Chase Field

For the former military base, see Naval Air Station

Chase Field.
Chase Field is a stadium located in downtown Phoenix,
Arizona and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of
Major League Baseball. It opened in 1998, in time for the
Diamondbacks rst game as an expansion team. Chase
Field was the rst stadium built in the United States with
a retractable roof over a natural-grass playing surface.
[7]
1 History
The park was built during a wave of new, baseball-only
parks in the 1980s and 1990s. Although nearly all of
these parks were open-air, it was taken for granted that
a domed stadium was a must for a major-league team to
be a viable venture in the Phoenix area. Phoenix is by far
the hottest major city in North America; the average high
temperature during baseballs regular season is 99.1 F
(37.3 C), and game-time temperatures well above 100
F (38 C) are very common during the summer.
1.1 Stadium funding furor
In the spring of 1994, the Maricopa County Board of Su-
pervisors 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 fac-
ing huge budget decits and lack of funding for other ser-
vices. 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 actu-
ally prohibited by a 1989 referendum). The issue was so
controversial and divisive that in August 1997, Maricopa
County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot and in-
jured while leaving a county board meeting by Larry Na-
man, a homeless man, who attempted to argue in court
that her support for the tax justied his attack. In May
1998, Naman was found guilty of attempted rst-degree
murder.
[8]
Costs for the stadium were originally estimated at $279
million in 1995,
[9]
but cost overruns (in part because of
rising prices for steel and other materials) pushed the -
nal price to $364 million.
[10]
As part of the original sta-
dium deal, the Diamondbacks were responsible for all
construction costs above $253 million. These extra ex-
penses, combined with the Diamondbacks and their fel-
low expansion franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, not
being allowed to share in the national MLB revenue for
their rst ve years of operations, left the Diamondbacks
in a less-than-desirable nancial situation, which would
come back to haunt team founder and managing partner
Jerry Colangelo and his group later on.
1.2 1998present
Construction on the park began in 1996, and was n-
ished just before the Diamondbacks rst season began, in
1998. It was the third MLB stadium to have a retractable
roof and the rst in the United States (at the time, only
Torontos SkyDome, now Rogers Centre and Montreals
Olympic Stadium had them; others are now at Minute
Maid Park in Houston, Miller Park in Milwaukee, Safeco
Field in Seattle and Marlins Park in Miami). It was also
the rst ballpark to feature natural grass in a retractable
roof stadium.
The stadium 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
home games, winning the world championship in seven
games, and thus denying the Yankees a fourth consecu-
tive championship. It was the rst time since 1991 that
the home team won all home games of a World Series.
The only other incident was 1987, both by the Minnesota
Twins.
Chase Field was originally named Bank One Ballpark af-
ter Bank One of Chicago, Illinois, giving rise to its nick-
name BOB. After Bank One merged with New York-
based JPMorgan Chase & Co., the name change was an-
nounced on September 23, 2005.
In March 2006, Chase Field played host to three rst-
round games of the World Baseball Classic.
On July 12, 2011, Chase Field was the home to the 2011
All-Star Game.
[7]
Chase Field also has a swimming pool sponsored by
Dodge, located in right-center eld, which is rented to
patrons as a suite holding 35 guests for $3,500 per game
during the 2011 season. Mark Grace was the rst player
to splash a home run into the pool.
[11]
On September
19, 2013, after clinching the NL West, several members
of the Los Angeles Dodgers climbed over the outeld wall
and jumped into the pool after being asked by the Dia-
mondbacks to not celebrate on the eld after the game.
1
2 3 ROOF AND COOLING SYSTEM
The pool at Chase Field as it appeared when it was sponsored by
Ride Now Power Sports, current sponsoring is by Dodge.
In addition to baseball, the pool has been used by Monster
Jams Jim Koehler to continue his tradition of swimming
after Freestyle.
[12]
The ballpark also features a dirt strip
between home plate and the pitchers mound, one of only
two current ballparks to do so (Comerica Park in Detroit
is the other). This dirt strip, sometimes known as the
keyhole, was very common in old-time ballparks.
The parks 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. The parks suites are tucked far
under the third deck, which keeps the upper deck closer
to the action, with the exception of their Dugout Suites
which sit next to the home and visitors dugouts.
Before the 2008 season began, a brand new High Def-
inition scoreboard was installed beyond center eld, re-
placing the original. The new scoreboard is 46 ft (14 m).
high and 136 ft (41 m). wide and it cost $14 million. It
is the fth largest HD screen in Major League Baseball
behind Kauman Stadium. The screen at Kauman is
larger by overall area and is square in shape but Chase
Fields screen is larger by length and is rectangular.
