DBacks

After our excursion to the wild west at Rawhide we headed downtown to catch an Arizona Diamondbacks game at the impressive Chase Stadium. The stadium makes Tropicana Field, home of the Devil Rays, look like an archaic mess. Chase Stadium was very well designed with a retractable roof that opened the game to the dry, cool Arizona air. When things get too hot, they close it up and turn on the air conditioner.

I had always felt that St. Pete would be better served by buildling a similar stadium in place of the current Al Lang field, overlooking the bay. Close it during the summer heat, open it on cool nights.

We asked the ticket agent where to get the best seats and he picked some on the third level overlooking the field. They were great. You could see the entire game clearly and the tickets were only $15 each. Before heading to our seats, Gabe and I stood in the outfield during batting practice hoping to catch a homerun, but none came our way.

We made our way back to our seats when my cellphone rang. It was Gabe's little league coach. During this vacation, Gabe was missing a Mid-Season tournament. The coach called to say that the team had made it to the championship game and were hoping he would be back in time to help them pitch.

I told them, unfortunately, that we were not coming home until Monday. Gabe's team ended up losing 1-0 to East Lake in the Championship Game. I don't know the details, other than that our manager got kicked out of the game. Sounds interesting.

The Diamondback game was very exciting. The DBacks were playing the Colorado Rockies. The DBacks scored first, then the Rockies came back before the DBacks scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and won the game 5-4.

It was a great way to end the day. Arizona is now Gabe's (and DC's) favorite National League team.

Gabe and I watching batting practice from this vantage point.

The stadium rocks.

Dad and Gabe.

Mom and DC.

Final score... DBacks 5, Rockies 4