My feet are dragging and it is hard to put together a coherent sentence after Day 3. It seems like I have been on the go for literally the past thirteen or fourteen hours, but it has sure been an incredible tour. I saw two more games today in two different ballparks with four separate teams. It was another day for the record books and another where I am eager to let all of you know what happened.
As usual, I woke fairly early to quickly get on the road to my next ballpark, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. This brand-new facility, which is shared by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies, is the first professional sports venue to be built on Native American land in the United States. Located on the Maricopa-Pima Reservation, Salt River Fields is an absolute gem of a ballpark that breaks all the templates of the traditional Cactus League ballparks.
When I got to the facility, I immediately went and scouted out both the Rockies and Diamondbacks practices. Is spent about forty-five minutes with each team watching primarily batting practice. Unlike the facility at Papago, Salt River Fields is massive spanning fifteen total fields divided evenly between the two teams. They also include batting cages, half-fields for infield practice, isolated bullpens and bunting fields (who knew such a thing could exist?).
In front of each field and workout area, there is a small plaque that explains a little bit about the Pima and Maricopa culture and how it relates to the area where the ballpark sits. Everything from how adobe was the main building source to what exactly a "talking stick" is were explained on the little placards in front of the fields. This really made for an interesting touch to the facility and it was very fascinating to see how the Native culture influenced the design of the park. A very encouraging thing, on this vein, was that the majority of the persons employed at the facility were Native American in race. I could tell because on each of their name tags identified what tribe they belonged to. I found this embrace of culture very heartwarming and made my time there even more enjoyable.
The subtle shades of brown and tan were incorporated very well into the architecture of the facility. In between the fields and surrounding the main ballpark, natural elements were still worked into the design such as the meandering stream and the blossoming of native desert plant life allowed the facility to blend in well with the surrounding environment. You truly felt that this was an Arizona ballpark that belonged no where else but in Arizona.
Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is probably one of the best ballparks I have ever been to. The designers of the park made the stadium feel much bigger than it actually was, and you really got the sense as you walked in that this was a big-league facility. I really would not have a hard time imagining a regular Major League team playing there on a regular-basis just simply because of the atmosphere and ambiance that the park holds. Besides that, it really is a nice place to see a game. The addition of a semi-roof over the majority of the grandstand certainly helped keep the relentless Arizona sun off my already toasted neck and face. And the hi-def scoreboard in left-field was crystal clear in display. Because of these attributes, I would rank Salt River Fields in the ballpark neighborhood of Staten Island and Fresno. I really, really liked it.
The Diamondbacks jumped out to an early lead on visiting Kansas City before the Royals hung four runs in the top of the ninth to come back and beat the D-Backs 9-6.
I jumped back into the car and drove the forty miles to the next ballpark on my itinerary out in Goodyear. Goodyear Ballpark sits right on the edge of Luke Air Force Base about three miles south of the I-10 freeway. It is basically located in the middle-of-nowhere with no adjacent entertainment districts or park land. It is considerably smaller than Salt River Fields or Hohokam Park, but this created a very unique and charmly setting that always appeals to me. After seeing the expansive Salt River Fields mere hours before, the quaint and suitable Goodyear Ballpark suited me just fine.
While no real distinguishing feature stands out for me from my time at Goodyear, I was very pleased with how it seemed to accept the role it had in the broad scheme of things. What I mean is this: I am a spring training facility for two organizations, the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, that do not have as large a market as some of my competitors, so we don't need to be flashy or grandiose in our appearance. It just seemed to fly below the radar, in my opinion. This may fly completely over the heads of some of you, and, trust me, you have to see it in person to understand fully what I mean by that.
The San Francisco Giants used a strong offensive performance of three home runs to beat the Cleveland Indians by the score of 9-6.
Tomorrow will be my last full day here in Arizona. While I plan on going to Maryvale and seeing the Milwaukee Brewers facility and game, I will be going up, beforehand, to South Mountain Park to do a little hiking in a desert landscape. This is supposedly one of the best places in the country to experience nature in an urban environment, and I am very excited to have the opportunity to do this.
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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