[13][14]
The stadium contains 4,400 club seats and 74 suites.
The Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals game on
April 3, 2013 lasted 16 innings. It was the longest game
in Chase Fields 15-year history.
[15]
2 Other events
The organizers of the Insight.com Bowl elected to move
their game from Arizona Stadium in Tucson to Phoenix
beginning in 2000, and Chase Field became the games
host. In 2006, the bowl game moved to Sun Devil
Stadium, to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which moved to
University of Phoenix Stadiumin Glendale, Arizona. The
football conguration was notable because of the lack of
nets behind the goalposts and the dugout behind the south
end zone. The nal Insight Bowl played at Chase was be-
tween the hometown Arizona State Sun Devils and the
Chase Field as viewed from the north
Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
The stadium also hosts occasional concerts and interna-
tional soccer games. For football and soccer, the eld is
set up with the end lines perpendicular to the third-base
line and temporary bleachers added on the east side.
Chase Field has staged nine womens college basketball
games. The second game, which was played on Decem-
ber 18, 2006, was shortened by rain with four minutes and
18 seconds remaining and Arizona State leading Texas
Tech 6145. Venue sta closed the roof in an eort to
nish the game, but ocials deemed the court unsafe.
In 2000, ASU played Tennessee Volunteers at the same
facility.
[16]
Chase Field was also the site of the Challenge at Chase,
a college baseball game between Arizona State and
University of Arizona. Arizona won both contests.
[17]
There has been no game scheduled there since 2008 .
[17]
In February 2006, the Professional Bull Riders hosted a
Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event at this venue.
Chris Shivers won this event with a total score of 181.5
points (out of a possible 200) on two bulls, including
an impressive 93.75 (out of 100) points on Taylor Made
bucking bull, Smokeless Wardance, in the short-go round.
During the long-go round, the roof was closed, but during
the short-go, the roof was opened.
Monster Jam comes to Chase Field every year in late Jan-
uary about two weeks after AMA Supercross.
3 Roof and cooling system
Chase Fields 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 parks design allows just enough sunlight to
play in true daylight without overheating the stadium.
The roof, which takes just four and a half minutes to open
or close at a cost of $2-$3, is closed three hours before
game time using two 200-horsepower motors triggered
3
from a control room in the upper deck above left-center
eld.
[7]
Amassive HVACsystemthen drops the tempera-
ture inside the park 30 degrees by the time the gates open.
The cooling system, which has the power equivalent of
cooling 2,500 homes of 2,000 square feet, uses cooled
water and is part of the same systemthat serves more than
30 buildings in downtown Phoenix.
[7]
The cooling plant is
located in a separate building right outside the ballpark.
[7]
Originally, the HVAC system didn't work above row 25
of the upper level, exposing fans in the higher rows to the
full force of the often-oppressive heat typical of Arizona
summers. Recent changes keep virtually all of the facility
in air-conditioned comfort.
4 Transportation
Chase Field is served by Westbound METRO Rails
Washington at 3rd Street station and Eastbound METRO
Rails Jeerson at 3rd Street station.
5 References
[1] D. Baxter the Bobcat. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
[2] MLB-Stadiums.com: Chase Field. Retrieved 14 April
2014.
[3] Red Sox 4 Diamondbacks 3
[4] Chase Field ESPN.com
[5] Consumer Price Index (estimate) 18002014. Federal
Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27,
2014.
[6] Ellerbe Becket - Chase Field
[7] Dodd, Mike (July 12, 2011). Diamondbacks are experts
at keeping heat at bay. USA Today. Retrieved July 21,
2014.
[8] ASU.edu
[9] Ballpark-Brick Sale to Oset Costs Bizjournals.com
[10] D-Backs Expect Skyrocketing Results From BOB
Bizjounrals.com
[11] Lowry, Philip (2006). Green Cathedrals. Walker &Com-
pany. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-8027-1608-8.
[12] MonsterJam Results January 29, 2011
[13] Craven, Scott (April 3, 2008). Chase Field Oers D-
Backs Fans A High-Def Welcome Back. The Arizona
Republic. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
[14] Arizona Diamondbacks getting ginormous HD-X display
from Daktronics
[15] Pennington lifts D'backs over Cards in 16 innings
[16] Garcia, Jos E. (December 19, 2006). Sun Devils Brave
Elements to Win. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved De-
cember 20, 2006.
