The Frustration Dome

by Phoenix aka West Chicago on Jul 23, 2008 11:07 AM CDT

I don't understand why the Cubs can't seem to win at Chase Field. It's bad enough that the D'Backs fans seem to care more about the t-shirt cannon then about the acutal game and that some D'Backs fans don't really know the game of baseball at all. Last year at one of the NLDS games I attended a guy sitting next to me wearing a D'Backs jersey actually thought a regulation game was played in 10 innings because there are 10 innings on the scoreboard. I couldn't believe he actually thought that. There is nothing worse than getting heckled by a fair weather fan.

It should be easier for the Cubs at Chase. Cubs games are dominated by Cub fans due to all of the Chicago transplants like myself who live out here. Even the bar immediately adjacent to the stadium is a Chicago bar. However, for some reason the Cubs hit the ball well but they always seem to hit it right at someone or it dies at the warning track.

Since I moved out here in 2003 my record at Cubs games at Chase Field, f/k/a/ the BOB (including both NLDS games) is 2 and 12. Hopefully, the Cubs will hit to the right places tonight, salvage the series and bump my record up to 3 and 13.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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What can they do

they can’t hit a lick

the bullpen isn’t good at all

It just happens that they are playing in Arizona.

We can go back to last year. Marquis pitched the last game of the 3 game set, the cubs scored 3 in the first and then marquis gives up 4. Same game, 9th inning, 1st and 2nd no out, Ward i think was up and K’s out and the runners are going. Somebody gets thrown out. DP. Bad things just happen.

It’s a shame cause it’s a nice ballpark and it would be nicer if we won some games in here.

We should have won monday’s game. We could have won yesterday’s game as well. If we were up 4-3 or 5-3, lou wouldn’t have brought in marshall and hart. We could have easily won that game.

by lexmarklover on Jul 23, 2008 11:16 AM CDT reply actions

That place is way too big...

Most teams that go in there don’t really have much success hitting HRs. Heck, the Dbags don’t even hit that many in there. As we’ve seen the last 2 games if any Arizona pitcher can keep the ball down, they have a really good chance to get at least a no decision. That place is a barn, looks like a airplane hangar & simply is too big.

Jimmyeatworld

by Jimmyeatworld on Jul 23, 2008 11:34 AM CDT reply actions

Webb is going to get a lot of Cy Youngs pitching in a place like that.

A sinker ball pitcher in a freaking airplane hanger. That guy was built to pitch there.

Missouri Tigers 2008 Cotton Bowl Champs

by nji232 on Jul 23, 2008 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions

Beg your pardon for a second....

just wanted to point out that, so far in 2008, Chase is third in park factor, even ranked above Coors. In the 3 years from 2005-2007, Chase ranked 5th, 4th, and 5th, respectively. Remember that we’ve got extremely hot, dry, thin air in Arizona (Chase is 2nd in altitude only to Coors) and the ball can really fly out. (Especially when the roof is open)

This article from THT claims:

Chase Field "plays" easier for home runs than its calculated HRPF suggests; Hit Tracker data may explain why. So far in 2007, the average standard distance (which is independent of atmospheric effects) for home runs hit at Chase Field is 394.3 feet, while the league average standard distance is 391.4 feet. For Arizona hitters, the effect is even more striking, with D-Backs hitters averaging 395.7 feet at home and 383.5 feet on the road, an amazing 12-foot difference. Perhaps such an effect might come about due to random chance on a small sample size, but here’s one statistic that is quite convincing: Arizona’s top ten longest homers by standard distance so far this year were ALL hit at Chase Field. The odds of that happening by chance are more than 1,000-to-1 against. So, we can either believe that the Diamondbacks just happen to slug like Babe Ruth at home for no particular reason (e.g. Tony Clark and Eric Byrnes, who own the two longest MLB homers so far in 2007, both hit on May 8th at Chase), or we can believe that the ball is livelier in Phoenix, probably due to the hot, dry conditions in the Valley of the Sun…

It’s definitely NOT true that Chase is a pitcher’s park. It’s a hitter’s park. If the Dbacks don’t hit a lot of HRs at Chase, it’s because our offense is teh suck.

