Surprise, AZ News blog

Baseball fans looking to score Surprise spring training seats for their favorite matchups can get on the phone, get on the Internet or get in line at the box office come Saturday.  

Tickets go on sale 8 a.m. at Surprise Stadium, the spring training home every March for the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers.

The box office is at 15960 N. Bullard Ave. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com, or by calling 480-784-4444 or 520-321-1000, and at Macy’s, Tower Records, Fry’s Marketplace and F.Y.E. outlets.

 

The potential sellouts this year will likely include games with the Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies, and especially the Los Angeles Dodgers night game, Community and Recreation Services Director Mark Coronado said.

While the Dodgers will be moving their spring training operations to Glendale as soon as 2009, Coronado said it’s a rare treat these days to see them in the Valley for spring training.

“I would expect for us to set a stadium record, or at least hit the top five,” he said.

New events this year include a Southwestern buffet in right field and a Wiffle ball game in the kids’ play area. Another event during the season will be a celebration of the handlebar moustache, which pitching great Rollie Fingers famously featured for years on his upper lip.

Surprise spring training officials use such special events to attract residents to the March-long games.

The city still hopes to attract a fan base from outside the city for the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, Coronado said, but there are immediate challenges that could prevent huge tourist draws.

“We really want to push this year, as we have in the past, to make it a family-friendly type facility,” Coronado said.

But obstacles that hinder attendance from outside the area include the lack of nearby freeways, the absence of other nearby entertainment and a scarcity of hotels, Coronado said. The last item, however, has a solution in sight.

A Holiday Inn Express is scheduled to open this month near Surprise Stadium, with two more hotels in early stages of development. Coronado said it will not be until there are several hundred hotel rooms available that the city can begin heavy recruitment of large tourist groups.

For the second season, the city is hosting a “Bring your Dog to the Ballpark Day” where Fido can show up and get a seat of his own. New this year is the Rollie Fingers Moustache Day, celebrating the pitching great’s handlebar moustache. The grower of the best handlebar will earn a free trip to a game in either Kansas City, Mo., or Arlington, Texas, Coronado said.

The city also plans the “Bambino Babe Ruth Look-alike Contest” on the last weekend of the season, as well as a day that will bring baseball greats together with foster children in Maricopa County, Coronado said.

Also new: a fan can pay $35 for an all-you-can eat Southwestern buffet in the Home Run Party Deck Pavilion, two drinks and one of the “best seats in the house,” Coronado said.

The season marks a return of the KidsZone, an area with a carousel and other games and activities for youth inside the stadium.

While such activities energize the ballpark, Coronado said, he looks three to five years in the future when the groundwork will be in place to target an outside fan base. Special events will remain a priority, he added.

The Royals and Rangers have their own challenges. The recent records of both teams have also affected spring training attendance, Coronado said. Neither team has made the playoffs since spring training began in Surprise.

Last year, Surprise sold 159,932 tickets during the season, an increase from 142,319 in 2006. Surprise’s best year remains 2005, when 165,686 tickets were sold.

The Cactus League Association, which tracks visitor spending, estimated last year that spring training had a $33.2 million economic impact in Surprise.

 

Surprise spring training

Season tickets

• 7-packs for Kansas City Royals or Texas Rangers: $77 to $126.

• Full season for either team (14 games): $154 to $238.

• Full season for entire 28-game season: $308 to $476.

Note: Season tickets are available now, before the opening of individual-game ticket sales Saturday. Packages include free reserved parking and a private reception with selected team players.

Individual ticket prices

• Lawn seats: $7.

• Plaza seats: $12.

• Infield seats: $16.

• Upper dugout seats: $19.

• Lower dugout seats: $22.

Note: Parking is free.

Event days

• March 1, 2: $1 hot dogs and $1 Cokes.

• March 2: Bring your Dog to the Ballpark Day.

• March 15: Cal Ripken Youth Baseball Day.

• March 16: Sun Health Family Day.

• March 22: Wells Fargo Boy Scout and Girl Scout Day.

• March 23: Rollie Fingers Moustache Day - fan with best handlebar moustache receives a free trip to Kansas City or Texas to watch a home game.

• March 26, 27: Sanderson Ford Military Day.

Information: 623-222-2000.

Source: Surprise Community and Recreation Services Department.