Chase Field
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| Chase Field | |
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| The BOB, The Snake Pit | |
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| Location | 401 East Jefferson Street Phoenix, Arizona 85001 |
| Coordinates | |
| Broke ground | November 16, 1995 |
| Opened | March 31, 1998 |
| Owner | Maricopa County, Arizona |
| Surface | Bull's Eye Bermuda[2] |
| Construction cost | $354 million |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket |
| Former names | Bank One Ballpark (1998-2005) |
| Tenants | Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB) (1998-present) Insight Bowl (2000-2005) |
| Capacity | 49,033 (1998) |
| Field dimensions | Left Field - 330 ft / 101 m Left-Center - 374 ft / 114 m Left-Center (deep) - 413 ft / 126 m Center Field - 407 ft / 124 m Right-Center (deep) - 413 ft / 126 m Right-Center - 374 ft / 114 m Right Field - 334 ft / 102 m |
Chase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League. It opened in 1998 just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game after coming to Arizona as an expansion team.
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[edit] History
Construction on the park began in 1996, and was finished just before the Diamondbacks' first season began, in 1998. It was only the second MLB stadium at the time to have a retractable roof (after Toronto's SkyDome, now Rogers Centre; others are now in Houston, Milwaukee, and Seattle). It was also the first ballpark to feature natural grass in a retractable roof stadium.
It hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the 2001 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees. The Diamondbacks won all four games at Chase Field, then known as Bank One Ballpark, and won the world championship that year in dramatic fashion.
George W. Bush used the stadium for a post-debate supporters rally in October 2004, during the Presidential Election.
Chase Field was originally named Bank One Ballpark after Bank One of Chicago, giving rise to its nickname ("The BOB"). After Bank One merged with New York-based Chase, the name change was announced on September 23, 2005.
In March 2006, Chase Field played host to three first-round games of the World Baseball Classic.
[edit] Stadium funding furor
In the spring of 1994, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a quarter-cent increase in the county sales tax to pay for their portion of the stadium funding. This came about at a time that the county itself was facing huge budget deficits and lack of funding for other services. The sales tax being levied was very unpopular with local citizens, who were not allowed to vote on the issue of funding a baseball stadium with general sales tax revenue (usage of public subsidies for stadium projects was actually prohibited by a 1989 referendum). The issue was so controversial and divisive that in August of 1997, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot and injured while leaving a county board meeting by Larry Naman, a homeless man, who attempted to argue in court that her support for the tax justified his attack. In May of 1998, Naman was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.[1]
Costs for the stadium were originally estimated at $279 million in 1995 [3], but cost overruns (in part because of rising prices for steel and other materials) pushed the final price to $364 million [4]. As part of the original stadium deal, the Diamondbacks were responsible for all construction costs above $253 million. These extra expenses, combined with the Diamondbacks and their fellow expansion franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, not being allowed to share in the national MLB revenue for their first five years of operations, left the D-backs in a less-than-desirable financial situation, which would come back to haunt team founder and managing partner Jerry Colangelo and his group later on.
[edit] Features
Chase Field's roof is opened or closed depending on the game-time temperature. When the decision is made to close the roof, it is left open for as long as possible before game time in order to keep the grass alive. Even when closed, the park's design allows just enough sunlight to play in true daylight without overheating the stadium.
The roof is closed three hours before game time, and a massive HVAC system drops the temperature inside the park 30 degrees by the time the gates open. Chase Field also has a swimming pool, located in right center field, which is rented to patrons for $6,500 a game. The ballpark also features a dirt strip between home plate and the pitcher's mound, one of only two current ballparks to do so (Comerica Park in Detroit is the other). This dirt strip was very common in old-time ballparks.
The park's foul territory is somewhat larger than is the case for most ballparks built in the 1990s. With 80% of the seats in foul territory, the upper deck is one of the highest in the majors. However, the park's luxury boxes are tucked far under the third deck, which keeps the upper deck closer to the action.
New in the 2008 season is a brand new High Definition scoreboard in centerfield. The new scoreboard is 46 ft. high and 136 ft. wide and it cost $14 million. It's the biggest HD screen in Major League Baseball.[2]
[edit] Other Events
The stadium was once the home of the Insight Bowl, a college football bowl game from 2001-2005. In 2006, the bowl game moved to Sun Devil Stadium, to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which moved to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The football configuration was notable because of the lack of nets behind the goalposts and the dugout behind the south end zone. The final Insight Bowl played at Chase was between the hometown Arizona State Sun Devils and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
The stadium also hosts occasional concerts and international soccer games. For football and soccer, the field is set up with the end lines perpendicular to the third-base line and temporary bleachers added on the east side.
Chase Field has also staged nine women's college basketball games. The second game, which was played on December 18, 2006, was shortened by rain with four minutes and 18 seconds remaining and Arizona State leading Texas Tech 61-45. Venue staff closed the roof in an effort to finish the game, but officials deemed the court unsafe. In 2000, ASU had played Tennessee at the same facility.[3]
Chase Field was also the site of the "Challenge at Chase", a college baseball game between Arizona State and Arizona. Arizona won both contests.[4] There is no game scheduled in 2008.[5]
In February 2006, the PBR hosted a Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event at this venue.
In March 2006 Chase Field was a host stadium in the first round of the World Baseball Classic.
Monster Jam comes to the field every year.
[edit] Transportation
Chase Field will be served by METRO Rail's Washington at 3rd Street station when service commences on 26 December 2008.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ballpark Digest visit to Chase Field
- Chase Field section of Diamondbacks' website
- Chase Field Page at S&E News
| Preceded by None |
Home of the Arizona Diamondbacks 1998 – present |
Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by Arizona Stadium |
Home of the Insight Bowl 2001 – 2005 |
Succeeded by Sun Devil Stadium |
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