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 Chukchansi ParkFresno - Fresno GrizzliesFriday, April 17, 2009
League: Pacific Coast Class: Triple A Affiliation: San Francisco Giants Stadium Built: 2002 Ticket Prices: $8.00 to $19.00 Parking: $5.00 at the city garage across the street. Stadium parking is reserved for season ticket holders, but the downtown garages all have flat rates of $5.00. Address: 1800 Tulare Street, Frenso, CA 93721 Directions: From US Highway 99 North – take the Ventura Street exit and turn right on to Ventura Street. Turn left on H Street. Chukchansi Park will be on your right. From US Highway 99 South – take the Fresno Street exit and turn left on to Fresno Street. Turn right on Broadway to H Street. The stadium will be located straight ahead. From Highway 41 North – take the Van Ness exit towards downtown. Turn left on Tulare and follow Tulare to the stadium From Highway 41 South – take the Van Ness exit towards downtown. Turn right on Tulare and follow Tulare to the stadium. Food: Good, with a great selection, perhaps the best selection in California’s minor league stadiums. Prices are good for this level, too. A hotdog only costs $2.75, and sodas, available in three sizes, start at $3.00 (kids size only $1.75). Beer is $5.50, $6.00 for premium beer. Review: You can’t blame Grizzlies fans for being a little discouraged. Fresno seems always to be at or near the bottom of the PCL Pacific Southern Division. After several years of this, you would expect fans to start dwindling away. Hence, the folks in Fresno’s front office have taken steps to keep fans coming back, and the improvements witnessed over the last couple of years have been remarkable. Perhaps the most dramatic improvement has been the food, which left me less than impressed several years ago, but now offers some of the best diversity in the minors. A well-hidden pool in the outfield offers something different for groups. This option is surprisingly affordable, with groups of 25 to 30 people paying $30 a piece. More recently, a rock-climbing wall in the kids’ fun zone has been added to bring in fans less interested in baseball and more interested in something to do. For those interested in the game, televisions at some of the concession stands and radio playing in the bathroom can keep you in the game if you need to be out of your seat. Both the televisions and radios are taken for granted in the big leagues but seldom seen in the minors. The real charm of Grizzlies Stadium, however, is not the new amenities, but the way the stadium seems to blend in with old Fresno. This is one of the closest things you will find in the minors to an old urban stadium, with Fresno’s aging skyline filling the horizon beyond the outfield. It might be a stretch to say that it reminds one of Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, but the Luftenburgs Bridal sign overlooking left field, or the faded bank sign on one of the older buildings, sure gives it an old time feel despite being built in 2002. The stadium itself has three levels (one tier of which are luxury boxes) adding to the ambiance and giving it kind of a coliseum feel. Pluses: Great variety of food. Plenty for kids to do if they get bored with the baseball game. Good blend of new amenities that seem to blend in well with old Fresno. Minus: Maybe too many distractions? For the purist, it might seem more of an entertainment hub and less of a place to watch a baseball game. Quirky Intangibles: Got to be the Luftenburgs Bridal sign overlooking the stadium. Add to that the entire Fresno skyline. Tips: Don’t try to park in the stadium lot as it is just for season ticket holders. Go straight for one of the city’s downtown garages. Street parking meters, normally not enforced after 6:00 p.m. or on weekends, are enforced when games are on. Dimensions: 324, 385, 400, 335
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