Foothills Stadium

Vacant

No Rating

The ballpark is fenced off with motion sensitive cameras, so this was about as "inside" as I got.

This is through a chain link fence....

And my best one probably, you can see the melting snow on the ground.

 I took a walk around Foothills Stadium in March of 2016, when I was in Calgary overnight and it was right across the street from my hotel. This place hosted the PCL Calgary Cannons for many years and when I moved to Alberta in 2011, the North American League's Calgary Vipers were playing here. Famous Cannons such as Bret Boone and Alex Rodriguez played here. I casually looked at a few dates, but didn't go. Of course, the end of the 2011 season saw the end of the North American League and most of it's franchises in short order. The Vipers were controlled by what I call a "hobby owner" and unfortunately, he had gotten very sick and needed to step away, leaving the Vipers without really any chance of operating for the year. Calgary was out of the league by the end of September 2011, leaving the Edmonton Capitals a lot more vulnerable, without a travel partner 3 hours down the road.

This place is simply put, well past it's prime it's a mostly wood and metal ballpark with a very high outfield fence that when I visited, wasn't painted. All I can say is that this place has almost certainly seen it's last pro game, as it's not even the nicest park in the area anymore, as the summer league Okotoks Dawgs play in Seaman Stadium just a few miles south of the city limits, which from photographs is around Pioneer League calibre. Still, I would have liked to have gotten a game in here. It serves as a reminder to get to the vulnerable parks sooner rather than later.

Ogren Park at Allegiance Field

Missoula Osprey, Pioneer League

7/10

The entrance to the park is rather bland.

A decent crowd takes in a Sunday evening game vs. the Ogden Raptors

I apparently hadn't mastered my park photos by this point, but did manage to capture

the nice view of the rolling hills near Missoula,

We rolled into Missoula on the 1st stop of a 3 game Pioneer League loop that served as a send-off road trip prior to me moving away for work. This marked myself and my stepbrother's first Pioneer League game ever. In short, they are great and I highly recommend them.

At any rate, Missoula is home to the Arizona entry in the circuit, the Osprey, who in 2014, will play their 15th season in the area. We arrived not long before our 5:05 start time, I can only assume because the team wanted the family crowd, while at the same time, wanted not to play in the midday heat of the grasslands in late July. The facility is located in the midst of a cluster of softball fields, with lots of on street parking.

It's a relatively straightforward 3,500 seat park with home plate entry onto a concourse, which then goes down into the seats, not unlike Billings. Unlike Billings, it just doesn't look as impressive. However, the backdrop of the rolling hills is a definite plus. There is berm seating down the 3rd base line and down the first base line, there is a "party deck", which is elevated above a gravel underlay, which has the added bonus of keeping fans well away from the opposing bullpen.

Concessions are not too bad, my stepbrother reported the hot dogs were at grade and I had a not too bad pulled pork sandwich. The most unique quirk was the 7th inning was officially the "Peanut Inning" with free peanuts if the Osprey scored, leading to several peanut related chants.

Overall, Missoula was an entirely adequate park for the PL, but not a whole lot more. Still, I think it deserves another visit, and with it being located right on I-90, it may end up getting one in the next few years.

Update 2016: I have not been back since, meaning this one is well and truly overdue for a follow up visit? This summer maybe? I'd like that. For now, average everything leaves this at a 7.

Linescore 

2010-07-18

                                      123  456   789   RHE

Ogden Raptors(LAD)        110  000   000   264

Missoula Osprey(ARI)       200  200  000   460

Temp: 83F  Time: 2:01  Att: 2,178

HoHoKam Stadium

Oakland Athletics(Spring Training)

8/10

The exterior of the ballpark was somewhat bland and didn't do it justice. See the new one further down.

The stadium teems with rooters for a Satuday afternoon clash with San Diego.

Another shot of a nice crowd.

Bonus Picture: This shot from the left field pole shows the layout of the grandstand, with only a few spectators dotting the seats.

The newly repainted exterior really "pops" (I hate that phrase, but it's true). No wondering who plays here.

A giant new LED scoreboard welcomed me in 2014

Pre-game preparations for Cubs/Oakland

HoHoKam Stadium was the Chicago Cubs Spring Home from 1997-2013. I've been to two games here, a Fall League game in 2011 and a Cactus League game the next spring. HoHoKam was the last Cactus League park I went to and I was glad to have all of them in the bag.

My first experience with this park was in the fall league, seeing a decent game with only around 50 people in the stands. The fans ended up bunching up in the middle innings as it began to rain, with the only cover in the back few rows.

Still, the Fall league doesn't give you a really good picture of a park, so I decided that I had to get this one in for 2012. We headed over for a Saturday afternoon game versus the Padres and found out that in March, the area gets unbelievably crowded on game days. Traffic is bad, parking is worse and you must brave the crowds for everything from food to the toilet. This place averaged over 10,000 people....in 1999(!) and it hasn't let up since. I'd recommend avoiding the Cubs when they're on the road and only going to their home games when you feel you must(Cubs fans are exempt from this). The Cubs know they have a good thing going in Mesa, so prices for everything from tickets to concessions can be relatively high. The exterior is a bland grey, although Cubs legends names and numbers are in the sidewalk outside, which I thought was a nice touch.

On the plus side, this is a nice place to watch a game. There is an upper concourse effectively dividing the park in half, the lower seats are close to the action, but the loge seats have most of the shade. The atmosphere is pretty good, the Cubs have a pretty good contingent come to Arizona from the Chicago winter, following them from park to park around the Valley.

But, the park was at its limit and the Cubs decided they'd rather build their own and for 2014, they will be training at Cubs Park, a brand new 15,000(!) seat facility about two miles west, but still in Mesa. The Cubs were giving up a few thousand paying customers for every home game and the neighbourhood wasn't handling the game day crowds too easily. But unlike most ballparks that get passed by, HoHoKam is still relevant. The Oakland A's, training in Phoenix at Municipal Stadium, see HoHoKam as a massive improvement over their current digs, particularly on the training side of things, so after a year to get ready, Cactus League baseball will return in 2015. HoHoKam is now one of the older parks in the area, but with the A's wisely choosing to move in, it will be in the Cactus League loop for years to come.

Update 2016: I managed to get back here to see the A's version of this place in 2015, it's first season since Oakland's return and was pretty happy with the work that'd been done. The two big differences I caught were the Facade and the Scorboard. The board is a big new LED job which in my opinion, does add to the experience slightly, while the park is painted(on the outside) in A's colours. On the inside, things are only so different, with concessions being adequate and the atmosphere being around normal for Spring Training. Still, the improvements here are worthy of a point for facility, so this place goes up to 8/10. If I was in the East Valley(as opposed to out west) I'd likely make this a regular.

Linescores

2011-10-16
                                  123    456   789    RHE
Surprise Saguaros         000   052   001   891
Mesa Solar Sox             201  210   001   791
Temp: 83F  Time: 2:45  Att: 145

2012-03-24
                                123    456   789    RHE          
San Diego                  000  300   002    591
Chicago Cubs             010  000   000    133
Temp: 86F  Time: 2:40   Att: 12,872

2015-03-24
                         123    456   789    R  H  E
Chicago Cubs      101    000   000   2  6  2
Oakland               226    120  10x    14 18 1
Temp: N/A  Time: 3:27   Att: 9,032