SCOTTSDALE STADIUM

Map of Scottsdale Stadium Area
(14k GIF)

• Stadium built in 1951, replaced in 1992
• Dimensions:
  • 360' down lines
  • 430' to center
• Seating Capacity: 10,500
• Five years into a 17-year deal at Scottsdale Stadium that expires in 2008.

1. Tickets for individual games
2. Season Tickets If you've got the time and the bucks.
3. Group Tickets If you've got time, bucks and friends.
4. Parking what to do with your car once you're there
5. Indian School Park where the Giants work out.
6. Where/When to get autographs bring your Sharpee and a ball!
   1. San Francisco Giants Bonds, Williams, Beck, Thompson, et al...
   2. Visiting Players when they come to play the Giants
7. Other Cactus League Links related to the Giants

Ticket prices for individual games are as follows:

Lower Box and Upper Box seats are sold out.

To order by mail:

Sorry, no mail orders will be accepted.

To order by phone:

Arizona	1-602-784-4444
Tucson Area	1-520-321-1000
California	1-510-762-BASS

To order in person:

• Scottsdale Stadium (10am-2pm, M-F)
• Candlestick Park, December 11 only (9am-5:30pm)
• The Wherehouse
• Tower Records/Video
• Robinsons-May
• Blickbuster Music
• Foley's

Reserve your seats for 1996 Giants Spring Training Baseball at what is universally regarded as one of the premier venues in the Cactus League.

Please call 1-415-467-8000 for more information.

Party Rooms

You can reserve the Giants rooms by calling the Giants office at 1-602-990-7972.

The best parking is the Civic Center parking garage located just north of Scottsdale Stadium on Civic Center Blvd. The structure provides covered parking and is free. Even during the springtime, the Arizona heat can be oppressive. This lot fills up quickly, however, and exiting with everyone else after a game can be frustrating. Fortunately, plenty of street parking is available south of the stadium if you don't mind a little walk. Downtown Scottsdale is only a very short walk away (head north and east) and even though it's a little touristy, it can be an interesting time for locals, too.

SHUTTLE BUSES: [From the Ticket brochure] Avoid Spring Training traffic! Try the convenient shuttle service to Giants games provided by the City of Scottsdale. Shuttles run approximately every 10 minutes, 90 minutes prior to and 30 minutes following each game. For more information call 1-602-994-7696.

Local traffic is controlled by Scottsdale police before and after games.

Indian School Park

The Giants work out at Indian School Park, which is located at Indian School Road and Hayden, to the north and east of Scottsdale Stadium. The closest parking is accessible from Indian School Road since the northern-most diamond is the primary field. Much has changed since I first started attending Spring Training games. Although this is a public park, the Giants training complex is now completely fenced off. Still, the players must traverse from the clubhouse (Club Sar building) to the playing fields and I suspect this is your best chance of getting an autograph.

Before the Spring Training season begins, all players train at this site.

After the Spring Training season begins, Indian School Park is primarily a minor league camp. Recognizing players is especially hard, and the field is rife with uniform number duplication. You'll even see Giant uniforms with "24" or "27" since these haven't been retired at the minor league level. If you're lucky, you may catch a Hall of Famer instructor here.

San Francisco Giants

Your best chances are definitely with the players who leave the clubhouse early. These will not necessarily be scrubs - you may even get to hold Rod Beck's spit cup while he signs your ball. Players exiting later use the excuse of "needing to get on the bus" to dodge autograph hounds. Another good evasion trick players use is carrying food/coffee to give the "hands full" appearance. The catchers sometimes carry out equipment bags, thus limiting their signing effectiveness. Popular players will be unmercifully hounded. Good guys like Matt Williams will carry the impenetrable throng all the way with him to the bus as he signs, while more standoffish players (like....Barry Bonds?) will scramble eyes-straight to the bus.

