Talking Stick’s Salt River Fields: New stadium for AZ Diamondbacks and Rockies is class of Cactus League

It was a perfect evening for a Spring Training baseball game. My first spring game ever under the lights. The Colorado Rockies faced the Arizona Diamondbacks at their new ballpark, Salt River Field at Talking Stick Resort. We splurged and bought the “lawn” seats. They were perfect.

The ballpark dogs were delicious. Really. I ate two … in the first inning. Thank you, Oscar Meyer.

Here’s some shots taken on a visit to see the new facility. The Diamondbacks’ practice fields are just north of the park (left in this picture) and the Rockies just south (to the right).

Talking Stick Resort is home for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. It is located just west off of Indian Bend Road and the 101.  Everyone had been saying great things about it and my impressions were the same.

View of left field and lawn seats. The McDowell Mountains are seen in the background.

The field looked immaculate. There is definitely a big league ballpark feel to Salt River Field! Capacity is 11,000 seats.

Scary …

These are my two favorite teams so it was fun to see them against each other. As the game began, I was confused with the amount of cheering I heard for the Rockies … and then realized they were the HOME team this night.

As the temps dropped into the 70s, you could begin to clearly see who was rooting for who — beyond colors or jerseys. The D-back fans were wearing the jackets and long sleeve shirts. I once found that to be crazy. But having now lived for four winters and summers here, I can emphasize with the Valley dwellers.

The Rockies won this game. The new ballpark is a great facility. Looking forward to another game this Tuesday when our team at work is going to see an afternoon game for our team builder.

Spring training in Arizona … lots of opportunity to enjoy the weather, baseball, and the outdoors.