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Chase Field
The BOB
File:Chase Field.svg
ChaseFieldInsideOcto2006
Location 401 East Jefferson Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Coordinates Template:Coord
Broke ground November 16, 1995
Opened March 31, 1998
Owner Maricopa County, Arizona
Surface Bull's Eye Bermuda[1]
Construction cost $354 million
Architect Ellerbe Becket
Main Contractors Schuff Steel Company
Former names Bank One Ballpark (1998–2005)
Tenants
Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB) (1998–present)
Insight Bowl (NCAA) (2000–2005)
Capacity
49,033
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 (formerly Bank One Ballpark) is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in 1998, just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game as an expansion team. Chase Field was also the first stadium built in the United States with a retractable roof.

History[]

Stadium Funding Furor[]

Template:POV-section 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 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 1998, Naman was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.[2]

The Arizona DiamondBacks have a license to the stadium that lasts for a period of 30 years which after the 30 years has ended they can further extend use of the stadium for the baseball team at their desire.[3]

Costs for the stadium were originally estimated at $279 million in 1995,[4] but cost overruns (in part because of rising prices for steel and other materials) pushed the final price to $364 million.[5] 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 Diamondbacks 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.

1998-present[]

Construction on the park began in 1996, and was finished just before the Diamondbacks' first season began, in 1998. It was the third MLB stadium to have a retractable roof and the first in the United States (at the time, only Toronto's SkyDome, now Rogers Centre and Montreal's Olympic Stadium had them; others are now at Minute Maid Park, Houston, Miller Park, Milwaukee and Safeco Field, Seattle). It was also the first 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 4th consecutive Championship. It was the first time since 1991 that the home team won all seven games of a World Series.

Chase Field was originally named Bank One Ballpark after Bank One of Chicago, Illinois, giving rise to its nickname "The BOB". After Bank One merged with New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co., 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.

Chase Field is to be the home to the 2011 All-Star Game.[6]

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. 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.

File:DBacks3.jpg

RideNow Powersports Pool at Chase Field

Chase Field also has a swimming pool sponsored by RideNow Powersports, located in right-center field, which is rented to patrons as a suite holding 42 guests for just $5,500 per 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, sometimes known as the "keyhole", 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. The park's 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 literally next to the home and visitor's dugouts.

Before the 2008 season began, a brand new High Definition scoreboard was installed beyond center field, replacing the original. The new scoreboard is Template:Convert/LoffAonDbSoffTemplate:Convert/track/abbr/onTemplate:Convert/track/disp/Template:Convert/track/adj/. high and Template:Convert/LoffAonDbSoffTemplate:Convert/track/abbr/onTemplate:Convert/track/disp/Template:Convert/track/adj/. wide and it cost $14 million. It is the 2nd largest HD screen in Major League Baseball behind Kauffman Stadium. The screen at Kauffman is larger by overall area and is square in shape but Chase Field's screen is larger by length and is rectangular.[7]

The stadium contains 4,400 club seats and 74 suites.

Other events[]

File:Chasefield-openroof.jpg

Chase Field with the roof open.

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, Arizona. 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 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 played Tennessee Volunteers at the same facility.[8]

Chase Field was also the site of the "Challenge at Chase", a college baseball game between Arizona State and Arizona Wildcats. Arizona won both contests.[9] There was no game scheduled in 2008 or 2009.[10]

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 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 January about 2 weeks after AMA Supercross.

Transportation[]

Chase Field is served by METRO Rail's Washington at 3rd Street station.

References[]

External links[]

Template:S-sta
Preceded by:
None
Home of the
Arizona Diamondbacks

1998 – present
Succeeded by:
Current
Preceded by:
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Host of the
Major League Baseball All-Star Game

2011
Succeeded by:
Kauffman Stadium

Template:Arizona Diamondbacks

Current ballparks in Major League Baseball
National League American League
American Family Field | Busch Stadium | Chase Field | Citi Field | Citizens Bank Park | Coors Field | Dodger Stadium | Great American Ball Park | Loan Depot Park | Nationals Park | Oracle Park | PETCO Park | PNC Park | Truist Park | Wrigley Field Angel Stadium | Comerica Park | Fenway Park | Globe Life Field | Guaranteed Rate Field | Kauffman Stadium | Minute Maid Park | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | Progressive Field | RingCentral Coliseum | Rogers Centre | T-Mobile Park | Target Field | Tropicana Field | Yankee Stadium

Template:2006 World Baseball Classic Stadiums

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