Diamondbacks Baseball Game with Kids

Diamondbacks Baseball Game with Kids

My husband and I are bonafide nerds. One of the reasons I married him is because of his empathetic view of sports. They exist and that’s cool, but outside of the Olympics, we’re not interested.

However, I’ve been feeling a bit guilty lately. My kids are getting older, and their friends at school are always talking about the games they go to with their families and the sports they participate in on weekends, and my kids couldn’t tell a soccer ball from a football. (We swim and hike, ok! We’re not lazy!) So I decided that for the sake of my kids, I’m going to take one for the team and become…drum roll please… a baseball fan!

Despite my disinterest in the greater world of sports, I’m not completely lacking in baseball knowledge. I grew up in NJ and I have fond childhood memories of my dad taking me to Yankees games, and sitting on the grass watching our local AAA league team play. So I decided that the best way to introduce my kids to sports was to take them to a baseball game. I was very excited last week when I went to our local Goodwill store and found an Arizona Cardinals t-shirt. “Yay,” I thought, “a baseball t-shirt to wear to our first family baseball game!” Yeah, you know where this is going. When I got home my husband had a really good laugh because at least he’s actually from Arizona and knows that the Cardinals are, in fact, a football team.

So two days later, wearing a nondescript gray t-shirt, my nerdy little family and I ventured out into the wilds of downtown Phoenix and found our way to Chase Stadium to see the Diamondbacks (who knew?) vs. the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, September 28th. I was nervous about the crowds and the prices, and I was really expecting my kids to get bored and want to leave around the third inning. But I shouldn’t have worried because it turned out to be a fantastic night.

We arrived at the stadium an hour before game time, and walked to a kids section on the third floor called, “The Sandlot.” (I love the reference to the 1993 movie of the same name, by the way.) This place was an immediate hit. It has a soft element play area for toddlers 3 and under, and bigger playground called Baxter’s Den for kids 3 to 6ish, (it’s really by height), and batting cages for the taller kids. There’s also a kids club that you can sign your kids up for located right next to the play areas. You give some basic information, and have your child’s picture taken, and a kids club card is printed out for them right there and put on a lanyard. Not only is this a cool, free souvenir, but once your kids are registered, they can attend future Sunday games for free, and become eligible for prizes. My kids loved their lanyards.

After playing for a while, we found our seats and began to explain the basics of baseball to our girls. I was impressed with how interested they were, and by the second inning, they were cheering on the Diamondbacks as if they’d been watching baseball for years. Seeing a Diamondbacks Baseball game with kids was a win for us!

When they did start getting antsy, we got corn dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy from one of the fantastic Doubleheaders quick service counters. These snacks were very inexpensive, which I found impressive for such a large venue. You could get popcorn, a hot dog, a corn dog, and a soda for only $2 each. These snacks kept us going until about the fourth inning, when frozen yogurt became necessary. Much later in the game, we sprang for one more treat: a baseball cap full of popcorn. Snacking and munching and watching the game was so much fun for the kids and for us.

Even though we’d been having a lot of fun, I was disappointed that my girls were not going to see the home team win at their first sporting event. However, just when things seemed bleak, we got to see player number 53 Christian Walker hit his first career grand slam, giving the Diamondbacks the lead they needed to pull ahead of the Padres and win the game!  We were jumping and cheering and yelling for the players as one by one we watched four men cross home plate. It was incredible! After that experience, I’m pretty sure that despite their nerdy parentage, my girls are Diamondbacks fans for life. Thanks, Christian Walker!

For more information about the Diamondbacks, click here . Their schedule can be found here.

And did you know that by purchasing a Pogo Pass, you get to see two Diamondback games – AND experience over 20 other activities in Phoenix and Tucson? Learn more about the Pogo Pass in our popular blog post! Be sure to use the code “PHOENIXWITHKIDS” at checkout to save 50%.