For the first time in years the New York Yankees are back in Arizona. I may be wrong but I don't think that the Yankees and the Diamondbacks have played in Phoenix since the climactic game of the 2001 World Series. So when the 2010 schedule came out with 3 games on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of June, I had to get tickets. However, the Yankees are so popular that I had to put my name down in a draw for the chance to buy tickets!
Anyway, long story short...I get a call from the Diamondbacks to invite us down to the ball park for a tour and to discuss ticket packages. It seems that you can only get tickets for the 3 Yankee games if you buy a package of tickets. Sensible business!
I have to admit the tour was great; much better than I had anticipated. I thought it might just be a quick visit, followed by a hard sell on the ticket packages. It was neither. 
Chase Field is a great complex; it holds about 50,000 fans and the retractable roof (partially open when we were there) allows for the best of both worlds when it comes to the hot Arizona weather. For early season games in April and May, they open the roof and one entire side of the ballpark to give fans an outdoor game experience; then once the heat of summer arrives, they close the roof, turn on the air conditioning and keep 50,000 people in 78f comfort. The roof takes just 4 to 5 minutes to open and the advertising panels either side of the giant HD screen fold back like a concertina to open up one side of the stadium. That screen by the way was the largest in the country (at a baseball stadium, but now is second only to the Kansas City Royals).
This slightly blurred image is the clubhouse, or what we would have called a changing room in the old days! Directly across from where we were standing, the huge facility continues on into a weight room and various training rooms, and they have full indoor batting cages off to the left. We were lucky to get in! As we were walking past the entrance, Peter Woodfork, assistant General Manager of the Diamondbacks said 'hi', asked if we were taking the tour and showed us in. Tours don't normally get access to the clubhouse, so even Duane, our guide, was impressed! Peter told us that star pitcher Brandon Webb was in the clubhouse; he tried to find him to see if we could say hello, but Brandon was working out on one of the treadmills so unfortunately we didn't get to meet him. Still very cool to see the inner sanctum nonetheless!
Next stop was the field, by way of the home dug-out. It was great to see the stadium from this perspective and imagine what it must be like to ply your trade in front of 30/40/50,000 thousand people.
This is possibly the most interesting snippet from the tour. This is the area just down the steps from the dug-out, out of sight of the cameras. The double doors lead towards the the clubhouse; bolted to the wall is the 'frustration tire'! This is where players vent their frustration after a mistake or bad umpiring call, by basically smashing the hell out of the tire! Apparently it saves the light fixtures, pipe work and water fountain from continual repairs. I'm thinking of installing one in the office!
Down on the field, you get a great feeling of the scale of the place. My brief visits to batting cages have shown me how hard it is to hit a fastball, let alone do so with a massive audience watching your every move! It really must make it so much more difficult! Still that's why they get the big bucks and the first class clubhouses I guess!
When the new season starts on April 5th, (I bought a 6 game package by the way) we'll be in the crowd looking down and can now say 'I was there', and when Mark Reynolds disappears from sight after striking out, we'll know that he's gone out back to kick the hell out of the tire! Everyody should have one!
And finally this is what it's all about. The 'World Championship' trophy! I know that us Brits find it amusing that the winners of a competition comprising only 29 American (and 1 Canadian) teams get to call themselves 'World Champions', but let's face it, if they win this trophy they probably are the best team in the world. This is the one and only World Championship trophy that the Arizona Diamondbacks have won, but they've only been in existence 12 years. By contrast, the Yankees won their 27th World Championship just last November. The Diamondbacks won their trophy by beating the Yankees over 7 great games in 2001. I'm looking forward to seeing the re-match in June, although as a supporter of both teams it's difficult to know which cap to wear...literally!
Loved the bit about the tire. I see you are really acclimating to American sports where even "net ball" is considered a serious game.
ReplyDeleteYep, I think everyone needs one of those! And when you see the state of the pipework and water fountain that took the beating before they placed the tire, you can understand why!
ReplyDeleteAmerican sports just need some better crowd chants to really cap them off in my opinion! 'D-Fence' and 'CHARGE' don't really cut it for someone who grew up with clever football songs!