Has anyone been to Chase and saw the new scoreboard yet?

[PHXSportsFan4]

Great pics Nash 2 Amare, the screen is truely amazing. I might be wrong but I think it's the biggest one in any sports venue in the US. The only other I could think of that might be close is "Godzillatron" at Texas's football stadium but the one at Chase is a few thousand square feet bigger.

 

[HooverDam]

When at the ballpark, its hard to take your eyes off of it. The new screen alone really adds an energy that was missing. A lot of the improvements over the last few years make it feel like the team no longer is playing in a big warehouse (although its not really the fault of the Diamondbacks, downtown Phoenix doesn't exactly have the nice vista to make a PNC Park like experience in the first place).

While Phoenix's skyline obviously isn't as dense as Pittsburgh's, there's things that could've been done to make the view better. If the stadium faced a bit more Northwest for example, you'd see more of Downtown Phoenix and also Midtown stretching North along Central. However, changing the designs orientation purely for aesthetic reasons wouldn't have been viable.

I think the biggest thing that could be done to make Chase Field better is improving the outfield panels. Get rid of the big, ugly ads, and those LAME baseball player 'art' pieces on the outside. Replaces them with large glass windows that can still open and close like they do currently. When the roof and panels are closed, it just feels do dead inside. If the panels were glass, even with the roof closed, the stadium would feel fairly open. Plus folks sitting along the 1st base line could see out to downtown Phoenix, and those along the 3rd base line could see out to the Phoenix Mountains (Camelback, Squaw Peak, et al).

I just wish there were more windows in general. Like along the top of the upper deck there are a few, but they don't go all the way around. I know to some degree having too many windows would've been a heat issue, but there could've been fairly simple solutions to that (see the Burton Barr library which has huge North and South windows that can also be shaded during hot times of day).

 

[Sports Photog]

A Video on the new Board/Opening Day/Great game...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLQDQoGzbUg

 

[Yotesfan85044]

I've posted a few video clips from opening night on Vimeo.com. A couple of them show the new video scoreboard.

Clip #1 New Scoreboard unveiling - http://www.vimeo.com/878756

Clip #2 Dbacks intro video - http://www.vimeo.com/879079

Clip #3 Player intros - http://www.vimeo.com/878893

I also have game photos posted at http://desertsky.smugmug.com/gallery/4681031_4hmJW#276759849

 

[AZZenny]

Great board and glad of the expanded player stats (no more "Career doubles against ambidextrous hispanic fastball pitchers at home in day games with the roof open.")

HOWEVER -- have you ever seen more unflattering pictures of any team in your life? First off, the photographer must be about four feet tall, because all the photos are up-the-nostrils shots. Half the guys were unshaven, and look grungy, and apparently the instructions were "cross your eyes and look tough." Orlando Hudson was the only guy who looked natural and smiling. I mean -- how can you make Conor Jackson unattractive!? That took real work.
Plus the fuzzy backdrops to the portraits are all really awkward shots, not like someone following through on a great hit, or making a great catch. They've always had bad team photos -- pseudo-artsy -- but when it's so huge and in high def, it's really unpleasant.

 

[BigShtank]

Great board and glad of the expanded player stats (no more "Career doubles against ambidextrous hispanic fastball pitchers at home in day games with the roof open.")

HOWEVER -- have you ever seen more unflattering pictures of any team in your life? First off, the photographer must be about four feet tall, because all the photos are up-the-nostrils shots. Half the guys were unshaven, and look grungy, and apparently the instructions were "cross your eyes and look tough." Orlando Hudson was the only guy who looked natural and smiling. I mean -- how can you make Conor Jackson unattractive!? That took real work.
Plus the fuzzy backdrops to the portraits are all really awkward shots, not like someone following through on a great hit, or making a great catch. They've always had bad team photos -- pseudo-artsy -- but when it's so huge and in high def, it's really unpleasant.

Noticed that too last night. The screen is awesome by the way. Utterly impressive.

Where can I pick one up for the house? Are they under 5 grand?

 

[Phxchris1989]

Great board and glad of the expanded player stats (no more "Career doubles against ambidextrous hispanic fastball pitchers at home in day games with the roof open.")

HOWEVER -- have you ever seen more unflattering pictures of any team in your life? First off, the photographer must be about four feet tall, because all the photos are up-the-nostrils shots. Half the guys were unshaven, and look grungy, and apparently the instructions were "cross your eyes and look tough." Orlando Hudson was the only guy who looked natural and smiling. I mean -- how can you make Conor Jackson unattractive!? That took real work.
Plus the fuzzy backdrops to the portraits are all really awkward shots, not like someone following through on a great hit, or making a great catch. They've always had bad team photos -- pseudo-artsy -- but when it's so huge and in high def, it's really unpleasant.

