Every MLB stadium ranked from worst to best
By Kareem Gantt
22. Chase Field — Arizona Diamondbacks
Ah, Chase Field, the MLB version of constant knee pain for baseball purists.
While it’s a modern facility that is aging gracefully in the glow of Arizona’s sweltering desert, Chase Field has long been noted as one of the least eye-catching ballparks in the Majors, and when you first enter the ballpark and take your seat, you’ll get a first-hand glimpse of why it is. Behold, in centerfield, the stadium’s media wall in all of its monstrosity. This media wall is such a distraction and takes away a spot where prime seating could have been beneficial.
Another pain in the neck for fans to Chase Field? The weather.
We don’t have to explain just how inhumanly hot the Phoenix area gets in the summer. Sure, it has drier heat than another infamously hot ballpark, Globe Life Park in Arlington, but that doesn’t matter when summertime temps can easily reach 110-plus degrees. Thankfully, the builders of Chase Field had this in mind and installed a retractable roof to shield its fans from the heat. Those developers deserver a Medal of Honor.
If the retractable roof didn’t earn it, then putting a pool in right field certainly does the trick. I get that some baseball purists don’t see why Chase Field would have a pool within its ballpark, but spend enough time in Arizona’s God-awful heat, and they’ll come to love it. Chase Field is a mixed-bag of a ballpark as it has cool amenities, but the monster video wall ruins the character that this ballpark could have obtained.