Goodyear Ballpark

Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians (Spring Training)

8/10

I never did get the best shot of the exterior here....

Another beautiful clear day in Goodyear.

The sun begins to set on the only night game I've ever seen here.

Goodyear Ballpark holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first Spring Training, or Cactus league game I ever took in. It was the closest one to the old family condo in Arizona and rarely busy, so 8 games later, I still like it.

This park was built to lure two teams, the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds out from Florida and is located in the City of Goodyear(as in the tires) about 30 minutes without traffic west of downtown Phoenix. It's built on the edge of the desert, near an aircraft boneyard. I thought it looked like an AAA park when I first went, but having a few more under my belt, I'd say AA is a closer fit. It's a pretty simple layout, with all the seats between the foul poles, a BBQ area in right field and a berm out in left. Atmosphere is pretty quiet, with this park being the farthest away from either team's home city, still, the fans do come out and while a little quirky, fans of both teams are pretty easy to cohabitate with in my experience.

I originally gave this park a 9 on my old website, but reviewing it now, it is really "just" an 8. The plus? The food. Cheesesteaks, Pulled Pork, Good Burgers, pizza, Mexican, yam fries, they have everything here. The beer is a good selection, they even have Hefeweizen(German-style wheat beer), that drinks really smoothly. They also have about 7 condiments at each concession, so no one walks off disappointed at "just" ketchup.

The other added bonus here is the lack of crowds. While a lot of cactus league parks are expensive and packed to the gills, with long lines for anything, here, the best tickets are 30 dollars and both teams are in the bottom 5 of Spring attendance MLB-wide. If you are west of downtown and don't care about much else than seeing a game, head here, you won't be disappointed.

Update 2021: Somehow, I haven't been back here since the last update 5 years ago. I did manage to dig up my line scores. I've been here 8 times! I still fondly remember this as a cheap option, to enjoy Cactus league action, with good food and it's still a nice park. If I make it back for spring training here anytime soon, this one will be on my list.

Linescore

2010-03-24

                           123  456  789   R  H E

San Francisco     100  000  110   3  7 3

Cincinnati            101  100  07x  10 10 1

Temp: 82F  Time: 2:41   Att: 4,062

2012-03-23

                               123  456  789   RHE

Los Angeles(AL)      010 100  200  491

Cleveland                001  000  000  170

Temp: 77F   Time: 2:41   Att: 8,630

2012-03-29

                           123  456  789   RHE

Colorado            200  300  010  6 11 0

Cleveland           002  000  001  3 6 0

Temp: 72F  Time: 2:47   Att: 2,877

2013-03-23

                           123  456  789   RHE

Texas                 000  121   011   6 14 0

Cincinnati          100  010  000    2 6 0

Temp: 75F   Time: 2:47  Att: 6,192

2013-03-30

                           123  456  789   R H E

Cleveland            000 100  000   1 8  1

Cincinnati            000 213 03x   9  14 0

Temp: 80F  Time: 2:35  Att: 7,027

2014-03-23

                           123  456  789   R H E

Milwaukee          161 000 100  9 13 0

Cincinnati            000  001  000  1 5 1 

Temp: 81F  Time: 2:36   Att: 5,559

2015-03-23

                           123  456  789   RHE

Oakland               000  100  200  370

Cincinnati            000  000  031 461

Temp: 82F  Time: 2:39  Att: 5,447

2015-04-02

                           123  456  789   R H E

Cleveland             000 110 200  4 10 1

Cincinnati            100  000 110  3 11 0

Temp: 81F  Time: 2:19  Att: 3,069

Progressive Field

Cleveland Indians, Amercian League

8/10

 Progressive has a welcoming, well-styled entrance.

 Another downtown park with a low profile allowing for a good view of the skyline? Sure!

You can make out the enclosed, angled suites in left field on the right of this shot.

We rolled into Cleveland in the middle of a Saturday Afternoon as part of a Great Lakes loop that saw 

us come down from Toronto that morning. The weather in Toronto had featured a torrential downpour
so it was greatly appreciated to have a clear evening that felt more like late summer than early fall. The Indians were in the midst of a Wild Card run, sending the eventual Cy Young winner for the AL, Corey Kluber, to the mound. 

The park is in the middle of downtown Cleveland, almost right next to the NBA Cavaliers’ home court.
 If Balitmore’s Camden Yards was a groundbreaker in terms of ballpark design, Progressive Field,
 or as it was known when it opened, Jacobs Field, reinforced that the trend would continue.
 Walking in, it is hard to believe that this park was 19 years old when I visited it. 

The park has a relatively common three decked layout. The high wall in left centre is the most 
unique feature as far as the field dimensions are concerned. The enclosed suites on the left field side, 
presumably to fight Cleveland’s cooler springs are also an interesting design. The large, open 
concourse in left field, evokes the similar one on the right field side in Baltimore. 
The Cleveland skyline is clearly visible, although Tower Plaza, arguably the most famous building
 in the city was not, at least not without leaning forward. 

A neat quirk was how in the program, all concession items anywhere in the park were listed, 
along with what concession stands sold them. No more walking around looking for Corn Dogs for you. 

A weird quirk was how the outer sections of the upper deck were closed. I can understand not wanting to open 5 sections, that will just need to be cleaned which there are 
unsold seats from better vantage points, but it served to make the park look emptier than it was.
There were still 30 thousand in attendance, who weren’t disappointed, as the Indians eked out a win.

On the whole, I liked this park. It’s downtown, which is always a plus and the fact that it was
slightly ahead of it’s time to begin with means it is aging nicely. Recommended.

Update 2017: Haven't been back here to date. There were apparently only 17 thousand and change in attendance, which is surprising, given the fact it was September and Cleveland was still in it. Under the new ratings, the park still earns a plus, with the somewhat flat atmosphere not actually affecting the score. Cleveland doesn't seem to draw well until basically the playoffs, finishing 28th in average attendance for the 2016 regular season, ahead of only pariahs, Tampa Bay and Oakland. With such a good team, it's amazing it's not in the top half.

Linescore
2014-09-07
                       123   456   789  RHE
Chicago(AL)  001   000   000   151
Cleveland        000  100   20x   391
Temp: 69F  Time: 2:46  Att: 17,367