Camelback Ranch

Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox (Spring Training)

9/10

Crowds line up at automated kiosks to print their tickets.

Another clear day in Glendale.

I made sure to go out into left field to get a shot on my first trip here.

This place is the spring home of both the LA Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. The Dodgers were coaxed west from their longtime spring home in Vero Beach, Florida and the White Sox left Tucson to join them here. It is technically just inside the city limits of Phoenix, but is on land owned by the city of Glendale, which is also the home of the NFL Cardinals and formerly the NHL Coyotes.

The stadium is visible from nearby Camelback Road and has a pronounced western theme, starting with the name, which is historically the name for the land and continuing with the rustic looking wood finish on the press boxes. This is definitely one of the new breed of Cactus league parks, which are more than just AAA calibre parks that host 20ish games a spring. It compares somewhat to Cubs Park or Salt River I have now been here a total of 7 times, 6 Cactus League and 1 Fall League game, so it's a place that I'm becoming familiar with, which is great, because there's lots to like.

Firstly, this place actually captures the possibilities of building a unique new park. There's no park you can point at and say it looks like Camelback Ranch, because there's not one. The theme of the architecture, wide open concourses, that somehow always seem to feature a gentle breeze on a hot day, some shade, some sun, lots of good places to stand, there's not much about the place to dislike. Parking is still free, egress is easy before the game, as long as you're 20 minutes early. Leaving can be a bit of a hangup, but traffic control here is good too, so it's not as long as it ought to be.

Food here is also good. The Dodgers naturally have the Dodger Dog on feature, but there's Vienna Beef for the Southsiders as well. There are some specialty places, but I haven't tried anything besides pizza and dogs here.

Atmosphere is pretty good too. There used to be disastrous sellouts here, with large crowds. My stepfather was even more averse to big crowds than me, so we'd usually head for Goodyear, Surprise or Maryvale. When we finally went in 2012, we both really liked it, the crowds for Dodger games are a little bigger, but only so much. The White Sox crowds are just fine, at around 6,500 or so.

Overall, this place is at the cutting edge of the newer spring parks and in the west valley, is always a good option to take in a game. I give it an extra point for the food and half points for atmosphere and the park. 9/10.

Update 2026: It has been 10(!) years since I posted about this place. I wasn't even putting up linescores then, so I've done my best to dig them up. I have been to six Cactus league games and one fall league game here, but nothing since 2015. The Cactus league website points out that for 2026, the White Sox saw the biggest increase in spring attendance in Arizona. There have been some minor renovations, such as the adding of some sun shades on the first base side, but nothing major. It appears both the Dodgers and White Sox are still satisfied with this park and aren't intending on moving anytime soon. I visited the Triple-A stadium in Omaha in 2022, and despite not being from the same architect, I found the seating bowl layout very similar. I would recommend to anyone headed to Arizona for Spring Training, but would suggest White Sox tickets are likely the cheaper bet.

Linescores

2012-03-22    

                       123   456   789   R

Kansas City    010   010  200  4

Chicago(AL)   400   061  23x 16

Time: N/A Temp: N/A  Att: 4,942

2012-03-26

                             123   456  789  R

Chicago(AL)         021   000  000  3

Los Angeles(NL) 000    021  001 4

Time: N/A/  Temp:  N/A Att: 5,816

2013-03-21

                       123   456  789  R H E

Milwaukee       101   001  000  3 5 2

Chicago(AL)   322   001  00x  8 13 1

Time: N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 6,916

2013-03-25

                                123   456  789  RHE

Los Angeles(AL)      024   000  014  11

Chicago(AL)            001  000   022  5

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: 8,911

2015-03-23

                               123   456  789  R H E

Arizona                   100   003  000  4 6 1

Los Angeles(NL)     002  200   03x  7 11 0

Time: N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 8,525

2015-03-25

                            123  456  789 R H E

San Diego            002  210  000 5 9 2

Los Angeles(NL)  203  211  00x 9 14 1

Time: Temp: Att: 8,363

2015-11-19                   RHE

Surprise Saguaros         1

Glendale Desert Dogs   4

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: N/A