Sunday, February 9, 2014

Ballparks in the Valley

Yesterday I mentioned the two ballparks (Phoenix Municipal Stadium and Maryvale Baseball Park) that we won't be visiting, but I didn't mention the ones we will be seeing. We'll start off with Peoria Stadium, the home of the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres. This is one of the older parks, but the ads for the games are talking about "the newly remodeled and upgraded" park. We will see.

Next on the list is the Goodyear Ballpark, home to the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds. We'll watch a game with the Indians. This park is in Goodyear, Arizona and is a new one to us. Next we'll go to Camelback Ranch Park in Glendale, home to the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. We'll be there for a game with the Dodgers.

Our fourth game will be at Scottsdale Stadium playing the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are the only team based at this ballpark. The fifth game is at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies share this facility, although during the regular season, the Diamondbacks actually play at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

On March 16, we're going to a game at Tempe Diablo Stadium against the Los Angeles Angels. This is another ballpark we have not yet been at. The Angels are the sole team based in Tempe. Our seventh game will be at HoHoKam Park, also known as Cubs Park, in Mesa. The Chicago Cubs call this field their home base.

On the 22nd, we'll be back at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick to play the Colorado Rockies. This is a gorgeous park that we've been at a couple of times. The last game we have tickets for is on the 26th at Surprise Stadium where the Mariners will play the Texas Rangers. The Surprise ballpark is shared by the Rangers with the Kansas City Royals.

Arizona communities have heavily invested in their "home" ballparks. No longer are they just a grassy field where spectators casually sit on the grass to watch the game. The communities are very competitive with each other and these ballparks and the practice fields and facilities around them are first-class.

Today was another absolutely gorgeous day. The temperature got up to 74 degrees with just an occasional light breeze. We watched the PBR's 15-15 (15 top-ranked bulls again the 15 top-ranked riders) this morning, spent some time outside this afternoon enjoying the sunshine, then watched the regular Professional Bull Riders from Anaheim this evening before we finished up with the Olympics. The day seemed even nicer when we looked at all the pictures of the snowy Northwest on Facebook!

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