Spring Training Online

After you make their way through the training complex, you’ll be presented with what’s shaping up to be the best ballpark in the Cactus League. A symmetrical two-building outpost in center field houses the main ticket office, the largest team store and other operations. The curved buildings immediately set the tone for the spring experience at Camelback Ranch: the 14 buildings comprising the complex were designed to appear to rise from the flat Valley floor, with sloping roofs, asymmetrical designs and organic appearances. It also sits slightly off the trees in back of the batters eye, giving fans a view of the field and home plate as they approach the field of play.

The ballpark seats 13,000 (10,099 fixed seats, the remainder on the berm), but it feels smaller. Though the complex is set on 141 acres, the ballpark takes up a very small part of that, and the combination of below-grade playing field and surrounding outbuildings carves out an intimate space. The theme throughout the ballpark is focused on natural materials and finishes; besides the gabion walls so prominent in the outfield concourse, the buildings have a stone or brown finish, and the outbuildings feature angled roofs designed to feel like a natural part of the desert skyline. The seats are done in a desert brown; when surrounded by so many neutrals and browns, the green grass will be especially resplendent.

In back of the grandstand is an entrance for premium seatholders -- you know, the people who pay between $90 and $120 for a ticket -- as well as more concessions. There will be points of sale on the concourse as well.

As you sit in the grandstand, you’ll see two buildings down each line. Down the first-base line is the White Sox clubhouse/training facility, and down the third-base line is the Dodgers major-league clubhouse. Both teams will enter the field from the clubhouses, albeit in slightly different ways: the White Sox will enter from a truck entrance, while the Dodgers will enter through a small tunnel under the outfield concourse and through the bullpen. You’ll be able to see each team from the concourse, but you won’t be very close to the players.