While the main team plays at the visiting stadium, this is a good time to get autographs of the ramainder of the Giants pitching staff (especially the starting rotation). They will be working out in the bullpen along the first base side. Hanging around the right field line will yield some good signings if you're patient. Sometimes, players will actually take a second to chat with you as they sign. The only trick is getting the players over to the sidelines as they traverse from the dugout to the bullpen. It is especially helpful if you can recognize the players by sight and call them over by name (this works better than "Hey you! Sign my ball!). Scrub catchers will usually be present.

It is possible to get players autographs in the parking lot before or after a game, but I myself consider the players then to be on their own time, so I've never tried it.

Visiting Players

Visiting players occupy the third base dugout, so get a seat along the third base line to maximize your chances of obtaining a mid-game autograph from the visiting team. In the later stages of a Spring Training game, when the competition has degenerated to AAA level baseball, some starting players will run wind sprints along the outside. They must traverse from the dugout to the left field warning track in order to do this. I would rely on the throng of persistent kids to do all the yelling to get a player to stop and sign. Once in a great while, the player actually will (!). But watch out. In the old days, if you had grass seats along the third base line, all set up with your blanket, sunscreen, and food, you stood a very good chance of getting trampled by desperate autograph-hungry kids who don't care a damn that they just stepped on your half-eaten hot-dog. I actually had a kid get his foot stuck in my Coke cup (I am not making this up). Sadly, these days are now over as the $4 sideline lawn seats have been replaced with $12 sideline box seats.

The modern Scottsdale Stadium has got to be one of the finest non-Major League baseball facilities anywhere in North America. It's basically constructed of red brick and dark green wrought iron, giving it that nostalgic flavor. It was designed by the same folks who put up Camden Yards. I highly urge that you put this stadium on your Spring Training itinerary.

I believe the San Francisco Giants had a hand in its construction, since Scottsdale was their Spring Training home. Additionally, Scottsdale Stadium hosts the Giants' AAA-affiliate, the Phoenix Firebirds (who previously played at Phoenix Municipal Stadium). The Giants also send their hot-shot minor leaguers to the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League who happen to play their games at....you guessed it.

The stadium it replaced, the old Scottsdale Stadium, was very ordinary, almost homely...but of course it exuded that old-time charm It really gave you the feeling that Spring Training was seriously laid-back (an oxymoron?). That Major League millionaires could perform for you in such a bush-league setting! It's exterior was kind of a darkly stained wood facade, one that went well with the old painted cowboy-with-a-lasso standee that greets you as you enter Old Town Scottsdale. And its prime seating consisted of - gasp! - metal folding chairs, kind of neatly arranged in rows. And these chairs were painted that mid-60ish hospital green you find on styrofoam packing material, Bianchi bicycles, or steno paper. Come to think of it, I bet they got those chairs as surplus from the hospital next door.

But I think the appeal I associate with that old stadium is inversely proportional to my attitudes today. My cycnicism gears are red-lining, but looking at the schedule, I can't help it. I've never noticed so many split-squad games. Of course, this generates gate revenue. Look how many home games the Giants play! Also note that the Giants hardly ever play the Cubs. Could that be because the Giants and Cubs are the two clubs which consistently yield sell-outs? I dunno, maybe I'm starting to think too much like Oliver Stone...

Get your tickets early for the Giants because they do sell out about every game. If you want day-of-game tickets, show up and get in line early. Another bummer that I briefly covered in the "Autographs" section: the sideline berm seating that used to cost $4 has now been replaced by "Line Boxes" that cost $12. So that's $8 for the chair. It better have a cup holder and a rocking chair back! Oh, and the outfield lawn seats have gone up to $6 per. If you want my opinion, bring a blanket and get an outfield lawn seat rather than the line boxes. The boxes are too low and too close to the field resulting in an extreme viewing angle of the batter.

By the way, I personally think it's great that the seats are close to the players, but this stadium has been criticized for having seats that are too close. I think it was former Giants’ pitcher Bryan Hickerson's baby girl that got whacked by a line foul here a few springs ago.