Scottsdale Stadium
Scottsdale, AZ
Review by Mike
Scottsdale Stadium is the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants. The current ballpark opened in 1992 on the site of a previous, much smaller, stadium bearing the same name. The earlier ballpark hosted Cactus League baseball from 1956 thru 1991. Unlike the newer, sprawling complexes that have opened more recently in the Phoenix area, the Giants training complex is small, wedged into a residential neighborhood with no parking to speak of. There are hardly any practice fields and the few there are and pushed right up against the main stadium.
The stadium has a distinctly old-school feel to it, with concessions behind the grandstand and an intimate main structure that feels like it sits right on top of the playing field. There is a 360 concourse that allows for strolling all the way around, plus access to the narrow grass berm in left field and deep right center. There are some nice trees on this left field picnic ground to provide shade from the Arizona sunshine.
A large hospitality building rises up behind the right field fence; a multi-level bar and entertainment area, plus a small covered picnic area down the right field line. The main grandstand is a handsome brick structure that runs to just beyond 1st and 3rd base, with metal bleachers filling out the rest of the seating to the foul poles.
The very few suites and the press box are right behind the last row of seats and a bit of a roof extends outwards to provide a little more shade to folks sitting around the infield. There are some nice mountain views to be had from the 1st base side and the friendly staff did nothing to inhibit my wanderings, so long as I wasn’t bothering anyone.
This is a nice stadium, if a tad nondescript. The intimate feel and lack of modern distractions are a nice throwback, but there isn’t a whole lot that celebrates their Bay Area tenant, save for a few World Series Championship logos on the concourse. They could have done with some murals and historical displays. Surprisingly, I saw nothing at all to reference the fact that the franchise existed before it moved to San Francisco in 1958. A classic franchise like this should do a bit more to honor its history.
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2025
274
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