Whelmed
I had my first glimpse of Camelback Ranch over the weekend, and I have to report that I’m whelmed. Not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed, just whelmed.
It’s not the finest spring training facility, nor is it the worst. It’s perfectly adequate. Good sightlines, fairly comfortable seating, and inviting grass berms where you can sack out for $8. There’s no scoreboard behind home plate, however, so you have to look behind you to see the count or the score. Not that they matter much in a spring training game.
The food is no worse than the offerings at Dodger stadium, and there are plenty of friendly vendors roaming the isles. They don’t sell much other than lemonade, beer, or peanuts. For anything else, you’ve got to go up to the concession stands, where the lines appear to be too long.
There’s not a whole lot of shade, however. That wasn’t an issue on this past weekend, but I’ve been in Phoenix on hotter weekends when that would have been a serious concern.
Parking is adequate, but the folks taking your $5 move a bit slower than they ought to.
The practice fields are numerous and well manicured, and if you get to the stadium in the morning, you can watch workouts.
I had the opportunity to see a White Sox game on a weekday in addition to Saturday’s contest against the Mariners. In contrast with the 11,00+ for the Saturday game, there were no more than 2,000 people at Friday’s contest, many of them dressed as empty seats. Methinks the slow economy is taking its toll on spring training trips, especially from as far away as Chicago. MLB says average attendance is up, but I don’t believe it based on the Chicago game.
It’s not the finest spring training facility, nor is it the worst. It’s perfectly adequate. Good sightlines, fairly comfortable seating, and inviting grass berms where you can sack out for $8. There’s no scoreboard behind home plate, however, so you have to look behind you to see the count or the score. Not that they matter much in a spring training game.
The food is no worse than the offerings at Dodger stadium, and there are plenty of friendly vendors roaming the isles. They don’t sell much other than lemonade, beer, or peanuts. For anything else, you’ve got to go up to the concession stands, where the lines appear to be too long.
There’s not a whole lot of shade, however. That wasn’t an issue on this past weekend, but I’ve been in Phoenix on hotter weekends when that would have been a serious concern.
Parking is adequate, but the folks taking your $5 move a bit slower than they ought to.
The practice fields are numerous and well manicured, and if you get to the stadium in the morning, you can watch workouts.
I had the opportunity to see a White Sox game on a weekday in addition to Saturday’s contest against the Mariners. In contrast with the 11,00+ for the Saturday game, there were no more than 2,000 people at Friday’s contest, many of them dressed as empty seats. Methinks the slow economy is taking its toll on spring training trips, especially from as far away as Chicago. MLB says average attendance is up, but I don’t believe it based on the Chicago game.
posted by John Rosenthal @ 9:38 PM
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