Chase Field could be home to D-Backs and others
Chase Field stood empty for what would have been Opening Day on Thursday, but Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall said his organization is more than willing to allow the ballpark to play an expanded role in baseball once the 2020 season gets underway.
“If they need to find neutral places or warm places to play, we’re volunteering,” Hall said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes.”
With concerns still on high over the spread of the coronavirus, neither Hall nor anyone else knows when – or even if – baseball will begin a new season.
But Hall mentioned a handful of potential scenarios in which Chase Field in particular or the Valley as a whole could be involved either in jumpstarting the season or in allowing games to be played deep into the fall.
“We’re fine with teams playing here in our market to start out if they can’t play in their own homes,” Hall said. “And then we’re also more than willing to play host to games later in the season in the cold weather months.”
Hall said he hopes it won’t be the case, but if a particular market isn’t ready to host large crowds or even smaller groups of people at the beginning of the season, the Diamondbacks would have no issue if teams wanted to play at Chase or in the teams’ own spring training sites, despite them being located within the Diamondbacks’ regional territory.
For early-season games at Chase, he said they could be played when the Diamondbacks are on the road or perhaps earlier in the day as part of a ballpark doubleheader with the Diamondbacks playing at night.
Hall said Chase Field also could be a potential site for games in November or even December if the season and/or postseason were to get pushed back that far.
“We’re just going to have to be accommodating and we’re all going to have to be open to one year of different approaches,” Hall said. “We don’t know yet what they are. We don’t how many games would be sacrificed, if any, but even the commissioner said (Wednesday night) he believes we’re going to lose some games. We have to wait to see how many there are, what the new schedule looks like, where we pick up from and how we can help.
“If they need us, believe me we’re first in line to help and get things back on track.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN on Wednesday that his “optimistic outlook” includes the sport “gearing back up” in May.
Though Manfred said it was “clear” the league wouldn’t be playing a 162-game season, both the owners and players are financially motivated to play as many games as possible. That could mean scheduling doubleheaders or reducing the number of off days.