Sorry. Don’t mean to troll, just wanted to make a point. Carry on.

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 23, 2008 5:57 PM CDT up reply actions

I'd like to know...

... what the park factor is when the roof is open compared to when it’s closed. My guess is that it plays more like a pitcher’s park when it’s closed (as it was the last three days).

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Jul 24, 2008 8:50 AM CDT up reply actions

Dang... i thought this post was going to be Dome, not a dome.

I haz blurg: hotbeans.wordpress.com

by digitalbenjamin on Jul 23, 2008 11:36 AM CDT reply actions

Hard to know if we are talking about "dough-MAY" or "dough-mmmm"

Evey Hammond: Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici. V: By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

by dtpollitt on Jul 23, 2008 12:00 PM CDT up reply actions

me too!

hahaha

by xene on Jul 23, 2008 1:36 PM CDT up reply actions

For the most part...

...I think dome teams have an advantage when they are playing at home. You get a completely different feel playing indoors, and it takes a little time for non-dome teams to get used to that and by the time you do, the series is over.

If you look at the teams that play in a dome, you typically see them do well at home and struggle a bit when they hit the road.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Jul 23, 2008 11:40 AM CDT reply actions

I think the solution is simple...

you just can’t go to the games anymore, (see 2-12 record) :) I grew up in the Valley and have a very similar record to your’s at Chase/Bob. I can’t understand it. Let’s get a win tonight and send all the fair weather fans packing early!

by DenverCub on Jul 23, 2008 11:55 AM CDT reply actions

I own a 3-1 record at the BOB

I volunteer to attend every game the Cubs play there. All I need is free tickets… and a private jet.

"This is an environment of welcoming, and you should just get the hell outta here." --Michael Scott

by Reddevil on Jul 23, 2008 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions

Are they playing a doubleheader?

...because if they win tonight, you’d be 3-12, not 3-13. But I agree w/ DenverCub. You need to stop going. :)

Nobody cares about your fantasy league team

by carmen_fanzone on Jul 23, 2008 12:59 PM CDT reply actions

right - my mistake - i was hoping that not being in attendance last night would have helped but no such luck. At least I have been 3-0 at Wrigley and 5-1 with Spring Training this year.

by Phoenix aka West Chicago on Jul 23, 2008 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Well, I'll say this again

I’ve been attending Cubs/Padres games in SD for 25 years. You, in AZ have only had some 10+ years of torture. There are thousands of Cubs fans here - and dome, or no dome - we usually go home empty, with 1984 as the ultimate in misery. Last year’s playoff sweep doesn’t even compare in the misery index. When you can’t clinch the pennant in three games, it is NEVER forgotten and it’s a part of Padres lore that is always brought up…..and, unfortunately—we are connected with.

So, you are not alone.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jul 23, 2008 4:38 PM CDT reply actions

God, you've brought back some nightmarish memories

‘84 will always be the my most crushing disappointment as a Cub fan-I can’t even imagine what it must be like to live out there and have to be reminded of it so much.

by bluekoolaide on Jul 23, 2008 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions

That is painful. I lived in San Diego for one year in 2002 before I moved to AZ and now that you mention that I remember getting a few comments from people about 84 when I lived there.

by Phoenix aka West Chicago on Jul 23, 2008 5:15 PM CDT up reply actions

I was still pretty new here..

..took a new jiob, and thought I was amazingly lucky to be in the city where the Cubs would clinch the pennant. But instead, I was treated to Teddy Bears being doused with gasoline and torched in the parking lot of (then) Jack Murphy Stadium. Other stuffed animals tied to bumpers of cars and being dragged along the street….and the infamous “Cub-Buster” T-Shirt…....

And, when Petco opened, in 2004 - the 20th Anniversary of that event - when the Cubs first came to town, the Pads HAD to schedule a tribute to that team. So, there they were in their 1984 unis (The Cubs refused to participate) with all of the playoff highlights on the JumboTron.

Thankfully, the Cubs actually won that game and shut up the natives. One for the good guys. But it didn’t balance the scales.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jul 23, 2008 5:26 PM CDT reply actions