Some guy at the game said the Byrnes one looks like he just got done smoking pot before they took his picture.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[HooverDam]

Im watching the replay of the game right now, and WHY ARE THE PANELS CLOSED? Is there any freakin' rhyme or reason to this? Its great that they had the top open on a nice day, but why not open the panels and allow for views and a much more open feel and better game day experience? Do they just want to beat us over the head with advertisements?

 

[PHXSportsFan4]

I've posted a few video clips from opening night on Vimeo.com. A couple of them show the new video scoreboard.

Clip #1 New Scoreboard unveiling - http://www.vimeo.com/878756

Clip #2 Dbacks intro video - http://www.vimeo.com/879079

Clip #3 Player intros - http://www.vimeo.com/878893

I also have game photos posted at http://desertsky.smugmug.com/gallery/4681031_4hmJW#276759849

Awesome videos and pictures. Those videos are crystal clear, did you take them with a digital camera or an actual camcorder?

 

[AZ Sports Native]

Im watching the replay of the game right now, and WHY ARE THE PANELS CLOSED? Is there any freakin' rhyme or reason to this? Its great that they had the top open on a nice day, but why not open the panels and allow for views and a much more open feel and better game day experience? Do they just want to beat us over the head with advertisements?

That drives me nuts too. If the roof is open, the panels should be open. Period. But I guess $$ talks...

 

[BigShtank]

That drives me nuts too. If the roof is open, the panels should be open. Period. But I guess $$ talks...

Yeah, but wasn't it windy yesterday? I'm thinking they wanted to limit the effect of the wind on the game. Just my thought on why it was closed. It was open Tuesday night.

 

[Yotesfan85044]

Awesome videos and pictures. Those videos are crystal clear, did you take them with a digital camera or an actual camcorder?

I shot the videos with a Canon HG10 high-def camcorder. The raw HD footage from the camcorder looks much better than what you see on Vimeo.

 

[HooverDam]

Yeah, but wasn't it windy yesterday? I'm thinking they wanted to limit the effect of the wind on the game. Just my thought on why it was closed. It was open Tuesday night.

Isn't it windy in Chicago every day? I think you're right, the panels were probably closed because of the wind (and perhaps to show off the ads), but I find that to be a lame excuse. Baseball is an outdoor sport, if its not raining or over 100 degrees at first pitch, I want everything open.

 

[PHXSportsFan4]

I shot the videos with a Canon HG10 high-def camcorder. The raw HD footage from the camcorder looks much better than what you see on Vimeo.

Wow, the Vimeo videos were pretty impressive but I'm used to video from my digital camera I guess. I'd like to get one of those nice camcorders but I don't really think I video enough stuff to justify buying one. My digital camera gets it done it just isn't nearly that clear but those pics and videos are nice.

Do you plan to post photos and/or videos on there for each game you go to?

 

[PHXSportsFan4]

Isn't it windy in Chicago every day? I think you're right, the panels were probably closed because of the wind (and perhaps to show off the ads), but I find that to be a lame excuse. Baseball is an outdoor sport, if its not raining or over 100 degrees at first pitch, I want everything open.

I agree, I would want them to have roof and panels open unless it was too hot to enjoy the game without sitting there being miserable because of the heat or in the rare case of rain in Phoenix.

In your opinion, do you think Chase Field feels like an outdoor stadium even with everything open or does it still feel like you are in an indoor stadium? I've only been once, and the roof was closed and they never opened it until after the game and we left right after it opened so I've never really gotten to experience it open. I've heard some people say it still feels like a domed stadium even with the roof off, others have said it seems pretty much like any other stadium with everything open. Just wondering.

We are going to be there for the whole Rockies series May 13-15 and 2 of the games in the Tigers series 16th and 17th so hopefully it isn't too hot then and it will be open.

 

[HooverDam]

It doesn't feel "open" like say Sun Devil Stadium, but the game experience is radically different, and better. I hate it when the roof is closed, I honestly avoid games when I know the roof will be closed, its so heavy and ominous feeling, I don't like it.

Since Chase Field was the first stadium in the world with a retractable roof and natural grass, it was something of a guinea pig.

I've never been to Seattle, but it seems to me that Safeco field has a much better design in this regard. It was built after Chase though, so it could learn from its mistakes. The tricky thing w/ Chase is, its roof is to keep heat out, whereas other stadiums are to keep rain out. So where Safeco can have a closed roof and an open outfield walls open (which keeps most of the moisture out), Chase has to be much more air tight for climate control.

