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Bank One Ballpark / Chase Field
Bank One Ballpark is a fan-friendly ballpark with modern amenities, a signature swimming pool, Peter Piper Playhouse, Baxter's Den, and a retractable roof that set the standard for all future ballparks. The ballpark covers approximately 1,300,000 square feet, has more than 80% of its seats inside the foul poles, and rests approximately 1,100 feet above sea level making it the second highest facility (Coors Field in Denver, Colorado is higher) in the Major Leagues. In September 2005 the Arizona Diamondbacks changed the name of the park to Chase Field.
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"The layout of the field includes a unique, visible feature that takes baseball fans at Bank One Ballpark back in time almost 100 years. There is a dirt path between the pitchers mound and home plate, reminiscent of the paths seen in very early pictures of the game. In a way, that path is symbolic of the Bank One Ballpark experience: The best of baseball history displayed in a setting that features all the modern conveniences." - Major League Baseball (2003)
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| Data |
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First Game
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03-31-1998
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Last Game
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Current / Active
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| Data |
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Capacity Changes
(Yearly Attendance)
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1998
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23,607 [Lower Deck]
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22,130 [Upper Deck]
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4,370 [Club]
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550 [Picnic Area]
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280 [Party Suites]
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35 [Pool]
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| Data |
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Left Field
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1998
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330'
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Power Alleys
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1998
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374'
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Center Field
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1998
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407'
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Outfield (deep)
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1998
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413'
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Right Field
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1998
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334'
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| Data |
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Field Surfaces
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1998
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Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass
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1999
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Bull's Eye Bermuda
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2000
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Bull's Eye Bermuda
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Kentucky Blue Grass
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Perennial Rye Grass
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Bank One Ballpark
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The architect who designed Bank One Ballpark was Ellerbe Becket while Huber, Hunt & Nichols provided construction and coordination. The project broke ground on November 16, 1995, took twenty-eight months of work, and cost $354 million to build.
On March 20, 1998, Jerry Colangelo, and officials from the county, broke bottles of sparkling water over the rails in the rotunda for a dedication ceremony. Nine days later (March 29, 1998) the final exhibition game of the season was played inside Bank One Ballpark for a first-ever test run — 49,198 fans witnessed the Chicago White Sox defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0. Two days later (March 31, 1998) the Arizona Diamondbacks played their first ever regular season game in franchise history, their first Opening Day game, their first official Bank One Ballpark game, and lost 9-2 versus the Colorado Rockies. 50,179 witnessed these historical events which included a Travis Lee show that included the first Diamondbacks hit (a single in the first inning), home run, run scored, and RBI.
The cooling system, which is located in a large cooling tower on the south side of the ballpark, is an 8,000-ton unit that could cool more than 2,500 typical Arizona homes. The massive unit pushes 1.2 million cubic feet of air every minute across cooling coils that contain 48° water, which is designed to bring the temperature inside Bank One Ballpark down by 30° in three hours. |
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