[17] Baseball :: The Arizona State University Sun Devils Of-
cial Athletic Site
6 External links
Stadium site on dbacks.com
Ocial Site
Stadium picture
Chase Field Page at S&E News
Chase Field Seating Chart
4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
7.1 Text
Chase Field Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_Field?oldid=626689647 Contributors: Zoe, AntonioMartin, Minesweeper, King-
turtle, WhisperToMe, Timc, RadicalBender, Dale Arnett, Postdlf, Davodd, HangingCurve, Raekwon, MistToys, PacknCanes, DMG413,
D6, Steven Andrew Miller, Bender235, Mwanner, Lyght, AKGhetto, Sampo Torgo, J.reed, Zellin, Tra, Stephen G. Brown, Ricky81682,
Gavindow, Woohookitty, JeremyA, Zzyzx11, Rjwilmsi, BobbyAFC, Lockley, BlueMoonlet, Wahkeenah, Vegaswikian, Notorious4life,
SNIyer12, Win777, WillC, NoseNuggets, Uvaduck, Gwernol, YurikBot, TexasAndroid, Matt Bross, Osomec, Mike Schiraldi, Gate-
man1997, IanManka, Shell Kinney, Mbr7975, RattleMan, ONEder Boy, Howcheng, YF12s, Irishguy, Patmaher, SFGiants, SmackBot,
Wlindley, AmericaSings, Yamaguchi, UnqstnableTruth, Choalbaton, Cs-wolves, Bluebot, Djln, Msr69er, Jackalsclaw, Konczewski,
New World Man, Meepster, VegaDark, Mistamagic28, BrandonPhilipczyk, Wizardman, Silent Wind of Doom, SportingFlyer, Jcem-
bree, Iglew, Spell4yr, Catapult, Joshua Scott, Ohiolandshark, BigT2006, JohnnyBGood, Hu12, Soxrock, Levineps, JaMikePA, Bfoaz,
J3wishVulcan, JBZA2003, CmdrObot, Esahr, Cydebot, Desmond Hobson, Fluxbot, Kidbrother, Farmer Mitch, ZSox5, Dr who1975,
MJHankel, Presidentluis, Doctat3, Tom Danson, Y2kcrazyjoker4, Huphelmeyer, Bongwarrior, Skew-t, The Anomebot2, Wayman975,
MartinBot, WeaselADAPT, N64ra, Richiekim, StuartBrewer, HoldenV8, Mdumas43073, Mrceleb2007, Ichirotoaoki, Tascha96, White
720, Andrewcmcardle, GrahamHardy, Funandtrvl, Shortride, Tjmather, Je G., Metsfan84, Balls19840, BuickCenturyDriver, MrTravis,
Una Smith, Broadbot, Noformation, GoPurpleNGold24, Sonicology, Homeslice83, The Evil Spartan, UCinternational, Seedbot, Kane-
sue, ClueBot, EoGuy, Desertskies, TBustah, Bjrbbhaw81, Gwguey, Topgun530, NintendoFan, DumZiBoT, Avoided, Kalel2007, Kb-
dankbot, Addbot, Cygnusloop99, LaaknorBot, Milks Favorite Bot, Lightbot, Besto, Marc87, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Contursi, Ptbotgourou,
Dancru1, AnomieBOT, Materialscientist, RevelationDirect, ArthurBot, MR.Texan281, Thehelpfulbot, Haldraper, Chartomarco, Full-date
unlinking bot, Radio2301, Drewzer00, , RideNow Powersports, Charlesaaronthompson, Timfredricksen, Hottentotspur, Andat-
taca2010, Sahimrobot, SD2222, BornonJune8, KarlsenBot, Missoulian, Rezabot, Delaywaves, Oddbodz, Luisovaldez, BG19bot, Rycnorris,
Sendu1984, Roberto221, Glacialfox, Pepe rasputin16, Aisteco, ZappaOMati, Khazar2, Stem17, Ccbbws1999, Magnolia677, Baseball-
Sport, Philliesfan136, TorontoGuy79, Oriole85 and Anonymous: 155
7.2 Images
File:Chase_Field_-_2011-07-11_-_Exterior_North_East_(1).jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/
Chase_Field_-_2011-07-11_-_Exterior_North_East_%281%29.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist:
Cygnusloop99
File:Chase_Field_-_2011-07-11_-_Interior_North_Upper.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/
Chase_Field_-_2011-07-11_-_Interior_North_Upper.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Cygnusloop99
File:Chase_Field_logo.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Chase_Field_logo.jpg License: Fair use Contributors:
Chase Field Original artist: ?
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artist: ?
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Own work Original artist: Ecurb
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