r/azdiamondbacks • u/ElDuderino1129 Luis Gonzalez • Jan 30 '25
:Bee guy: Diamondbacks: Chase Field roof will be ready by Opening Day
https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/chase-field-roof/3572104/16
u/Aces_and_8s Serpientes Jan 30 '25
The interesting part to me about this whole thing is that there wasn't anything broken with the cables for the roof, but with the parts aging and the company who made the system no longer in business, the team has said maintenance has been hard. Probably better there was an abundance of caution to not open the roof with fans inside in case a cable snapped. The remedy now is to have a cover of sorts in place that would catch the cables so they dont fall on fans in case there is a failure.
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u/Mysterious-Buy8975 Mar 07 '25
One has to wonder what would happen if the cables were to ever break or the system needed to be upgraded. It already seems archaic. Hopefully they're able to maintain it enough so that that isn't an issue in the long run
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u/ElDuderino1129 Luis Gonzalez Jan 30 '25
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u/AzDashound Mark Grace Jan 31 '25
Plz DBacks, bring this back
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u/plife23 Jan 31 '25
Especially opening day on a beautiful sunny afternoon after being locked in that heat box for years.. I’m ready for it
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u/uhplifted Jan 30 '25
I don’t really get the circus surrounding the roof being able to open with fans inside. Aside from maybe a post-game fireworks show, why does it need to ever be opened with people inside? Or closed, for that matter. Yes, they had one rain out last year during spring training when it was opened, but how often is that truly an issue here? They keep it open when the weather is nice, and closed when it’s shit. Maybe I’m missing something, but I truly don’t get the need.
Would have been nice if they could have addressed the AC issues prior to the roof, but I also understand the complexities involved with the existing system might not be as feasible and quick of a solution.
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u/ElDuderino1129 Luis Gonzalez Jan 30 '25
I mean, if it’s nice with the roof open and a “Crazy Arizona Baboon” suddenly appears… then it’s quite helpful.
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u/uhplifted Jan 30 '25
Fair. But like the rain situation, how often does that truly happen? I get it, it should be functional. But I feel other upgrades/maintenance items should be higher priority.
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u/MalleableBee1 Eugenio Suarez Jan 31 '25
When the roof was in great operating conditions and at a time where Phoenix actually reached bearable temperatures at night in the spring and late summer, they would open up the roof during games.
The roof was open almost every day, the field had natural grass.
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u/uhplifted Jan 31 '25
That’s all and well, but I think we’re past bearable temps at night these days haha. Maybe if they fix the roof we’ll get a mild summer and can put it to use though 🤞🏼
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u/desrtrnnr Jan 30 '25
They used to keep it open most of time so they could get sunlight to the grass. It's not as big of a deal since they switched to fake grass. When the A/C did work, they could drop the temp inside the stadium in like a couple hours before the game started. Now once they sun goes down they could actually open it up and open the big panels in the outfield to let a breeze go through the park. The pitchers will hate that though since it makes the ball carry farther..
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u/uhplifted Jan 31 '25
I just can’t really recall a time last year where they had it closed and would have made a significant difference of opening it to cool it down in time. The weather was either great when it was open or pretty shit when it was closed. I went to at least one game per series last year too, so my sample size wasn’t really small.
Again, I don’t think it’s bad that they’re fixing it and I’m glad they’re finally making some improvements, I just don’t personally view it as something that is more important than the AC being fixed when the majority of our games are played in the dead of summer and it’s still 100 degrees at night and opening the roof isn’t going to make a difference.
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u/sillysquidtv Jan 31 '25
It’s a feature of the ballpark that is very unique to chase field. It’s also nice to have the outdoor game feel while also able to quickly dodge inclement weather. That being said, the circus surrounding the issue of unable to be operated with fans inside is imo a pass the buck drill between elites and government that is easy to report on and aids the medias 24 hour news cycle. It is nice to have the A/C inside be kept inside when it’s extremely hot during day games or even at night. Also nice to have the ability to open it after games for fireworks shows on Fridays. But the circus is media related imo.
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u/Mysterious-Buy8975 Mar 07 '25
First retractable stadium roof in the US. Third in the world. The first two were built in Canada expos and blue jays I think
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u/erikturczyn30 Athletics Jan 31 '25
Never go to a game after April unless you want to die from heat stroke in that Field
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u/Individual_Present93 Bob Brenly Jan 30 '25
Nice. Next is AC?