Stadium Tours - Chase Field

This is the first of many in our ongoing series of Stadium Tours.

In June of 2016, I relocated to outside of Phoenix, AZ after spending almost a decade living in and around the Chicago area.  It was a difficult decision to relocate, but ultimately it has been worth it.  One of the first things I did after relocating was take a tour of Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, AZ.

About Chase Field

On March 9, 1995, the state of Arizona was awarded an expansion franchise and that franchise became known as the Arizona Diamondbacks.  They were assigned to the National League in 1997 in order to begin play in 1998.

Construction on what was known at the time as Bank One Ballpark began in 1996 and opened for business for the 1998 season. The Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion franchise to win a championship by doing so in 2001 and in 2005 Bank One Ballpark was renamed Chase Field as a result of the buyout of Bank One by Chase.

Bob The Tour Guide

Our tour guide was Bob.  Bob is a retired Phoenix Police Officer who now in his free time conducts tours of Chase Field.

Bob (Red Shirt) - The Tour Guide

The first story he told the group was when the Diamondbacks upset the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series, he was riding on a police horse just outside the field of play.  He rode out onto the field after Luis Gonzalez hit the walk off hit off of the legendary Mariano Rivera in Game 7.

Luis Gonzalez now does local car commercials out here now, so he's cashing in on his legendary status in this state.  For the record, he had his best season of his career that year.

Onto the tour...

We met in the Rotunda on the 4th street side of the stadium.  Bob explained to us that when the team was named, they were not just Phoenix's team, but they were all of Arizona's team.   So that's why they were named the Arizona Diamondbacks and not the Phoenix Diamondbacks.  On the ground there is a list of every city in Arizona around a circle to commemorate all of the cities of Arizona:

The Rotunda (Yes, I live in Chandler)

Bob walked us through the outdoor concourse on that 100+ degree sweltering Phoenix summer.  It was pointed out to us that Chase Field was the first retractable roof stadium with natural grass and third overall (Rogers Centre in Toronto and Olympic Stadium in Montreal).  With how hot and dry it is in Phoenix, it's pretty incredible that they are able to take as good of care of the grass as they do.  If you look closely you can see lights that are used to keep the grass out of the shade at certain points during the day:

View From Center Field...With The Roof Open!

Before heading upstairs, we stopped by to take a look at the swimming pool in right-center field.  If you remember, the Dodgers once infamously celebrated a division title by the team climbing the fence and swimming in the pool.  The pool can be rented for every game, so be sure to get your deposit in early.

This did not go well with the D-Backs management....

Chase Field Pool

Onto the upstairs...

The next stop on the tour looked at a couple of different suite/party room options.  You'll have to contact the team for rates if you're interested in that kind of thing.

View From The Suites

Team Level

Of course, like most tours, we were not permitted to enter the home team locker room.  Instead, we got to take a peek at the visitor's locker room instead (see the Bob photo from above).  It was relatively spacious, but was pretty generic as expected for a visitor's locker room.

The closest we got to the D-Backs locker room...

The next stop was the press room where we got to see where the press asked questions of the Dbacks manager after the game.  Unfortunately, there was nobody there to take my question.

"No Comment?"

We finished in the Dbacks Dugout.

I look like a stooge...

Finishing on the field

So that about wraps it up for my feature, even though this only covered a portion of what the tour offers. I highly recommend when you're in the Phoenix area to take a tour of Chase Field. For more information, please visit their tours site for current pricing and the latest schedule.  The proceeds from the tour admission go to the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, so you can rest comfortably knowing your tour admission goes to charity.

Thanks for reading.  Please check back as we continue our Stadium Tour feature over time.  Please send me questions either through our contact form or contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

-D.J.


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