Sports - The Enquirer - August 29, 1999

A BALLPARK COMPARISON - 2

• Denver - Baltimore •Arlington - Phoenix • Seattle - Atlanta


• SIGNATURE FEATURE

BIG AS TEXAS: Its grandness. The Ballpark shouts “Texas” (and never lets up even when paying homage to features of other great parks) with its exterior, double-decked right-field porch, a delightful plaza beyond center field and three-story Legends of the Game museum.

GO FOR A SWIM: Air conditioning. Baseball couldn't exist in Arizona without it. The 4,500-ton retractable roof “suntracks,” moving to keep the daytime sun on the field, but not on the grandstands. The sun can heat the stands to 140 degrees. The swimming pool beyond the right field wall is already classic.


• FOR THE FANS

PARTY TIME: Spacious concourses; fun strolling area beyond outfield includes gift shops, art gallery, air-conditioned pizza shop and a monument to Nolan Ryan; steeply sloped grassy area serves as batter's eye backdrop where people sometimes picnic before the game and youngsters spontaneously pile in pursuit of home-run balls.

SHORT LINES: Massive BOB is as clean and friendly a ballpark as there is, with many good seats. The concession lines are short and the food variety decent. The advertising — more than 60 signs — seems overwhelming, and then there's the give-me-a-break $8 beers..


• NON-BASEBALL ACTIVITIES

A DINER'S DELIGHT: A restaurant for everybody: from Friday's Front Row (looks out upon the field from the rear of the second-deck of the right-field porch), and Casey's Corner (season ticket-holders), to Diamond Club (upscale dining) and a trendy action-spot on a balcony next door. (glitterati galore).

FREE MUSEUM: Never a dull moment. The Cox Clubhouse kids' play area is always busy. A free baseball museum in center field features a clubhouse replica and good displays of items on loan from Cooperstown. And the Friday's Front Row restaurant in left field jumps.


• COMMUNITY IMPACT

ROOM TO DEVELOP: It would be an exaggeration to say The Ballpark has transformed Arlington — the stadium is located in the middle of 270 largely undeveloped acres owned by the ball club — but it has put the city on the map. Plans now are unfolding to develop the nearby land.

ENTERTAINMENT: Baseball just might mean more to Phoenix than many other cities because without it, there's just not much to do in the summer but sit at home and sweat. BOB and the nearby America West Arena (for basketball and hockey) are pulling development to their side of town.


• FINANCIAL IMPACT ON FRANCHISE

CASH COW: They don't have mere “revenue streams” here, they have Texas-sized gully washers. The Ballpark is a cash cow. An example: For every dollar Friday's generates, the Rangers get 75 cents of it. And Friday's hasn't complained a bit. Now that's money.

FINDING ITS LEGS: A new franchise plus new ballpark means many opportunities for revenue were built into BOB. But in their second season, the Diamondbacks saw season ticket sales drop by 6,000 as many fans learned that 81 games a year is an awful lot. The 69 suites and 4,400 club seats haven't sold out.


• REDS SHOULD COPY

STANDING ROOM: The outfield wall, which has all sorts of nooks and crannies (not in a contrived way, but out of necessity for the right-field porch); the back wall of the left-field bleachers is a terrific place to stand and watch the game and the museum's interactive learning center makes 30,000 square feet come alive.

REPRESENTING HISTORY: The Diamondbacks did a great job building baseball history into the ballpark, with a must-see museum, display cases around the stadium and a ring of signs high in the main concourse telling the story of the game. Also worth copying: efficient concessions and enjoyable $1 seats.

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