quick and easy as well. There are plenty of security people for the amount of people expected for that particular game.

Return on Investment    4

Tickets cost anywhere from $5-$10, $8 for an adult general admission ticket. I would recommend using the U of A's P@H (Print at Home) system so you don't have to wait in line at the field. Food is the typical stadium prices that you would expect. If you are planning on going to multiple games in a season, I recommend getting a souvenir cup as it is just $3 for a refill. I recommend that for football and basketball as well. Plus, baseball is the only sport at U of A where parking at the stadium is free, which just adds to the value of going to a baseball game over the other sports.

Extras    5

With all of the history at Hi Corbett Field between the Indians and the Rockies, you would expect to find some sort of information about it. And there is. Behind home plate in the concourse area is a huge plaque which has the names of every Baseball Hall of Fame member that has ever played a game in Hi Corbett Field.

Across from that plaque this year is also a trophy case which has the National Championship trophy and PAC-12 Championship trophy from the 2012 season in a cool little display with an iconic picture of that 2012 team. The 2012 National Championship logo is everywhere now too, including having all four national championship years (1976, 1980, 1988 and 2012) listed on the pillars in the concourse.

In addition to the championship banners on the outfield wall, there are also flags with each national championship flying above the press box. Most games this year can be found on AM 1290 in Tucson, with Brian Jeffries doing all of the games, just like football and basketball.

The move off-campus was huge for the program, and it showed by winning a National Championship in the first year at Hi Corbett. The increased revenue has also changed the landscape of PAC-12 baseball, as Arizona State is now moving out of Packard Stadium to Phoenix Municipal in 2015. This year, Hi Corbett actually looks like it is part of Wildcat Athletics, and will be for a long time to come.

You can follow along for updates from Tucson with my Wildcats Baseball blog here.