Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Hohokam Park

Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a CubsDNA series where our staff visits other ball parks . Today, Tina takes you on the way back machine to 2004 to Hohokam Park in Mesa, AZ.

From 1997 to 2013, the Spring Training home for the Cubs was this cute little park called Hohokam in Mesa. In March 2004, I went to 2 games here. It seated close to 13,000 and was as intimate as they came for ball parks. Every seat was foul ball territory.... without netting! It's a good thing smart phones weren't a thing back then.

Hohokam was definitely not Sloan Park in any regard. Remember Spriggs over at Bleacher Nation who had issues with security over at Sloan that one Spring? Well, the picture right above was taken when my friend and I went to pick up our tickets and literally walked into the park past an empty security chair. I was really tempted to run the bases but since it was the start of our trip, we thought it would be a bad idea to end up in Cubs jail.

My tickets along the 3rd base line were $6 for one game, $14 for the other. That was almost 16 years ago and probably expensive back in the day, but the Cubs were always, and still are, a hot ticket.

Ryno signing autographs, batting practice and Wendell Kim (remember him??) saying hello to the fans.

Back when the Rockies had decent uniforms.

Kerry Wood pitching!

Moises Alou and his wide batting stance

Sammy!!

These days, Hohokam has been renovated and is now home to the Oakland A's, while the Cubs are in a much bigger, modern Sloan Park. I miss the days of watching baseball in a small ballpark. It was really a fun experience!