Hohokam Stadium
Mesa, AZ
Review by Mike
Hohokam Stadium is the Spring Training home of the Oakland Athletics. Despite hosting the Chicago Cubs for the better part of 30 years in this ballpark, and its predecessor, this corner of Mesa, Arizona has gone all-in for the Oakland Athletics since the arrival of the team in 2015. Any sign of Cubbie blue has been vanquished, giving way to an overwhelming green and gold theme.
The exterior walls, interior walls, outfield fence, the seats (although maybe they were green before) are all in tribute to the A’s. Even the historical photos lining the concourse chart A’s history from long before the team came to Hohokam. Oakland may not want the Athletics, but Mesa certainly does.
The ballpark feels older than it is. Built in 1997, well into the luxury-suite-over-concourse era of ballpark design, this stadium opted for the old-school single-deck grandstand and subterranean concourse, which means you can’t watch the game while you get your hot dogs. There are a few suites alongside the press box at the top of the main grandstand, but mostly this is a ballpark for baseball fans rather than corporate hosting.
The grandstand runs foul pole to foul pole with mostly fixed back seating and bench seating in the higher rows down the lines. A large louvered “roof” covers most of the seating around the infield. It would be useless in the rain, but highly effective at blocking the sun while allowing the breeze to pass through. This being Arizona, I would say they made a good decision.
There are grass berms on both sides of the outfield and a walkway that allows for circumnavigation of the ballpark should you need to get your steps in. Both bullpens are in the right field corner, pushing the fence in towards home plate. The scoreboard is new and sharp, although swung so far to left field that folks down the 3rd base line need to swivel their necks like owls to see it.
At the top of the grandstand, either side of the suites and press box, is a nice area to stand and stretch your legs and get a really nice view of the game. These locations are often reserved as exclusive party decks, but here they are available to everyone. An open-air food truck court on the 3rd base side adds variety to the typical, and fairly priced, ballpark food options you find under the grandstand.
It's not flashy and it’s not new, but Hohokam Stadium is a thoroughly agreeable place to watch Spring Training baseball. With views of distant mountains, a pristine field and jaunty green and gold everywhere, I enjoyed my visit completely. Too bad they need to repaint “Oakland” all over the stadium with… who knows what… next year.
2024
2024
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