Worthy of a big-league venue
March 12th, 2008, 3:25 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Zeiger
With Chase Field’s center-field wall as a backdrop, former ASU pitcher Brian Flores makes a delivery during last year’s Challenge at Chase game against Arizona.
Arizona State’s non-conference contest against Arizona on Tuesday at Packard Stadium, which will likely be a matchup of the consensus top two-ranked teams in the nation, has sold out.
It is a scenario that screams for a stage much bigger than Packard, which has a capacity of 3,879. The last two seasons, the schools had one, playing a non-league contest at Chase Field, a benefit game labeled the Challenge at Chase.
Proceeds went to the Diamondbacks Foundation’s youth field building program. But attendance at both games — 5,201 in 2006 and 4,296 last year — was lower than expected, and the event was not scheduled this season. Perhaps it is just as well for the Sun Devils, as the Wildcats won both games.
Still, the Chase Field setting was nice for college baseball, and here is hoping that it can be revived in the future, possibly with a different format.
ASU could explore holding its early-season tournament there, inviting Arizona and national powers such as Vanderbilt and Oregon State, who took part in the DeMarini Invitational last month at Packard. Such an event would mirror the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park, one of the most successful regular-season tournaments and one the Sun Devils participated in last year.
Multiple games at Chase Field would help in coach Pat Murphy’s early-season objective of playing on bigger parks. He feels that helps his team prepare for Pac-10 games in the Northwest, where the field dimensions are similar to Packard’s, but the ball does not travel as well in the heavier air.
“You get on a big field like that, one that plays totally different than what we’re used to, that can only help us,” Murphy said.
ASU is one of 16 schools taking part in the Gridiron Bash, a spring football fan festival. The main event at Sun Devil Stadium on April 18 — the day before the spring game – is a musical performance by 3 Doors Down, which has sold 12 million records and boasts six No. 1 singles.
Tickets can be purchased at the Gridiron Bash’s official Web site.
This week, the New York Times published “The Scholarship Divide,” a well-done series that details the misconceptions that some athletes and parents have about athletic financial aid — and the challenges that college coaches have in determining who gets how much. The latter is something that baseball coaches, with only 11.7 scholarships available for rosters in excess of 30 players, wrestle with constantly.
Clicking on the above link will take you to the first story in the Times series; the other articles are available via a menu on the left side of the page.
