August 5th, 2014
After a fun time in San Diego, we spent the night in Yuma, Arizona before driving into Phoenix. On the way in we saw Camelback Ranch, spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. We then checked into our downtown hotel and camped out there for a while talking to Danny, who was in Germany, about some big life decisions. Once we finished talking, we made our way downstairs and walked to Pizza Bianco, yet another Ballpark Chasers recommended attraction.
Pizza Bianco is known for having some of the best pizza in the entire country, and it certainly didn’t dissapoint. We ate so much! We got to know the owners, and the place was really enjoyable. Now stuffed with pizza, it was time to walk to the game, and as we walked, it became clear that this Arizona heat is no joke. It was absolutely blistering outside, and this wasn’t even a long walk. Never had I been more excited to walk into a domed stadium than now. Just outside the ballpark, there were activities set up for fans and even phone charging stations, but more importantly, there was water being sprayed to cool people off and popsicles! After taking in everything there was to see outside, we entered Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Adrian and I went out to left field for batting practice but didn’t catch anything, so we moved on to the team store to get my passport stamp, mini-bat and a Chase Field t-shirt that I liked. Next was seeing one of the most unique features any MLB stadium has to offer: the swimming pool out in right center field. That’s right, a pool in a baseball stadium! While out there, we tried to watch the team introductions, but a worker in center field was super rude and didn’t even let us stop in his section to listen, so we just kept going on up to our section. In the upper deck I actually joined the Diamondbacks Kids Club and got a free poster. We also got to see the stadium organ player play live!
Once we were in our seats, the Diamondbacks were up 1-0, but that didn’t last long at all. The Kansas City Royals showed up and blitzed the D-Backs. Salvador Perez and Billy Butler both hit three-run homers to put the Royals up. Kansas City then loaded the bases and up came Outfielder Norichika Aoki. Aoki had zero home runs on the season, and it was already August. Despite this, Adrian says, “he’s going to hit a grand slam.” Seconds later, on the first pitch, Aoki hits a grand slam for his first home run of the year! Unbelievable!
Because the Royals were clobbering the D-Backs, and because Arizona was in last place, Chase Field was completely dead. The stadium was empty, and those who were here were silent. In this humongous, closed dome, it created a pretty eerie atmosphere. The one benefit of this blowout and small crowd was Adrian and I went to much closer seats late in the game and had fun chanting “MVP” for Catcher Tuffy Gosewich.
The Royals wrapped up a 12-2 victory and we left Chase Field, marking the last stadium on this incredible West Coast road trip in which we visited six ballparks. The pool in the outfield is definitely original, and the stadium is fine, but there was nothing particularly outstanding about Chase Field. Miller Park in Milwaukee, also a dome, had much more character and personality. The score and situation obviously didn’t help, but all in all, Chase Field sits near the bottom on my list of stadiums thus far. Regardless, we still had fun, and I was sad that our West Coast trip had come to an end. What comes next?