After visiting the Arizona Fall League last year, I had two spring training stadiums left to visit: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick and Goodyear Ballpark. The AFL is a much more sedate and affordable experience and I enjoy seeing prospects more than pros (or at least I used to until this trip), so I decided to revisit this fall rather than wait until the spring. Goodyear is not regularly used in the Fall League and had games on only four days, with one of those being a Saturday tripleheader. In the end, I decided to pick a day where both parks hosted games, which happened to be last Thursday. My buddy Tike and his wife Dawn would also be there at that time, and fellow New Yorker Mike joined once the World Series dates were known.
The first game was at Salt River, spring home of the Rockies and Diamondbacks and after a morning stop at the Rusty Spur, Tike dropped me off as they were going to the other afternoon game at Mesa. Before entering, I took some time at the USS Arizona Memorial Gardens (above is a photo of the boat house relic), which is an impressive tribute to the ship that was destroyed at Pearl Harbor and well worth a few minutes of your time.
From there, I walked to the entrance to meet my friend Meg, who now calls Arizona home. She had an extra ticket and we went in together. The stadium is built on land owned by the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community and is quite different architecturally, with some large triangular roofs marking the main entrance. It opened in 2011 and has a capacity of 11,000 (7,000 seats, 4,000 on the grass), though it set a Cactus League record averaging 11,161 fans that first year, suggesting that they can squeeze a few more in. Capacity would not be an issue on this day as only 455 fans were on hand, despite the near perfect weather (96 degrees with no humidity).
There are a few photos along the wall highlighting the local population and their connections to the game of baseball.
The game started at 1:30 and the photo below was taken about an hour after that, with most of the seats in the shade by then.
Unlike the other stadiums I have visited in the league, you could walk around the entire concourse, which allows for a picture of the full structure behind the outfield berm. The photo below is using a wide-angle feature on my phone.
As with all AFL parks, there was only a single concession stand open, along with a beer cart that had a nice hazy IPA. This is my favourite park of the bunch for all of these reasons, plus its proximity to a few other bars nearby.
Craig, another sports traveler who I had yet to meet, was in town and I joined him behind the plate for the first few innings. We got lucky as MLB #32 and Phillies #2 prospect Andrew Painter started for the visiting Glendale Desert Dogs. Painter, who missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery, was strong, needing just 32 pitches over three scoreless innings, before being replaced by Connor Phillips, who appeared in five games with Cincinnati last year. Phillips was also solid, tossing a surprising four innings without yielding a run. Meanwhile, Phillies #28 prospect Otto Kemp had two homers including a grand slam and Glendale had a 9-0 lead. Then Brycen Mautz (Cardinals 2nd-round pick in 2022) entered the game, and gave up 3 walks, 2 singles, and a wild pitch as part of a 6-run inning that made things closer than they had to be. As it turned out, Mautz was a harbinger for the rest of the trip.
The game finished 9-6 for Glendale and took only 2:36, but Phoenix rush-hour traffic limited us to a quick pizza stop near Goodyear Ballpark, where the evening game was slated for a 6:30 start.
The two Ohio teams use this place in the spring and not coincidentally, Goodyear Tires is based in Ohio too. Yes, the town is named for the company, which once grew cotton here to use in its tire production.
The ballpark opened in 2009 with the Indians moving in immediately and the Reds leaving Florida the following year. It seats 8,000 with room for an additional 1,500 on the berm. I had to pick up a ticket here, paying $11 as I am a senior now, thus saving $2. There is no hard ticket, just a slip of paper with a QR code.
The ballpark opened in 2009 with the Indians moving in immediately and the Reds leaving Florida the following year. It seats 8,000 with room for an additional 1,500 on the berm. I had to pick up a ticket here, paying $11 as I am a senior now, thus saving $2. There is no hard ticket, just a slip of paper with a QR code.
Outside the main entrance is a fiberglass statue measuring 60'6" titled The Ziz created by artist Donald Lipski.
There is also a sculpture called Brotherhood that honours veterans and their families.
Inside, there is just a single seating bowl with limited shade, so I was glad that this was a night game. The small roof in the photo below covers the "club" seats. I don't know why they can't add a roof like in most other ballparks but that might explain why it is not used much in the Fall League.
I was unable to tour the whole park, but then again, with just 436 fans in attendance (between our group and their friends, we accounted for about 2% of the total), there isn't much to see.
Peoria and Surprise were the two combatants and the 'visiting' Javelinas were up 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th with Jimmy Joyce (Seattle, 16th, 2021 out of Hofstra) on the mound. Joyce had tossed an ultra-rare three-up, three-down frame in the fifth, but his sixth was the following odyssey: walk, wild pitch, RBI single, walk, out, wild pitch, walk, RBI hit batsman, strikeout, RBI walk. His replacement was Mark Manfredi (Milwaukee, 9th, 2023), who continued the debacle with an RBI walk, run-scoring wild pitch, walk, run-scoring balk, walk, RBI walk. Manfredi was mercifully replaced by Jason Ruffcorn (8th round in 2021 by Philadelphia, since traded to Seattle), who got a strikeout to end the misery. The Saguaros scored 7 runs on 8 walks, 1 hit, 1 HBP, 3 wild pitches, and a balk. Peoria added three in the 7th on three hits and two walks, but they could get no closer as Surprise won 8-5 in a game that saw 18 total walks.
