Scottsdale Stadium

Even before this ballpark was refurbished in time for the World Baseball Classic in 2006, this was one of the nicest Spring Training parks anywhere.  Its exterior is beautiful, as its Southwestern color scheme and architecture fit in perfectly with the historic downtown section of posh Scottsdale.  The landscaping all around -- and in -- the park is absolutely perfect.

The spring tenant here is San Francisco's Giants -- and a lot of Northern Californians flock here to watch their favorite team.  I haven't seen statistics on it, but I bet the number of Giants faithful is second only to the Cubs in Arizona in March (all right, all right -- if you exclude the hometown Diamondbacks!).

This lovely facility was built in 1992, and it immediately lured Phoenix' local AAA minor-league team to Scottsdale.  And this is where the Phoenix Firebirds stayed until they had to leave town in 1998 (to Fresno) when the expansion Diamondbacks started playing just a few zip codes away. Today, in addition to the Giants in the spring, the Arizona Fall League plays here in October.

The view from the stands is nice, especially if you're not sitting down by the field.  Several rocky hills can be seen . . . and way in the distance are the snow-capped mountains called Four Peaks.

And the view of the field from the berm seating on the lawn in both left and right is just fine, thank you.  Here sun-loving fans -- or fans who weren't lucky enough to get a "real" seat -- can enjoy the games and catch a home-run ball. Some can even find shade under the trees that surround the outfield.  

Because Scottsdale and Mesa are so close to each other -- and because both cities really draw a huge number of residents from their teams' home regions -- comparisons of the parks in each city are inevitable.  HoHoKam Park in Mesa is certainly larger, but Scottsdale Stadium is more aesthetically pleasing.  Both are fairly new.  Now that Scottsdale has a new scoreboard, it's nicer, and the food selection in Scottsdale is better, too.  Both parks have overhangs above much of the seating bowl, but HoHoKam's roof has a unique (and attractive) trellised design.  By far, there is much more to do within walking distance of Scottsdale Stadium -- and you should be prepared to do a lot of walking (or else arrive for the games very early) since parking by Scottsdale's field is definitely insufficient.  

In case you couldn't tell, I like Scottsdale's ballpark better than Mesa's!  

Return to The Parks of Arizona page