Chase Field

About Chase Field

In downtown Phoenix, a ballpark with a swimming pool beyond right-center field plays baseball under a roof that can shut out 110°F heat. Chase Field seats 48,330, and its retractable roof, the first in American sports, opens or closes in about 4.5 minutes. The pool has been there since day one, in 1998. Phoenix still calls the place “The BOB,” after its original name.

Built for $354 million and designed by Ellerbe Becket, the ballpark opened on March 31, 1998, as Bank One Ballpark, the Diamondbacks’ first home game. The roof was not a luxury but a necessity in a city that bakes past 110°F, and the engineering was unprecedented for a ballpark: 9 million pounds of structural steel, more than 4 miles of cable, two 200-horsepower motors. It became Chase Field in 2005, after the Bank One and JPMorgan Chase merger.

The swimming pool defines the personality. A right-center-field pool and hot tub for up to 35 guests per game, the only one in any MLB ballpark. Mark Grace hit the first home run into it. The pool has been renovated over the years but remains the most distinctive feature in the sport. In 2019, the original natural grass was replaced with artificial turf, a change that eliminated the complicated irrigation and grow-light system needed to maintain grass under a retractable roof in the desert.

The 2001 World Series is the defining moment. The Diamondbacks, in just their fourth season, beat the New York Yankees in a seven-game classic, Luis Gonzalez’s walk-off bloop single off Mariano Rivera in Game 7 becoming one of the most-replayed moments in baseball history. The fastest expansion team ever to win it all. Games 6 and 7 were the first World Series games ever played in November.

Getting to Chase Field

Public Transit

Chase Field has a light rail stop directly at the gate, one of the easiest ballpark transit connections in the Southwest.

Valley Metro runs extended service for weeknight and weekend games. The light rail is the best option if you’re staying anywhere along the line from Mesa to downtown Tempe.

Driving + Parking

The ballpark address is 401 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. I-17 and I-10 are the primary approaches.

The East Garage and Jefferson Street Garage are closest. Game-day rates start around $10, with advance-purchase through ParkWhiz. Surface lots surround the stadium on all sides, arrive early for popular games.

Rideshare

Uber and Lyft drop off at Washington Street and 5th Street, a short walk to the main gates. Post-game pickup is at 4th Street and Jefferson Street. From downtown Phoenix hotels, expect $10–$15. From Sky Harbor Airport, $15–$25. Post-game surge is moderate, walk a few blocks toward CityScape for faster pickup.

From the Airport

Construction & Design

You cannot play summer baseball outdoors in Phoenix. Afternoon highs sit above 110°F for weeks at a stretch, so when Arizona won an expansion franchise the ballpark had to solve the heat before it solved anything else. The answer was a retractable roof over a cooled interior, the first of its kind at an American ballpark, and it drove the whole design. Ground broke on November 16, 1995.

Ellerbe Becket designed it, construction ran 28 months and $354 million, and it opened in March 1998 as Bank One Ballpark. The roof is the engineering headline: more than 9 million pounds of steel, over 4 miles of cable, two 200-horsepower motors, and a 4.5-minute open-or-close cycle. A misting system and air conditioning can pull the interior well below the outside temperature. It was also the first American stadium to put a retractable roof over natural grass, a combination that proved a maintenance headache, which is why the grass gave way to artificial turf in 2019.

And then there is the pool. Beyond the right-center-field wall sits a swimming pool and hot tub, rentable by the group. The only one in Major League Baseball. Roughly 415 feet from home plate, a well-struck ball can still splash in. It is gimmicky, unmistakably a product of 1998, and completely beloved, and no other ballpark has dared to copy it.

History of Chase Field

Chase Field was built to give the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks a home in the desert. The $354 million project, designed by Ellerbe Becket, broke ground on November 16, 1995, construction took 28 months and introduced the first retractable roof in American professional sports.

First Game (March 31, 1998): The Diamondbacks lost 9-2 to the Colorado Rockies in the franchise’s first-ever MLB game. Bank One Ballpark, “The BOB”, debuted with the retractable roof, the swimming pool, and 48,000+ fans in the Arizona heat.

2001 World Series (October–November 2001): The Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees in seven games, the fastest expansion team in MLB history to win a championship. Game 7 on November 4, 2001, ended with Luis Gonzalez’s walk-off single off Mariano Rivera, one of the most-replayed moments in baseball history.

Name Change (September 23, 2005): Bank One Ballpark officially became Chase Field following the Bank One/JPMorgan Chase merger. Locals still call it “The BOB.”

2011 MLB All-Star Game (July 12, 2011): The first All-Star Game in Arizona. The National League won 5-1, with Prince Fielder named MVP before 47,994 fans.

2023 World Series (October–November 2023): Chase Field hosted Games 3, 4, and 5 as the Diamondbacks returned to the Fall Classic for the first time in 22 years. The Texas Rangers won the series in five games, but the D-backs’ run, from 84-win Wild Card team to the World Series, electrified a franchise that had been largely irrelevant since 2007.

Baseball in a Furnace: Phoenix summers routinely top 110°F, which makes Chase Field less a stadium with a roof than a giant air-conditioned room that happens to open. On a typical July night the roof stays shut and the cooling system holds the interior comfortable while the desert bakes outside, then opens for milder evenings. The 2019 switch from natural grass to artificial turf was part of the same fight against the climate, since keeping real grass alive under a mostly-closed roof had been a losing battle. The swimming pool beyond right-center, meanwhile, is still the park’s party trick, roughly 415 feet from home plate and rentable by the group, a fitting signature for a ballpark in a place where staying cool is the entire point.

From the swimming pool to the retractable roof to Gonzalez’s walk-off, Chase Field is where Arizona baseball lives, a ballpark built for the desert that hosted one of the greatest World Series games ever played before it was five years old.

Sources & Further Reading

• Ballparks of Baseball, Chase Field: ballparksofbaseball.com. Capacity, cost, the roof, and the turf switch.
• Arizona Diamondbacks official ballpark facts: mlb.com/dbacks/ballpark. Roof specs, dimensions, and visitor information.
• Wikipedia, Chase Field: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_Field. Naming history, the pool, and World Series history.