Peoria and Surprise were the two combatants and the 'visiting' Javelinas were up 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th with Jimmy Joyce (Seattle, 16th, 2021 out of Hofstra) on the mound. Joyce had tossed an ultra-rare three-up, three-down frame in the fifth, but his sixth was the following odyssey: walk, wild pitch, RBI single, walk, out, wild pitch, walk, RBI hit batsman, strikeout, RBI walk. His replacement was Mark Manfredi (Milwaukee, 9th, 2023), who continued the debacle with an RBI walk, run-scoring wild pitch, walk, run-scoring balk, walk, RBI walk. Manfredi was mercifully replaced by Jason Ruffcorn (8th round in 2021 by Philadelphia, since traded to Seattle), who got a strikeout to end the misery. The Saguaros scored 7 runs on 8 walks, 1 hit, 1 HBP, 3 wild pitches, and a balk. Peoria added three in the 7th on three hits and two walks, but they could get no closer as Surprise won 8-5 in a game that saw 18 total walks.
Even with such a poor showing from the mound, the game lasted just 2:50. But I realized after these two games that the Fall League is no longer as interesting as it once was, because there are no pitching prospects here, other than those who are rehabbing after injury. And as each team uses 5-6 hurlers each day, you almost inevitably get three or four bad innings. So I was quite glad to have completed the 23 spring training ballparks with this visit as I don't expect to return to the AFL after this.
However, I did have two more games the following day. The first was a rematch of Salt River and Glendale, this time at Camelback Ranch (above). This stadium hosts the Dodgers and White Sox, so it is like a Dickens ballpark (it was the best of teams, it was the worst of teams). I really did not like this place last season as they played loud music clips after every pitch, but that had been toned down somewhat this year.
Colson Montgomery (22nd overall pick by the Chisox in 2021 and their #3 prospect and 37th overall) homered for the Desert Dogs, but he was outshone by Caleb Durbin (14th round to Atlanta in 2021, since traded to the Yankees), who homered and stole four bases as Salt River won 7-6. Despite the game taking nearly three hours, we had enough time to visit Old Chicago for a happy hour pizza and beer before heading to Grand Canyon University.
This was a special AFL event held at GCU Ballpark, where I had seen most of a college game in 2019. Tickets were just $5 and that included a hard stub, which I had not received on my previous visit. There were plenty of students on hand, though I think that they got in for free. Once again Meg joined us as Mesa took on Surprise. I had a flight near midnight, so the 6:30 start time was not a concern, and I even hoped to visit a brewery in between. But the terrible pitching got even worse on this night and ruined those plans.
Niko Kavadas, who spent 30 games with the Angels and hit his first major league homer against the Jays back in August, started things off with a two-run shot for Mesa. That started a series of two-run homers, with Andrew Pintar (5th round by Arizona in 2022, now with Miami), Moises Ballesteros (Cubs #4 and MLB #44 prospect), and Max Ferguson (5th round by San Diego in 2021, now with Boston), all following suit to make it 6-2 Mesa. Then the pitching got worse, with Mesa adding 5 in the 7th, both teams scoring singletons in the 8th, and Mesa tacking on two more in the ninth to make it 14-6 as the game approached three hours and my chances of a beer grew slimmer. On came Sam Thoresen, an undrafted Cubs minor-leaguer who walked two around a stupid error before getting a double play. With one out to go, he then walked three more before giving up a single to catcher Drake Baldwin (3rd round to Atlanta in 2022 and their #5 prospect). Wander Guante (undrafted, Oakland) came in and threw one pitch, which saw Baldwin caught stealing by Ballesteros. Thankfully, the game was over with Mesa prevailing 14-10, but at 3:15, it was too late to grab a relaxing brew before my flight. Just nine hours later, I was back home in NYC, the whirlwind trip a blur of walks, balks, and base knocks.
Notes
During the four games I attended, there were 65 runs, 60 walks, 12 wild pitches, 6 hit batsmen, and a balk. The lack of quality pitching results in a lot of bad baseball. To be fair, there have been two 1-0 games so far this season, and some other low-scoring affairs, but generally you can expect a lot of walks. To compare, in 2005 (the first year with stats available), there were 6.66 walks per game; last year that was 9.69 and halfway through this year, the number is 10.43. I don't see how sending these guys to a circuit with so many top hitting prospects will help their confidence, but that is the state of pitching in baseball these days.
Next Up
College basketball starts next week and I'll be checking out three games in the Dakotas, as well as some FCS football. Recaps will be here after election day.
Best,
Sean
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