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Chase Field, also known as The BOB (after its original name, Bank One Ballpark), is a stadium located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is across the street from the US Airways Center, used by the NBA's Phoenix Suns. Chase Field's main concern is with baseball, being home of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. Starting in 2006, Chase Field will also be home to the annual Challenge at Chase, a baseball game between rivals Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.
History[]
The park began to be constructed in 1996, and was finished just before the Diamondbacks' first season began, in 1998. It has a retractable roof, one of only a few stadiums in the United States to have one (others are in Houston, Milwaukee, and Seattle, with another under construction in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale). It also has a swimming pool, which is rented to patrons. It also features a dirt strip between home plate and the pitcher's mound, one of only two current ballparks to do so (Comerica Park in Detroit is the other).
It hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the 2001 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees. The Diamondbacks won the world championship that year in dramatic fashion. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning of game seven, D-Backs outfielder Luis Gonzalez sent a bloop single over the head of Yankee's shortstop Derek Jeter to score the game winning run from third base. The Diamondbacks overcame Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, arguably one of the greatest postseason closers of all time, to claim the state of Arizona's first major league professional championship.
Chase Field was originally named Bank One Ballpark after Bank One of Chicago, giving rise to its nickname ("the BOB"). After Bank One merged with New York-based Chase, the name change was announced on September 23, 2005. It is also host to many concerts and other sports events each year. One of the events it has held annually is the Insight Bowl, a college football bowl game. The bowl game will be moved however to Sun Devil Stadium in 2006, to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which will be moving to Cardinals Stadium in Glendale the same year.
In March 2006, Chase Field played host to three first-round games of the World Baseball Classic.
Other Events[]
The stadium was once the home of the Insight Bowl, a college football bowl game from 2001-2005. In 2006, the bowl game moved to Sun Devil Stadium, to replace the Fiesta Bowl, which moved to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The football configuration was notable because of the lack of nets behind the goalposts and the dugout behind the south end zone. The final Insight Bowl played at Chase was between the hometown Arizona State Sun Devils and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Arizona State won the game in a shoot-out 45-40 before a near capacity crowd.
The stadium also hosts occasional concerts and international soccer games. For football and soccer, the field is set up with the end lines perpendicular to the third-base line and temporary bleachers added on the east side.
Chase Field has also staged nine women's college basketball games. The second game, which was played on December 18, 2006, was shortened by rain with four minutes and 18 seconds remaining and Arizona State leading Texas Tech 61-45. Venue staff closed the roof in an effort to finish the game, but officials deemed the court unsafe. In 2000, ASU had played Tennessee at the same facility.
The Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series tour held an event at Chase Field in February 2006.
Monster Jam comes to the field every year.
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