As you can see in the first picture, Safecos roof slides off all to one side (which probably wasn't possible for Chase considering its tight footprint):

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Here from the inside, you can see the roof is closed, but the sides of the stadium remain open to provide views:

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Chase Field however has the roof split in two halves. Even when its completely open, there are many seats that still have portions of the roof over them. I suspect that if you're sitting in these sections, it feels very much like you're still in a dome. You can spot a few of the sections (along the top behind home plate, and along the top towards the end of the baselines):

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Luckily, the architects put a white opaque material on the arched trusses along either side of Chase Fields roof, which alllows light in, which is nice. You can see a bit of that below. I wish they would've used that (or windows, which would be even better) for the areas where the large Pepsi advertisements (which are now replaced w/ D'backs logos) are, it would add more visibility of the city, and allow for more shafts of light to enter the stadium:

You must be registered for see images

But ,you've hit on two subjects (sports and architecture) that I tend to ramble about far too much, so sorry this reply was so long.

The short answer: Roof closed & Panels closed<Roof Closed and panels open<Roof Open and Panels closed<Roof Open and Panels Open<Being in an outdoor stadium on a nice day

 

[PHXSportsFan4]

It doesn't feel "open" like say Sun Devil Stadium, but the game experience is radically different, and better. I hate it when the roof is closed, I honestly avoid games when I know the roof will be closed, its so heavy and ominous feeling, I don't like it.

Since Chase Field was the first stadium in the world with a retractable roof and natural grass, it was something of a guinea pig.

I've never been to Seattle, but it seems to me that Safeco field has a much better design in this regard. It was built after Chase though, so it could learn from its mistakes. The tricky thing w/ Chase is, its roof is to keep heat out, whereas other stadiums are to keep rain out. So where Safeco can have a closed roof and an open outfield walls open (which keeps most of the moisture out), Chase has to be much more air tight for climate control.

As you can see in the first picture, Safecos roof slides off all to one side (which probably wasn't possible for Chase considering its tight footprint):

You must be registered for see images

Here from the inside, you can see the roof is closed, but the sides of the stadium remain open to provide views:

You must be registered for see images attach

Chase Field however has the roof split in two halves. Even when its completely open, there are many seats that still have portions of the roof over them. I suspect that if you're sitting in these sections, it feels very much like you're still in a dome. You can spot a few of the sections (along the top behind home plate, and along the top towards the end of the baselines):

You must be registered for see images

Luckily, the architects put a white opaque material on the arched trusses along either side of Chase Fields roof, which alllows light in, which is nice. You can see a bit of that below. I wish they would've used that (or windows, which would be even better) for the areas where the large Pepsi advertisements (which are now replaced w/ D'backs logos) are, it would add more visibility of the city, and allow for more shafts of light to enter the stadium:

You must be registered for see images

But ,you've hit on two subjects (sports and architecture) that I tend to ramble about far too much, so sorry this reply was so long.

The short answer: Roof closed & Panels closed<Roof Closed and panels open<Roof Open and Panels closed<Roof Open and Panels Open<Being in an outdoor stadium on a nice day

Yeah the one thing I don't like about Chase is how that huge beam thing hangs over behind the plate but I guess it has to be there since it looks like that's the track or whatever the roof closes on.

I honestly never cared much for retractable roof stadiums but I'm starting to slowly but surely change my mind but I just don't think they look like real baseball stadiums. They look like giant NBA arenas to me. Safeco Field looks a little more like a traditional stadium on the outside and inside plus it's neat how the roof is closed but it's still not fully enclosed but as you said Chase's roof has a different purpose so that wouldn't be possible there. The one in Houston has a giant glass window that allows you to still have a view of the buildings and all with the roof closed but that may not work at Chase either since it might let too much sunlight in and cause the inside temperature to rise.

Basically the way I see it is you sacrafice a traditional baseball stadium for a newer modern type stadium that is designed for fans (and I guess players) to be more comfortbale when weather conditions might not be favorable whether it be rain, heat, snow, or whatever. I remember we went to a Reds and Rangers game in Cincinnati last year and it was a day game and I couldn't hardly concentrate on watching the game because it was so hot and humid I was just basically sitting there baking in the sun and not even really enjoying it. I've gotten to where I don't even like going to day games in the summer anymore because I don't enjoy them as much. In Phoenix or one of the other places with a retractable roof you can take a day like that and still watch the game comfortably and enjoy it.

I guess it's whatever tradeoff you want-- traditional outdoor stadium in which there might be some times when the weather prevents you from normally enjoying a game or a retractable stadium which allows you to watch in comfort anytime but kinda looks like a giant size NBA arena.