Riggs Stadium
Mesa, AZ
Review by Mike
There’s just something about a roof on a ballpark. The classic look of a grandstand covered by a steadfast, majestic roof just looks like baseball, harkening back to a time when men wore hats and women wore bonnets to attend a game. And by “hat”, I don’t mean a green Yankees cap. And by “roof”, I don’t mean a retractable roof that takes the game indoors. Oh sure, in some climates they are necessary, but a big, sliding roof doesn’t turn LoanDepot Park into Ebbets Field. Some pillars to block the view are also kind of cool, unless you’re sitting behind them.
John D. Riggs Stadium in Mesa, Arizona, home of the Thunderbirds of the Arizona Community College Athletic Association has no roof. What it does have is an innovative way to keep fans from melting in the Arizona sunshine because, you see, Riggs Stadium also lacks lights. What they’ve done is erect large red canopies over their two erector set grandstands, stretching out wide enough to cover the entirety of the seating area. It’s a good look and very functional at the same time.
The ballpark is pretty basic, but it does have some nice little touches. There is a manually operated scoreboard in right center field. The dugouts are painted bright red. My favorite thing, though, is the “press box”, which amounts to a small desk set on the top row of the home plate grandstand. It looks like they might have swiped it from a 1950s elementary school. I don’t know if they have a loudspeaker, or if the scorekeeper just shouts out the next better, but I love it.
I don’t know when the baseball stadium was erected, but the football stadium just beyond the left field fence, also called John D. Riggs Stadium, opened in 1969, so I’ll go with that unless someone has better information. Parking is free, there are bathrooms behind the home plate stands and, maybe some concessions? Having not been to a game, I can’t say, but I will say that this minimalist little junior college ballfield is just quirky and charming enough to make this Ballpark Brother smile.
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2025
280
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The outfield wall is lined with the names of ballplayers of note who played at Mesa Community College. As a Mets fan, I was delighted to see former Mets 3rd baseman HUBIE BROOKS among the honorees, a moderately successful (Lifetime WAR 13.0) player that Gary and I rooted for in our youth as though he were Brooks Robinson.