August 9, 2026
Sunday, August 9, I checked one more stadium off of my Stadium Chase list when we went and saw the Dodgers take on the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix.
The basis of this entire trip to Tucson centered around going to the Dodger game in Phoenix to get Chase Field crossed off the list. It quickly became a work trip for Brandy, which we will get into later, but suffice it to say, she invited her colleague, Melissa to join us in Tucson so they could work together in person. Melissa brought her husband, Willie, who is an ardent Dodgers fan, and of course, I invited my dad who eagerly accepted.
Sedona to Tucson to Phoenix
After leaving Sedona, we passed through Phoenix on our way to an AirBnB Brandy had booked for the trip. I will dive into the absolute oasis this AirBnB was when I write up my Tucson post. For now, though, this is about the baseball game.
We got to Tucson Saturday afternoon. I got us unloaded and all set up for the upcoming weeks, then after a quick night’s sleep, I headed out at 7:00 am for the hour and a half drive to Phoenix.
A stop for gas, a pee break once I got off the freeway, and before I knew it, I found myself at the Home2 Suites in downtown Phoenix, a quick 6 minute walk from Chase Field.
I handed my keys to the valet at the hotel and met my dad there. We discussed getting some breakfast and decided on The Breakfast Club, a breakfast joint in a courtyard behind the nearby Kimpton Hotel Palomar. Despite the already increasing heat, we elected to sit outside.
We ordered and ate in the quickly warming morning, then after the bill was paid, made our way back down to the surface level. With a little more time to kill, we decided to stop back at the hotel to chill in the air conditioned lobby before making our way to the park.
Chase Field
As previously mentioned, the hotel was a short, six-minute walk from the hotel. We were able to stretch it out a little bit, walking up just after 11:00. Willie had arranged for the four of us – him, his dad, me, and my dad – to meet near the K gate. We spotted them hanging out in the shade of the indoor stadium where we joined them and introduced ourselves.
As the gates were about ready to open, we lined up and headed through the security stations then regrouping on the other side. We headed through the doors and I was immediately struck by the stark difference in temperature. In fact, for the immediate moment, I was downright cold. That didn’t last long though as even though there was a 30°+ difference between the outside temperature and the temperature inside the roofed stadium, it was still nearly 80° inside.
We promptly found our seats in section 114, only a couple of rows down from the concourse. Willie and his dad took their seats while my dad and I headed around the concourse to try to find the team store. We only made it a couple of sections away from ours before the walk from the hotel to breakfast, then back to the hotel, then to the stadium finally caught up with dad. He had to stop for a rest, which we did.
When we discovered that the team store was now only one more section away, we made our last push and headed in.
The store was swamped, as every team store in every stadium seems to be, but we wriggled our way through the crowd, each of us finding our desired bounty – me with a ball and a hat, dad with a shirt for mom. We got into the quickly moving line for the registers, checked out then headed back into the stadium, dad going back to the seats and me heading out for my exploration around Chase Field.
It wasn’t long before I found myself at their Hall of Fame and Museum. I popped in and saw a tribute to the 25th anniversary of the team’s one and only World Series Championship as well as artifacts from memorable moments in D-Backs history, such as Randy Johnson’s perfect game in 2004 and Edwin Jackson’s 149 pitch, 8 walk no-hitter in 2010. I wandered around, took some pictures then made my way back out on to the concourse.
Speaking of Randy Johnson, I ran into him on the concourse during my exploration.
I made it back to the seats and rejoined the other three and settled in for the game.
Justin Wrobleski started for the Dodgers and promptly gave up 4 runs in the first 2 innings. He only lasted three and a third before giving way to a bullpen that held the D-Backs to those four runs. Sadly, the Dodgers’ bats had no response, only managing 2 runs.
I will say this, the Diamondbacks have a hell of a scoreboard production. They lean heavily into the desert aesthetic, lots of fantastic animations including lightning rolling across the desert landscape, an animated rattler, and just some really, really cool visuals. And, being an indoor stadium, the light control played a huge factor in the vibes.
After the last out, the four of us shuffled out of the stadium, herded like cattle.
We said our goodbyes to Willie and his dad, then me and my dad headed out for dinner at The Arrogant Butcher. After a chance to cool down and eat, we made the short walk back to the hotel and quickly called it a night.
Departure and Conclusion
Dad’s flight Monday morning was early so we headed out just before 5:00 am. I dropped him at the Phoenix airport then made the 90-ish minute drive back to the AirBnB in Tucson where I immediately booted up and started my work week.
All in all, it was a great experience. Watching a baseball game in what is effectively a giant warehouse was a bizarre, new experience for me but as I mentioned, it afforded flexibility in ambient lighting to enhance the overall vibe. It was still warm in the stadium but not too hot, as it would have been in an open-air stadium. I’m glad we were able to go, and keep my Stadium Chase going, again, this makes eight active stadiums that I have seen the Dodgers at (nine, overall, if you count Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium, former home of the San Diego Padres before their move to Petco Park.)
Pictures from this adventure are on the Photo Diary, and I made this quick little TikTok video too…
@peagreen92705 That time dad and I went to Chase Field in Phoenix to watch the @dodgers take on the @dbacks knocking off number eight in my Dodgers Stadium Chase. @mlb @mlbnetwork #stadiumchase #baseball #dodgers #foryou #meanddad #travels ♬ original sound – Phil
Stay tuned for my next post which I’ll tell you all about the rest of our time in Tucson.
Until then!
-Phil